Chilean state copper company goes to international bodies for the Ecuadorian project Llurimagua

At International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) a arbitration requested by Codelco with respect to proyeLlurimagua mining district, which is located north of Ecuador.

The National Copper Corporation (Codelco) Chile reported that it notified the ICSID general secretariat with the request for arbitration, under the agreement between Ecuador and Chile, for the reciprocal promotion of investments.

“The request was made after more than a year after the Chilean copper company formally asked to initiate a friendly and confidential conversation process regarding your investments in the Llurimagua mining project, located 80 kilometers from Quito (in Cotacachi, Imbabura) ”, he stated in a press release.

Since 2012, the project was managed by the National Mining Company (Enami) and Codelco.

In March 2019, Codelco and its Ecuadorian counterpart, Enami, signed an agreement to create a public limited company, 51% owned by Enami and 49% for Codelco, for the development of the project that has faced resistance for years from nearby communities of Íntag.

A month later, the Comptroller found several breaches of the contract by both companies. The controlling entity detected environmental and legal faults that have made you fall into expiration grounds.

Chilean company Codelco requests arbitration with Ecuador before the International Chamber of Commerce for breaches in the Llurimagua project

According to Codelco, in November 2020 He had asked Ecuador, represented by the State Attorney General’s Office, to promote a solution to comply with the obligations in relation to investments in that project.

That deadline, he added, it expired after six months, last May.

In April 2021, Codelco requested arbitration with Ecuador before the Chamber of international trade for an alleged breach in the Llurimagua project.