A London court has issued an order allowing the UK assets of Mongolian copper miner Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC) to be frozen, following a long-running dispute with Swiss firm MRI Trading AG, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

The order to freeze the assets, worth up to $7.115 million plus 637,818 pounds ($841,664), was granted last Thursday and has been served on 12 trading houses and banks so far, the sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They declined to name the banks. The orders aim to freeze any payables due to EMC until the full amount owed to MRI, a metals trader, is recovered, they added.

The order freeze restricts the Mongolian corporation's ability to transact sales of copper and other metals in the London market. It will come as a fresh blow to the cash-strapped country which is already mired in crisis due to low commodity prices and delays to high-profile mining projects.

Court documents seen by Reuters said the award followed a long-running dispute over the failure of EMC to honour a contract dated Jan. 30 2009 to deliver 40,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of flotation copper concentrate produced at EMC's mine in Mongolia to MRI.

The claim has previously been the subject of London Metal Exchange (LME) arbitration and proceedings before the UK High Court, which found in MRI's favour. A subsequent appeal by EMC was dismissed.

A spokesperson for the LME said Erdenet is not and has never been an LME member. She did not comment specifically on the case.

Erdenet representatives could not be reached for comment.

For Mongolian version please visit here

Монгол эхийг энд дарж уншина уу