Tataki, Grindwell smoke peace pipe over debt
Mbongeni Mguni | Wednesday February 11, 2026 11:43
Tataki Mining, owned byUnited States firm Global Critical Resource Corp (GCR), is accelerating developments towards restarting activities at Tati Nickel, the base metal mining operation which closed in 2016 during the global meltdown in the sector.
Tati Nickel operated Phoenix and Selkirk mines before their closure. Canadian firm, NexMetals, snapped up Selkirk whilst GCR bought Phoenix for $15 million and held a reopening ceremony last September.
Documents seen by The Monitor indicate that Grindwell, a prominent drilling firm, filed for Tataki Mining’s provisional liquidation after a dispute over a debt estimated at beyond P17 million.
Acting for the contractor, attorney Jeremy Lawrence of Lawrence & Associates said Tataki Mining had failed to settle a series of invoices submitted over the months and had belatedly queried part of the amounts demanded.
Lawrence noted that there was information indicating that Tataki Mining also owed other service providers more than P2.75 million, and provisional liquidation was required to preserve assets, ensure that the debt does not increase, whilst ensuring orderly wind-up to settle amounts owed.
Justice Reuben Lekorwe issued a rule nisi (temporary) provisional liquidation on January 31, ordering those opposed to making the order final to submit their opposition by March 20.
On Thursday, the two sides announced that they had reached a settlement based on reduced debt.
“Tataki and Grindwell have agreed and signed an immediate settlement, and Judge Lekorwe has rescinded the issued court order this afternoon, effective immediately,” GCR executives said. “This immediate, reduced-sum payment reflects the fact that the dispute between Tataki and Grindwell was a commercial matter and not an insolvency issue, and that Tataki rejected the original amounts invoiced by Grindwell.”
The executives paid tribute to the Minister of Minerals and Energy and the US Embassy in Gaborone for “the support in seeking a satisfactory resolution for both parties”.
“GCR remains committed to its investment in Tataki Mine and Botswana and looks forward to achieving investment targets in the years to come,” the group stated.
Investors in Tataki Mine have pledged to pump in $200 million to revive and revamp operations in the next decade, creating more than 400 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs for Batswana.
The project is supported by the Trump administration, which has pledged billions of dollars in financing to similar efforts around the world, under a strategy to build a critical minerals “vault”.