Aggeneys, 21 January 2025 – Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) confirms that the BMM Iron Ore Project was restarted on 19 February 2024 as part of its business partnering model with LeadEPC, who was contracted to execute the construction and commissioning phase (Phase 1) of the project.
Unfortunately, LeadEPC did not meet the agreed project timelines, resulting in a breach of the contractualterms, amongst others.
Subsequently, VZI Management received information, in October 2024, indicating that LeadEPC had ceased work, evacuated the Iron Ore Project site and terminated the contract, alleging that VZI had failed to fulfil its obligations under the contract.
VZI firmly refutes these allegations and confirms that all contractual obligations have been met.
VZI formally requested that LeadEPC return to site to fulfil their contractual obligations, however, this did not occur.
Following an internal due diligence process and various communications with LeadEPC, VZI Management was unable to reach a mutual resolution with LeadEPC and had to terminate its contractual arrangement with them on 20 January 2025.
VZI is committed to focusing on the growth of the organization and will be assessing the way forward and approach the market in due course.
VZI acknowledges the concerns this situation may cause for the affected LeadEPC employees, suppliers, vendors and our host communities.
VZI will take all reasonable steps to ameliorate the impact of these developments.
VZI remains dedicated to fostering strong partnerships with our business partners, recognizing that our collective growth and success are closely interconnected.
“We remain steadfast in maintaining open and transparent communication with all stakeholders.”
For any vendor/supplier/sub-contractor related enquiries, please contact our Projects Procurement Department: IronOre@vedantaresources.co.za. Any employment and exit-related matters can be directed to Projects HR department by email hrp@vedantaresources.co.za.
