The Senegalese government has won an initial ruling in an international arbitration case concerning an iron mining project in the southeast of the country, steel giant ArcelorMittal said Wednesday.
'The arbitral tribunal has now issued its first award and decided that Senegal is entitled to terminate the 2007 agreements' but the question of possible damages has yet to be considered, ArcelorMittal said.
The world's top steel company said it concluded an agreement with Senegal in 2007 to develop the Faleme project in the Tambacounda region to mine iron ore, a key component of steel.
The envisaged investment of $2.2 billion was the biggest industrial project in the west African country, and was due to have started operations in 2011 and produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore per year.
At the time the Senegalese government estimated the facility would bring it around $150 million in tax revenues per year. Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal said the project fell behind schedule for a number of reasons, including the global economic crisis and then studies showing the iron ore to be of lower quality than initially thought. It halted the project
in 2009.
'The arbitral tribunal has now issued its first award and decided that Senegal is entitled to terminate the 2007 agreements' but the question of possible damages has yet to be considered, ArcelorMittal said.
The world's top steel company said it concluded an agreement with Senegal in 2007 to develop the Faleme project in the Tambacounda region to mine iron ore, a key component of steel.
The envisaged investment of $2.2 billion was the biggest industrial project in the west African country, and was due to have started operations in 2011 and produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore per year.
At the time the Senegalese government estimated the facility would bring it around $150 million in tax revenues per year. Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal said the project fell behind schedule for a number of reasons, including the global economic crisis and then studies showing the iron ore to be of lower quality than initially thought. It halted the project
in 2009.