- Montero (MON) seeks C$90,000,000 in Damages from the Tanzanian Government for Expropriation of the Wigu Hill project
- A retention license was revoked by the Tanzanian Government
- Montero (MON) is a junior exploration company focused on finding, exploring, and advancing globally significant gold, silver, and base metal deposits in Chile
- Montero (MON) is up today, trading at C$0.06 as of Jul 28, 10:28 a.m. EDT
Montero (MON) is seeking C$90,000,000 in damages from the Tanzanian Government for Expropriation of the Wigu Hill project.
The company is providing an update on its fully funded arbitration proceedings against the United Republic of Tanzania over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element Project before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), part of the World Bank Group.
Montero submitted its Memorial on the Merits (Memorial) to the ICSID arbitral tribunal in May 2022 as agreed by the parties and the tribunal. The Memorial contains the basis for compensation to Montero for C$ 90 million including interest, which continues to accrue. The damages claimed are for Tanzania’s unlawful expropriation and mistreatment of Montero’s investment, this is in breach of the agreement between the Governments of Canada and Tanzania for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (BIT) signed in 2013.
Dr Tony Harwood, President and CEO of Montero commented on the news.
“The company has made repeated attempts to work with Tanzanian Government to reach an amicable settlement without success, while the discovery and development of the Wigu Hill project has created significant value for Tanzania. We are committed to pursuing fair treatment of our shareholders and a return on our substantial investment of time and money in Tanzania through a fully funded arbitration process governed by ICSID, a part of the World Bank.”
Background
Montero started exploration on the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element project in March 2008 under a prospecting license and spent over C$15.5 million on discovery and development of the project. In 2015 a five-year retention license was given by the Tanzanian Government on the property. The Wigu Hill retention license was revoked by the Tanzanian Government in 2018 when the local Mining Regulations 2018, cancelled all previously issued retention licenses. Since then, Montero made several attempts to reach an amicable solution with the Government without success.
Montero filed a request for arbitration with the ICSID on January 8, 2021. On February 9, 2021, ICSID registered Montero’s request for the institution of arbitration proceedings to resolve the illegal expropriation matter. The arbitral tribunal was constituted on November 18, 2021.
Next steps
Tanzania will respond to Montero’s Memorial by October 2022, more written submissions will follow in Q2 and Q3 2023.
Montero (MON) is a junior exploration company focused on finding, exploring, and advancing globally significant gold, silver, and base metal deposits in Chile.
Montero (MON) is up today, trading at C$0.06 as of Jul 28, 10:28 a.m. EDT.
