Mining junior Rusoro, which has won a major victory in its international arbitration complaint against Venezuela, has agreed on the terms of a settlement proposal with the South American nation’s government.
Rusoro said that Venezuela would pay more than $1.28-billion to acquire the company’s mining data and for full release of the arbitral award issued in favour of the miner in August 2016.
In addition, the parties would constitute a mixed commission to assess the current status of Rusoro's former gold projects and consider options of restarting Choco 10 and San Rafael - El Placer.
The parties would decide by the end of January on the future of exploiting the projects, which Venezuela seized in 2011.
An August 2016 judgment by the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to pay Rusoro nearly $2.2-billion in compensation and interest for illegally expropriating the company’s assets without compensation in 2011.
The Ontario court in April 2017 confirmed an arbitration award issued in Rusoro's favour in the same amount. In December 2017, the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario issued a default judgment owing to Venezuela’s failure to appear.