Copper and gold: Tethyan informs government about international arbitration
Seeks damages in dispute over Reko Diq project’s mining rights.
ISLAMABAD:
Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has sent a letter to the government, informing it that the company has filed a request for arbitration in a dispute over the Reko Diq project at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington DC.
Through the letter, TCC – a joint venture between Chilean copper producer Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold – has told the finance ministry, the interior ministry and the Board of Investment chairman that it has taken Pakistan to the international court for seeking damages.
TCC, which owns the massive Reko Diq project in Balochistan with reserves estimated at 2.2 billion tons of gold and copper, opted for arbitration after the Balochistan government turned down its application for a mining lease on November 16 last year.
On May 5, 2011, the Supreme Court had allowed the Balochistan government “to expeditiously decide Tethyan’s application for granting a mining lease and submit a report”.
As the court had been keeping the case pending since May 5, a petitioner insisted that it should be taken up as early as possible for countering TCC’s attempts to start arbitration proceedings and claim millions of dollars in damages.
“It is necessary that the court declares illegal the (earlier) agreement between the Balochistan government and Tethyan Copper Company,” said an application filed by members of Jamaat-i-Islami and the Workers Party through their lawyer Raza Kazim.
Kazim told the court that TCC wanted to avoid Pakistani law and the authority of judiciary. He feared that the international arbitration tribunal would have no option but to give a decision in favour of TCC, which could lead to claims of billions of dollars in damages.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.
Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has sent a letter to the government, informing it that the company has filed a request for arbitration in a dispute over the Reko Diq project at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington DC.
Through the letter, TCC – a joint venture between Chilean copper producer Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold – has told the finance ministry, the interior ministry and the Board of Investment chairman that it has taken Pakistan to the international court for seeking damages.
TCC, which owns the massive Reko Diq project in Balochistan with reserves estimated at 2.2 billion tons of gold and copper, opted for arbitration after the Balochistan government turned down its application for a mining lease on November 16 last year.
On May 5, 2011, the Supreme Court had allowed the Balochistan government “to expeditiously decide Tethyan’s application for granting a mining lease and submit a report”.
As the court had been keeping the case pending since May 5, a petitioner insisted that it should be taken up as early as possible for countering TCC’s attempts to start arbitration proceedings and claim millions of dollars in damages.
“It is necessary that the court declares illegal the (earlier) agreement between the Balochistan government and Tethyan Copper Company,” said an application filed by members of Jamaat-i-Islami and the Workers Party through their lawyer Raza Kazim.
Kazim told the court that TCC wanted to avoid Pakistani law and the authority of judiciary. He feared that the international arbitration tribunal would have no option but to give a decision in favour of TCC, which could lead to claims of billions of dollars in damages.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.