Translation provided by JIGGSLAW®. On its most recent financial statements submitted to the Spanish Financial Conduct Authority (CNMV in Spanish), the Australian mining company, Berkeley, provides details about its most recent mining operations in Salamanca, the formation of a consultative committee, and the notification of arbitration sent to the Spanish government in November 2022 resulting in the denial of permits related to the uranium mine site exploration located in the Salamanca area of Retortillo. The mining company expects that the Nuclear Security Council’s rejection of the project will be overturned.
Berkeley announces in the document the establishment of a Spanish consultative committee composed of Miguel Riaño from Herbert Smith Freehill, Rafael Miranda from Endesa and Acerinox, and Jaime García-Legaz from AENA to strengthen the mining company’s position in Spain, resolve the current situation, and move the project forward to production.
In November 2021, Bekerley received a formal notification from MITECO (the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge in Spanish) denying the Salamanca project’s construction authorisation as a result of a negative report for the concession issued by the Nuclear Security Council’s Board in July 2021.
It also announced in November 2022 that it had submitted a written notice of investment arbitration to the Spanish government and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO in Spanish), informing the Kingdom of Spain of the nature of the dispute, non-compliance with the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), and a proposal for expedited negotiations to reach an amicable resolution.
The mining company explains that “notification of an investment arbitration was required to preserve the company’s rights to start an international arbitration if the dispute could not be satisfactorily resolved,” and it completes its report with details about its Retortillo operations, which include litium and tin mineral research.
According to the company, it has informed the Spanish government that it “is willing to collaborate and remains hopeful of an amicable resolution of the dispute through expedited negotiations.” It also says that the notification is a first step toward overturning the Nuclear Security Council’s board’s denial of 2021 through amicable negotiations.
