The Administrative Court of Armenia on Wednesday ruled in favour of Canada’s Lydian and invalidated eight out of ten findings made by the Environmental and Mining Inspection Body in August 2018.

The court found that the construction activities at Amuslar were not illegal, the now-delisted Lydian said in a statement on Thursday.

The administrative court also invalidated a decision by the former head of inspection, Artur Grigoryan, who rejected an administrative appeal brought by Lydian Armenia before the inspection body. The court found that Grigoryan had been actively engaged in anti-Amulsar activities prior to his appointment to the inspection body, which raised reasonable doubts on his objectivity when rejecting Lydian’s administrative appeal.

Other findings invalidated by the Administrative Court included allegations of newly found “red listed” plant and animal species, illegal disturbance of agricultural land and non-permitted atmospheric emissions. Those findings were determined to be baseless. The remaining two findings the Administrative Court did not invalidate were recommendations to improve documentation and annual statistical reporting.

The inspection body has 30 days to appeal the ruling of the Administrative Court.

“This is yet another instance where the Judiciary in Armenia have recognised Lydian’s legal compliance. In several previous rulings, Armenian Courts have found that Lydian’s legal rights to operate have been unlawfully impeded.

“Lydian has suffered serious financial losses as a result of illegal activities that the government of Armenia has not curtailed. The actions and inactions of the government continue to negatively impact all of Lydian’s stakeholders, including hundreds of employees, contractors and suppliers, as well as thousands of shareholders and investors,” Lydian president and CEO Edward Sellers said in a statement.

He called on the government to abide by the court’s ruling and to restore Lydian’s legal right to operate.

Blockades continue to prevent construction at Amulsar from resuming. The mine would produce about 200 000 oz/y.

Lydian delisted from the TSX in January and was granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.