Antofagasta share price soars as it wins $6bn in Pakistan suit
Shares in Antofagasta topped the FTSE 100 this morning as the World Bank awarded it $5.8bn (£4.6bn) in damages for a blocked mining project in Pakistan.
The award comes two years after the World Bank’s arbitration wing found that Pakistan had unlawfully denied Antofagasta, and its partner Barrick Gold, a mining lease for a Pakistani copper and gold project.
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Shares were up 3.7 per cent to 895.2p at around 11.20am this morning.
It opens the doors to talks between the companies and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is trying to attract investment into his country.
“We remain willing to discuss the potential for a negotiated settlement with Pakistan and will continue to protect our commercial interests and legal rights until the conclusion of this dispute,” said William Hayes, the chair of TCC, the Antogafasta and Barrick subsidiary running the project.
The Reko Diq project is thought to be one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits. The companies expect it to have a mine life of over half a century.
The damages include $4.1bn compensation, which the arbiters deemed was the project’s market value in 2011. Interest amounted to $1.8bn.
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TCC said it had invested more than $220m by the time Pakistan refused it the license.
Reko Diq is at the foot of an extinct volcano close to the borders with Iran and Afghanistan. The government refused it a mining lease after pressure from local communities.
Main image credit: Getty