Alamos Gold to file $1 billion claim against Turkey

TORONTO

Canadian miner Alamos Gold has said its Netherlands units would file an investment treaty claim exceeding $1 billion against Turkey for “unfair and inequitable treatment” with its gold mining project in Turkey’s northwest.

“Alamos Gold Inc. regrets to announce that its Netherlands wholly-owned subsidiaries Alamos Gold Holdings Coöperatief U.A. and Alamos Gold Holdings B.V. will file an investment treaty claim against the Republic of Turkey for expropriation and unfair and inequitable treatment, among other things, with respect to their Turkish gold mining project,” the company said in a statement on April 20.

“The claim will be filed under the Netherlands-Turkey Bilateral Investment Treaty and is expected to exceed $1 billion, representing the value of the company’s Turkish assets,” it added.

Alamos has had an active presence in Turkey since 2010. Alamos and its subsidiaries have invested over $250 million in Turkey, unlocked over a billion dollars worth of project value, and contributed over $20 million in royalties, taxes and forestry fees to the Turkish government, according to the statement.

However, the government failed to grant a routine renewal of the company’s mining licenses regarding the Kirazlı Gold Mine, the company claimed.

“After 10 years of effort and over $250 million invested by the company we have been shut down for over 18 months in a manner without precedent in Turkey, despite having received all the permits required to build and operate a mine,” it said.

The mine project on the Kazdağları mountain range, which was known as Mount Ida in ancient times, has stirred a public outcry in recent months. Several environmentalist groups have founded a protest camp near the construction site, which is located some 32 kilometers southeast of the ruins of Troy.