Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources has filed a claim seeking the annulment of a decision by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in March, which dismissed the company’s claims against Romania for compensation regarding its unsuccessful Rosia Montana gold mining project. Gabriel Resources has also requested a stay of enforcement for the court costs awarded to Romania, amounting to approximately $10 million (9.23 million euros), the mining company announced on Monday.
“The Arbitral Decision must be annulled due to fatal defects in the constitution of the ICSID tribunal given that two of the arbitrators who rendered the majority decision […] lacked the qualities of independence and impartiality that the ICSID Convention requires, and failed to adequately disclose relationships between themselves and with the parties involved in the case, including Romania’s counsel,” the company stated.
Gabriel Resources argues that the arbitrators’ decision is flawed due to excesses of power during the litigation, including disregard for applicable law, departure from procedural rules, and failure to state reasons for several decisions made during the arbitration. The litigation was initiated in 2015 by Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Gabriel Resources, whose main business has been the exploration and development of the Rosia Montana project in Romania, a major undeveloped gold deposit.
Gabriel Resources claimed around $6.7 billion in damages from Romania, including interest, as noted by Leaua Damcali Deaconu Paunescu, the Romanian legal team representing Romania in the case, in a March press release.
Gabriel Resources has held a license for the Rosia Montana gold and silver mine in Romania’s Alba county since 2000. The project was blocked by the Romanian state in 2014, following nationwide protests against its development that began in the fall of 2013 and lasted several months. The project faced significant opposition from environmentalists, local residents, and various civil groups, primarily due to concerns over the use of cyanide in the mining process and the displacement of local communities.
