By Zach Dyer
The Tico Times
The government of Costa Rica announced Tuesday morning that it was ready to suit up and meet Infinto Gold, Ltd. at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The move comes after the Canadian mining company filed a Request for Arbitration in the latest phase of a three-year legal battle over the annulled Las Crucitas gold mining concession in northern Costa Rica.
Infinito Gold announced that it had filed an arbitration request with ICSID Monday, asking for $94 million in damages from lost investments in the gold mining project between 1993 and 2010, plus legal fees and interest.
“We hope to prove that (the government of Costa Rica) does not have to make any payment, or should minimize the payment, by presenting all evidence from courts that annulled the concession. This is because (the company) never complied with legal requirements, and therefore, there never was a concession,” Environment Minister René Castro said Tuesday morning.