Canadian miner files for arbitration over licence

Dar es Salaam. A Canadian company has commenced international arbitration proceeding against Tanzania in an attempt to hold on to its gold exploration and mining licence.
Winshear Gold Corp, formerly Helio Resource Corp, has filed the case at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Tanzania is a signatory.
The miner said Tuesday it went to the ICSID after failing to get the government to mutually resolve a dispute over the decision to cancel its licence for the SMP Gold Project in Lupa.
Winshear claims it delivered to the Attorney General (AG) a notice of intent to submit a claim for arbitration on January, 10, 2020, allowing a six-month room for negotiations, which, however, did not happen.  
Yesterday, the Tanzania Mining Commission (TMC) executive secretary, Prof Shukrani Manya, told The Citizen that the matter was no longer on his desk. He said it was now being dealt with by the solicitor general’s office. “This is a legal matter and that is why it is being handled by the solicitor general’s office.”                            
When reached for comment, the AG, Prof Adelardus Kilangi, told The Citizen by phone that he could not immediately comment as he had not received any official communication from the said company. He also could not recall information about the matter but added that it would be worked on.  The Canadian company noted that it was acting on the basis of an investment agreement between Canada and Tanzania for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments enforced since 2013. It retained the services of Lalive, an international law firm with offices in Geneva, Zurich and London, and which specialises in international arbitration.  
Winshear was one of the three foreign companies that declared an investment dispute with the government after respective licences were impacted by the new mining laws that came into force in 2017.
The other two companies are Montero Mining and Exploration, also of Canada, and Indiana Resources Limited of Australia. Montero lost its licence for rare earth minerals in the Wigu Hill project area while Indiana has also filed notice for arbitration over Ntaka Hill Nickel Sulphide project.      
The government recently called for joint-venture bids to develop 10 mining areas, whose licences were revoked last year in line with the new mining regime.
In 2017, Tanzania amended the Mining Act 2010 and enacted two other natural resource-related laws. The laws and their subsequent regulations abolished retention licences that were transferred to the government. The areas which were identified to contain different minerals, including gold, nickel and rare-earth element, were held by different companies under retention licences.
Before the amendment of the Mining Act 2010 in 2017, retention licence was granted to holders of a prospecting licence after they identify a mineral deposit in a prospecting area that is potentially of a commercial significance but cannot be immediately developed due to various  factors.