Amongst other things, the companies claim that Kenya unlawfully expropriated their investments and breached its BIT obligation to treat them fairly and equitably.

The request for arbitration is also made by Cortec Mining Kenya, a Kenyan company which is entitled to be treated as a UK company under the BIT because it is majority-owned by Cortec UK and Stirling.

CMK’s chairman Don O’Sullivan said: "We were surprised at how quickly the climate for foreign investment in the Kenyan mining sector deteriorated after the elections in 2013. We have not been compensated for the expropriation of our subsidiaries’ investments in Kenya and we see arbitration in the international arena as the only avenue left for us to be given a fair hearing and a chance to recover our considerable losses."

On 29 July 2013, whilst conducting licensed mining activity in Kenya’s Kwale District, CMK announced an inaugural Rare Earth Resource and updated Niobium Resource for the Mrima Hill project in Kenya. One week after CMK made this announcement, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Mining and the Environment, Mr. Najib Balala, purported to cancel CMK’s mining licenses. Mr. Balala made this announcement in a national television broadcast. CMK subsequently challenged the revocation of its mining licences in the Kenyan courts but, after a legal battle that lasted almost two years, the High Court of Kenya upheld the Minister’s actions.

CMK’s Kenyan lawyers have lodged an appeal against the High Court judgment.

CMK, Cortec UK and Stirling have instructed London-headquartered international law firm Clifford Chance to act as their legal counsel in the international arbitration against Kenya. The Clifford Chance team will be led by Audley Sheppard QC in London, who will be supported by Ben Luscombe and Dr Sam Luttrell and Dr Romesh Weeramantry.

Mr. O’Sullivan added, "We are very pleased to have a firm of Clifford Chance’s calibre representing our companies in this case. We feel that, with the help of the Clifford Chance team, we are well positioned to obtain compensation for the unlawful measures that were taken against our property in Kenya".

The Company will provide further information as the matter progresses.