"Alamos Gold seeks $1bn from Turkey over stalled Kirazli project," 20 April 2021

Canada’s Alamos Gold (TSX, NYSE: AGI) is seeking to obtain more than $1 billion from Turkey for what it deems as “unfair and inequitable treatment” of its Kirazli gold project, which has been halted since 2019 following protests and the expiration of the mining permit. The Toronto-based miner and its Netherlands units, which have had an active presence in Turkey since 2010, said the claim will be filed under a Netherlands-Turkey bilateral investment treaty... The gold miner said the sought sum represented the value of all its Turkish assets.

Opposition to Kirazli, located in a forested region near Mount Ida, began building two years ago, on the back of allegations that the miner had exceeded the number of trees it was supposed to cut, according to an environmental impact report. Protests grew larger after the company’s alleged plans to use of cyanide flooded Turkish social media.

Alamos, which has denied claims of cyanide leaks into the project’s surrounding area, said the Turkish government has failed to grant a routine renewal of its mining licenses in the 18 months since expiry.

The company says that during that time, it has met all legal and regulatory requirements for the renewal...