PRIZMA

Prizma's Mehrdad Nazari was engaged by White & Case to serve as an Expert Witness for Claimant in the case of Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). According to its press release, Gold Reserve claims damages of approximately $2.1 billion arising from violations of provisions of the Canada-Venezuela bilateral investment treaty resulting in the effective expropriation of Gold Reserve's sizable investments in the Brisas gold/copper project and the Choco 5 property. (more...)

The Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade was launched in November 2011 to promote conflict-fee mineral supply chains in Eastern Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Will it help resolve conflict minerals related due diligence and reporting concerns of major brands? Will it be able to attract other governments and multilaterals?  (more...)

Greystar shareholders kicked out management and board as they did not secure permits and broad community support. Revisions of IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles has a new case study to wrestle with. (more...)

The IFC Performance Standards on Social & Environmental Sustainability have emerged as the de facto benchmark for developing and financing responsible extractive projects in emerging markets. The Canadian government’s March 2009 CSR Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, Building the Canadian Advantage, also includes the IFC Performance Standards. In this article, I review the genesis, significance and key challenges associated with the IFC Performance Standards, using also input from participants of over 20 workshops and training courses delivered in Canada, China, Panama, Peru, UK and Venezuela since 2006. (more...)

The report of the European Bank's (EBRD) November 2009 workshop on Environmental and Social Responsibility in Mining in London is now available. The event helped inform EBRD's preparation of its planned Mining Strategy (expected in 2010) and touched also on Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM).  (more...)