in the news.. INSIDECOSTARICA reports;
Costa Rica stands its ground after $1 billion threat by mining firm, says “case is closed”
April 5th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, said yesterday that the case of the Crucitas open-pit gold mine is closed, after learning that the Canadian mining company, Infinto Gold, threatened Costa Rica with a more than $1 billion lawsuit.
Chinchilla said that the courts had given their “final word” on the subject and consequently her administration has “no power to act against the [court’s] judgement.”
Infinto Gold says it will push ahead with a lawsuit for $1,092,000,000 if they are not allowed to resume work on the open pit gold mine within 6 months. The amount represents $92 million the company has invested in the project, and $1 billion in lost profits. The company had hoped to extract at least 19.8 tons of gold during the 10 years provided by the concession.
Infinto Gold said in a statement that the “moratorium on open pit mining in Costa Rica does not affect our project because it is not retroactive.”