Barrick Gold Escalates Dispute over Porgera Gold Mine in PNG

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Canadian Barrick Gold announced that its subsidiary has served a notice of dispute to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government over its dispute over non-renewal of license for Porgera gold mine.

According to the company, the PNG Government’s decision not to extend the Porgera Special Mining Lease (SML) is in violation of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between PNG and Australia and the international law governing foreign investment. The notice seeks to recover damages that it has already suffered and damages that it may suffer in future due to the government decision. Incidentally, the ongoing dispute has impacted the yearly output by around 200,000 ounces, as per Barrick estimates.

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Further, Barrick notes that it has been decided to refer the dispute to arbitration before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), in case it fails to resolve it through consultations and negotiations. Accordingly, Barrick Niugini Ltd- the joint venture between Barrick and a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group has commenced conciliation proceedings against PNG before ICSID.

Meantime, the company stated that it will always prefer a negotiated settlement on the matter, which it believes would be beneficial to all stakeholders.