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Bloomberg reported that the Venezuelan government has resolved a dispute with Gold Reserve Inc. (TSXV:GRZ), which holds the Brisas deposit in the country.
Bloomberg reported that the Venezuelan government has resolved a dispute with Gold Reserve Inc. (TSXV:GRZ), which holds the Brisas deposit in the country.
The company bills Brisas as one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world. However, in 2008, Venezuela revoked the company’s authorization to affect, and Gold Reserve lost the ability to exploit Brisas. The company entered international arbitration with Venezuela later in 2008, and in 2014 was awarded $740.3 million by the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes; that amount later rose to over $760 million.
Commenting on the dispute’s resolution, Bloomberg states:
[The deal] pav[es] the way for $2 billion of investment by the Spokane, Washington-based company in a mining joint venture.
The deal also includes a $2 billion loan to Venezuela, Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said at an event broadcast on state television Wednesday. Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger was at the event. Phone calls to the company were not returned this morning.
A World Bank arbitration court ruled in 2014 that Venezuela must pay $740 million to Gold Reserve for its seizure of the Brisas gold and copper project in 2008. Venezuela didn’t specify how it would pay Gold Reserve to resolve the case.
“From a lawsuit, we are now partners in a win-win situation to develop a project worth more than $5 billion,” President Nicolas Maduro said.