Chile's state-controlled Codelco, the world's largest copper miner, said on Friday that it had asked for a second international arbitration with Ecuador and its national mining company Enami EP over the Llurimagua copper project.
The miner said the request had been submitted to the International Centre for the settlement of Investment disputes ((ICSID)). In April, Codelco also asked for arbitration with the (ICC) of the International Chamber of Commerce.
"for more than a year, Codelco made a formal request to begin a friendly and confidential dialogue about its investment in the Llurimagua project," the company said in a statement. "
The project has been the subject of commercial tension since November 2020, when Codelco said its Ecuadorian counterparts had not yet fulfilled the agreement reached a year ago to jointly develop the project, when the project was in the exploration phase.
Llurimagua could be the first overseas mine for Codelco to expand overseas for many years. The project, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of the Ecuadorian capital Quito, has been boycotted by nearby communities because of environmental problems.
