Canadian silver and gold explorer Almaden Minerals has advised of rescheduled hearing dates in respect of its ongoing international arbitration proceedings against the government of Mexico.

A tribunal under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes says it is only available for hearings of up to ten days in July next year. The hearings would have originally been held for about six days in December this year.

Almaden is pursuing a claim together with Almadex Minerals on behalf of themselves and their Mexican subsidiaries, with the dispute involving the cancellation of mineral concessions for the Ixtaca gold/silver project after local legal challenges and government actions.

Almaden's principal asset is the Ixtaca gold/silver deposit on the Tuligtic claim in Puebla state, Mexico, which the company discovered in 2010 and in which Almadex held a 2% net smelter return royalty. However, Almaden claims that illegal acts of the Mexican government resulted in the complete loss of the investment.

In February 2022, Mexico's Supreme Court rules that the mining authority in the country failed to property carry out indigenous consultations, ordering the suspension of the concessions pending consultation. Almaden claims that the Mexican Ministry of Economy later used technical faults to retroactively deny old title applications and fully cancel the concessions instead of completing the required consultation.

Almaden and Almadex then initiated international arbitration against the United Mexican States under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership through the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The claimants are seeking more than $1-billion in damages for the total loss of their investment.

The tribunal hearings are now expected to take place in July next year, not December this year as originally planned. Almaden says the purpose of the delay is to extend the hearing from six to up to ten days to provide sufficient time for examination of all fact witnesses and experts. The new dates in July next year are the first that the tribunal can accommodate.

"While we are disappointed by the delay, it is encouraged that the additional time will enable better presentation of our case," Almaden states.