TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A hearing began on Monday in an arbitration case brought by Pacific Rim Mining against the government of El Salvador, the company reported.

The hearing, on the preliminary objection filed by the government in relation to the action brought by Pacific Rim, is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday.

A decision on the matter is expected by September, the firm said.

The hearing is taking place at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, DC.

Pacific Rim embarked on arbitration proceedings because of the government's failure to issue permits for the company's El Dorado project, three years after Pacific Rim submitted a mine design to authorities.

The company claims the government has breached international and Salvadoran law in its “improper failure to finalise the permitting process as it is required to do and to respect the company's and the enterprises' legal rights to develop mining activities in El Salvador”.

"It's very unfortunate we must resort to arbitration to protect our rights," said Pacific Rim CEO Tom Shrake.

“We are doing everything in our power to right this wrong, reinstate the exploration jobs and move forward with the mine development, which will create hundreds of new jobs.”

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