Govt to battle AngloGold at arbitration
Ghana is ready for a legal tussle with AngloGold Ashanti, a gold mining company, as the state has appointed an international law firm to represent it at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, DC, USA.
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The law firm, Curtis, Mallet-Provost, Colt & Mosle LLP, represented Ghana last year when two local companies, Dunkwa Continental Goldfields and Continental Construction and Mining Company, sued for a $200-million compensation.
Ghana won that case.
According to sources close to the case, Ghana is currently studying AngloGold’s filed documents and will put in a response on time.
Background
AngloGold Ashanti has dragged the government to the ICSID to seek redress for losses it has suffered as a result of the withdrawal of military personnel from its mining concessions.
Information gathered by the Daily Graphic was that the mining company resorted to ICSID following the nuisance posed by illegal miners as a result of the military’s withdrawal from the company’s mining sites in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
AngloGold is arguing that the military was withdrawn despite an outstanding agreement for it (military) to provide security.
The case, which was registered on May 2, 2016, has been listed on ICSID’s website as Case No. ARB/16/15.
Parties
AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana Limited) is the claimant in the case, while the President of the Republic of Ghana, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and the Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana are the respondents.
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According to the publication on the ICSID website, the tribunal was yet to be constituted for the hearing of the case to commence.
Sources told the Daily Graphic that the company was seeking the payment of compensation for suffering at the hands of illegal miners following the pulling out of the military from its mine sites.
The Daily Graphic also learnt that the company had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the military to provide protection for its mines and equipment, but the military pulled out in February this year.
Company worried
The company recently reiterated its worry over the continued activities of illegal gold miners at its Obuasi Mine.
It was particularly worried over the situation where illegal miners, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ operators, had been looting the company’s high-grade gold-bearing material for months.
The Managing Director (MD) of AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi Mine, Mr Eric Asubonteng, told journalists recently that since the security forces were withdrawn at the beginning of February this year following a clash between the management of the Obuasi Mine and some illegal miners which led to the death of the mine’s corporate affairs manager, invasion of the mine’s concessions by illegal miners had continued undiminished.