Barrick Serves Notice of
Dispute Over Porgera Mine
Barrick Gold announced that its subsidiary,
Barrick (PD) Australia Pty Ltd., an
investor in the Porgera mine, has given
notice to Papua New Guinea (PNG) that
a dispute has arisen under the Bilateral
Investment Treaty (BIT) between PNG
and Australia. Barrick PD said the dispute
arose out of the PNG government’s
decision not to extend the Porgera Special
Mining Lease (SML) in violation of
the terms of the BIT and international law
governing foreign investment.
Barrick PD is seeking to recover damages
it has already suffered and damages it
may suffer in the future since PNG refuses
to grant an extension of the Porgera SML, the company said. If the dispute cannot
be resolved through consultations and negotiations,
Barrick PD has elected to refer
the dispute to arbitration before the World
Bank’s International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Barrick Niugini Ltd., the joint venture
between Barrick PD and a subsidiary of
Zijin Mining Group Ltd., has also commenced
conciliation proceedings against
PNG before ICSID, Barrick said.
Barrick said it continues to advocate
for a negotiated solution to an extension
of the Porgera mining lease on terms that
would be beneficial to all stakeholders.
As featured in Womp 2020 Vol 08 - www.womp-int.com