It’s often said that the wheels of justice churn slowly but 18 years on from neighbouring property catching fire, mining services company Perenti (ASX: PRN) has finally ended the long running legal saga, securing a $10 million settlement. 

The damages relate to a property owned by Perenti, which rebranded from Ausdrill in 2019, in West Africa where the Company had to pursue the damages through the civil courts. The settlement comes as somewhat of a surprise given the massive time delay since the event, and questionable legal processes that take place in West Africa which is home to most of the world’s mining industry controversies. 

“Since the formation of Perenti just over three years ago, our dedicated people have been systematically working through several legacy issues, primarily associated with the historical performance of the AMS (Ausdrill) business,” said Perenti Managing Director, Mark Norwell. 

“I am very pleased that the efforts of our team have resulted in the resolution of this long-standing damage claim, delivering circa $10 million of cash to the business and an uplift in FY23 statutory earnings.” 

The cash injection, which is expected to be received within the coming weeks, will be a handy addition for Perenti which is currently operating with the tagline ‘Expect More’ as per the strategy update presented last month. 

Those expectations come at a time when Perenti is being impacted by labour shortages around the world which has effected the Company’s anticipated earnings due to the expansive operations that require more than 9,000 employees to operate. 

In their efforts to position themselves towards the front of the queue when it comes to sourcing labour, Perenti has launched a range of sustainability-focused initiatives, many of which revolve around their people. These initiatives come following the death of two employees in May 2022 at the Zone 5 mine in Botswana.

While Perenti did not expect those deaths to have a material impact on their FY22 earnings, other labour issues resulted in an earnings range downgrade from $165-$185m to $170-$175m and a reiteration of their focus on the safety and wellbeing of their people.