Billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s mining company is seeking bankruptcy protection in the U.S., two months after losing a $2 billion arbitration award to Brazilian mining giant Vale SA, Bloomberg News reported. The court filing by BSG Resources Ltd. on Monday could stymie Vale’s effort to enforce the award, which stems from an ill-fated joint venture with BSGR at the Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea. The government stripped their venture of its rights to Simandou following a probe that found that licenses were obtained through corruption. BSGR lists its only U.S. asset as a pending legal claim against billionaire George Soros, according to the chapter 15 court filing in Manhattan. Steinmetz’s firm claims that Soros financed a conspiracy to oust BSGR from the Simandou deposit, an accusation that Soros maintains is “entirely false.” The dispute between the two mining companies stems from the 2014 decision by Guinea to revoke the licenses held by the joint venture. Vale then filed a successful claim against Steinmetz’s company in the London Court of International Arbitration to recover an upfront payment to BSGR and money it invested in Guinea. The total amounted to $1.25 billion plus interest and costs.
