Gold Reserve Inc. Provides Update To ICSID Arbitration
SPOKANE, WA, Aug. 1, 2011 /CNW/ - Gold Reserve Inc. (TSX:GRZ) (NYSE-Amex:GRZ) announced the filing of its Reply on July 29, 2011 to Venezuela's Counter-Memorial relating to the arbitration claim against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID"), in accordance with the provisions of the Canada-Venezuela Bilateral Investment Treaty ("BIT").
Gold Reserve's claim alleges violations of three provisions of the Canada-Venezuela BIT culminating in the effective expropriation of Gold Reserve's sizable investments in the world-class Brisas gold/copper project and the promising Choco 5 property.
Gold Reserve claims that Venezuela's wrongful conduct caused it to lose the entire value of its rights to develop the Brisas Project and Choco 5. As a result, Gold Reserve is seeking compensation corresponding to the restitution, or fair market, value of the rights to develop the Brisas Project and Choco 5, as of the date of the award. After accepting a few proposed corrections noted in Venezuela's Counter-Memorial and updating the interest calculations to reflect the measure of Gold Reserve's losses as of June 30, 2011, the revised claim now approximates $2.1 billion.
Venezuela is scheduled to file its Rejoinder by November 14, 2011. At that point the written phase of the arbitration will be complete and the final hearing on the merits and jurisdictional issues is scheduled for a 10 day hearing to commence on February 6, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Doug Belanger, President, stated, "The filing of our Reply is the culmination of an extensive effort by counsel, technical, legal and financial experts and Company personnel. With only six months to the final hearing we are very pleased with the progress and the pace of the arbitration. However, we always remain ready to evaluate and possibly enter an amicable settlement that would compensate Gold Reserve for its losses in addition to possibly retaining an interest in the project in exchange for the transfer of the extensive technical information that will allow the project to proceed on a fast track basis rather than to take years to duplicate. Any settlement would only be accepted if it were beneficial to the shareholders and stakeholders of the company. Our objective is to pursue both the arbitration and settlement until the process is concluded."
Please visit our website at www.goldreserveinc.com under Investor Relations: SEDAR Filings or SEC Filings.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2011/01/c8674.html
