Monday 16 December 2013

Costa Rica faces billion-dollar lawsuit to protect rainforest

Canadian mining company sues government for rejecting gold mine project

December 2013: Calgary-based mining company Infinito Gold is suing the Costa Rican government for over $1 billion because it rejected the company’s plan to build an open-pit gold mine in a tropical forest.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV, rejected the company’s appeal to strike down an earlier court's annulment of a mining concession for Las Crucitas, a planned open-pit gold mine in the northern region. It is estimated the mine would destroy 190 hectares of rainforest, which is home to many already endangered species, such as the green macaw.

In April Infinito Gold issued the government an ultimatum and set a six-month deadline “to resolve the dispute” or the company said it would pursue legal action. Infinito's appeal to the Sala IV was the latest attempt to find a legal solution to the annulment.

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