Grib pipe eludes Archangel

Denver — Last-minute manoeuvres by Russia’s Arkhangel’skgeoldobycha (AGD) threaten to derail resolution of a longstanding dispute with Canada’s Archangel Diamond (AAD-V) concerning the Grib kimberlite pipe in northwestern Russia.

The junior had hoped the International Arbitration Tribunal in Stockholm, Sweden, would return a verdict by the end of May. However, AGD stepped in with new allegations and a request for delay.

“We are appalled at both the timing and the allegations,” says Archangel President Timothy Haddon. “We are also outraged by the tactics of AGD and have submitted our response to the tribunal, urging it to disregard the allegations.”

The company sees no grounds for reopening the hearing.

The tribunal is composed of three members: an American, a Russian and a Norwegian. The hearing, which began in early March, is attempting to resolve transfer of the ownership of the Verkhotina diamond licence to a joint-venture company, Almazny Bereg, held by AGD, Archangel and a third party.

AGD, which would hold a 50% interest in the joint venture, refused to transfer the title according to the joint-venture agreement dated 1993. Archangel, which would hold 40% of the 400-sq.-km property, responded in July 1998 by withdrawing funding for exploration at the property.

AGD’s allegations, spelled out in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, include suggestions that certain documents are not authentic and that the discoverer of the pipe, Dr. Vladimir Grib, who died in 1995, had no authority to make a deal.

Archangel filed its response to the allegations in late May.

The Grib pipe, discovered in 1996, contains 67 million carats of recoverable diamonds (larger than 1 mm) within 98 million tonnes of kimberlite, grading 69 carats per 100 tonnes. The estimated value is US$79 per carat.