El Salvador Makes History and Bans All Mining - Will other countries follow?

El Salvador's government contends that the reason for the mining ban is to protect the country’s water resources from pollution. The decision was stated to be motivated by the country’s challenges arising from the El Dorado gold mine, whose exploration rights were held by Pacific Rim Mining Corporation (Pacific Rim), a company since acquired by OceanaGold Corporation. When El Salvador refused to issue the environmental permits the company needed to acquire an exploitation concession, the company launched arbitration claims under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and El Salvador’s domestic investment law in 2008. (The claim was brought by Pac Rim LLC, an American company). The arbitral tribunal declined jurisdiction to hear the case under CAFTA, but proceeded under the domestic investment law. The protracted legal dispute concluded in October 2016 when the tribunal dismissed the investor’s claims, and awarded $8 million in legal costs to El Salvador.1


http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/el-salvador-makes-history-and-bans-all-36076/