Eco Oro Minerals : Colombia not liable to pay $736 million to miner Eco Oro-gov't

Published: 2021-09-10 14:07:54 ET EOM.CN

Eco Oro pulled out of the Angostura gold concession in 2019 after the project in Santander province was cut in half by a constitutional court ruling and new regulations that expanded wetland protections. It said the change made the project, in which it had invested some $250 million, impossible.

The legal case, where the company alleged the restrictions amounted to indirect expropriation of its investment, has been ongoing since 2016.

Colombia's National Agency for Judicial Defense of the State said in a statement that the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal recognized that the measure was not discriminatory toward Eco Oro shareholders and was an effort to legitimately protect the environment.

"The tribunal recognized the fundamental role of the wetlands as sources and regulators for the water cycle, amid global phenomena like climate change," the agency said.

Eco Oro did not immediately respond to a call and an email seeking comment.

The case will continue however, the agency said, because the tribunal did find Colombia in violation of international norms that regulate how countries should treat foreign investors.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Mark Porter)