World Wide Minerals Ltd. v. Republic of Kazakhstan
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
116 F. Supp. 2d 98 (2000)
- Written by Catherine Cotovsky, JD
Facts
Canadian corporation World Wide Minerals Ltd. (World Wide) (plaintiff) sued the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) (defendant) for breach of contract, conspiracy, and other claims after Kazakhstan cancelled an agreement that granted World Wide control over the state-run holding company for uranium mines in northern Kazakhstan. World Wide negotiated the agreement to manage the mines in exchange for World Wide’s commitment to pay the debt of the holding company, but the agreement did not include a guarantee that Kazakhstan would grant World Wide a license to export the uranium extracted from the mines. To secure the loans of the management agreement, World Wide and Kazakhstan also entered into a pledge agreement, in which Kazakhstan expressly waived its sovereign immunity as provided in the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA). After securing the management agreement with Kazakhstan but before obtaining an export license, World Wide contracted with two American nuclear fuel and energy companies to provide uranium from the Kazakh mines. After contracting with the American companies, World Wide learned that a preexisting agreement for exclusive marketing rights for Kazakh uranium between Kazakhstan and another American company, Nukem Inc., precluded Kazakhstan from issuing World Wide an export license. Without the export license, World Wide could not perform on its contract to the American fuel and energy companies, and World Wide suspended operations at the northern mines. Kazakhstan terminated the management agreement with World Wide, and World Wide filed its lawsuit on the grounds that its damages were the result of Kazakhstan’s refusal to issue an export license. Kazakhstan moved to dismiss the complaint, asserting the act-of-state doctrine as a defense.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lamberth, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
