The Australian company Prairie Mining informed the prime minister and the president that she sued Poland in international arbitration, according to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. According to the company, the Polish government hinders the construction of two mines - Jan Karski in the Lublin region and Dębieńsko in Silesia. The company demands compensation in the amount of PLN 8-10 billion.
Australians have warned last year that they will take all possible steps to secure their concession rights. Prairie Mining accuses the Polish side of obstructing the construction of two mines: Jan Karski in the Lublin region in the vicinity of Bogdanka and Dębieńsko in Silesia in the vicinity of the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine, owned by JSW.
Recall that at the end of December 2017, Prairie applied for a mining usufruct contract for the Jan Karski mine. Until April 2, 2018, the Company was entitled to the exclusive right to apply for a license. However, despite the passage of time, Prairie did not get an environmental decision for the project - the only document missing from submitting an application for a license. After the expiration of the exclusivity right, at the beginning of April 2018, the company filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of the Environment, complaining about not granting a mining use right within the legal deadline.
The District Court in Warsaw secured the Prairie claim and forbade the minister of the environment to grant exploration, appraisal or mining concessions to other entities and conclude agreements on establishing mining usufruct of the "Lublin" deposit and historical deposits K-4-5, K-6-7, K-8 and K-9 "(area of the planned Jan Karski mine) until the end of the court proceedings.
The other project - Dębieńsko - also got stuck in the Ministry of the Environment. In May 2018, the resort rejected the application for changes to the concession, which assumed production from the deposit in 2025. Prairie appealed against this decision.
At the same time, negotiations took place with JSW regarding the purchase of mining projects. The Australian company hoped that thanks to quick sales it would recover the invested funds. The process dragged on, despite the fact that JSW repeatedly assured that it was interested in the transaction.
- The Dębieńsko concession with potentially two stages is interesting for us, because it will enable quick entry into the decks and production in phase I up to 0.5 million tonnes of coal - said in June last year. the president of JSW, Daniel Ozon. For now, nothing came out of the conversations. JSW almost every quarter translates the decision on Prairie assets.
DGP adds that neither the government side (the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Energy) nor the companies themselves (Prairie Mining and JSW) commented on the issue of international arbitration. On Wednesday, the Prairie share price grows by 32%. up to PLN 1.03.
