The lawsuit was filed by the company in 2014, after the withdrawal of a concession at the Las Crucitas mine (north) due to apparent irregularities in the processing of permits and environmental damage.
The government of Costa Rica announced this Monday, July 15, that it triumphed in an award filed by the Canadian mining company Infinito Gold, which claimed US$394.8 million for the cancellation of an open-pit gold mining project due to irregularities and damages. environmental.
"The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) notified the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the good news today. The Arbitration Court concluded that it was inadmissible to award damages in favor of the company Infinito Gold," a statement indicated. official.
The international arbitration court rejected the claim against Costa Rica in June 2021, but the company filed an appeal, which was resolved this Monday.
The arbitration award determined in 2021 that Costa Rica never denied the investor justice and the right to defense, that the country had its right to establish its environmental policies and that the company failed to demonstrate the damage it alleged.
The lawsuit was filed by the company in 2014 before the ICSID, an entity attached to the World Bank, and was raised based on the Agreement between the government of Costa Rica and the government of Canada for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments.
The case dates back to 2010, when the Administrative Litigation Court of Costa Rica declared as null and void the resolutions of the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Environmental Technical Secretariat with which the environmental viability and mining concession were granted, as well as approvals. to modify the project and the use of the land.
The company began to build the Las Crucitas mine, in the northern part of Costa Rica, but it never finished nor was it able to exploit gold due to the withdrawal of the concession due to apparent irregularities in the processing of permits and environmental damage.
After the cancellation of the project, the area was illegally invaded by artisanal miners, who have caused severe environmental damage.
The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, issued an order this Monday to the Ministry of Public Security to begin a special police operation to protect the Las Crucitas area.
