Aquila Resources‚ a subsidiary of China’s state-owned Baosteel‚ which has had a long-running battle with the Department of Mineral Resources over a manganese deposit‚ is poised to approach the courts to seek a judicial review if a resolution is not reached‚ Business Day reported.

If the legal challenge is launched‚ it would be the third major case brought against the department this year.

An application on the interpretation of the empowerment ownership clause in the Mining Charter has been lodged and another wants the Mining Charters to be set aside.

After a 20-month wait‚ Aquila was notified last month by Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi in a brief letter that its mining right application over the Gravenhage manganese deposit in the Northern Cape was rejected and that its prospecting right had been rescinded.