Summary

Introduction

This is the judgment of the Court determining certain preliminary issues in an arbitration claim ("the Arbitration Claim").

The Arbitration Claim is brought pursuant to section 67 and section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 ("the 1996 Act") in respect of a Partial Award dated 8 July 2019 ("the ICC Partial Award") of an arbitral tribunal in an ICC arbitration (ICC Case No. 18347/VRO/AGF/ZF/AYZ/HTG) ("the ICC arbitration").

London was designated as the seat of the ICC arbitration.

The arbitral tribunal in the ICC arbitration comprises Lord Collins of Mapesbury, Sir David A. R. Williams QC and Dr Michael Moser ("the ICC tribunal").

The Arbitration Claim challenges the jurisdiction of the ICC tribunal. The ICC tribunal upheld its own jurisdiction in 2014, in a decision that was later, in 2019, incorporated into the ICC Partial Award.

The Defendant in the Arbitration Claim (and Claimant in the ICC arbitration) is Tethyan Copper Company Pty Limited ("TCCA"). TCCA is an Australian company owned by two of the world's largest mining corporations, Antofagasta (a Chilean corporation) and Barrick Gold (a Canadian corporation)

The Claimant in the Arbitration Claim, the Province of Balochistan (Respondent in the Arbitration), is one of the four provinces of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The Chagai District of the Province of Balochistan, located close to Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan, contains what is believed to be the world's fifth largest goldmine. TCCA alleges that in breach of contract the Province of Balochistan denied an application in 2011 for a Mining Lease in the Chagai District.