An Appeals Court in Warsaw has overturned a Civil Court injunction that prevented the Polish Ministry of Environment (MoE) from granting competing licences over the Jan Karski project of Prairie Mining.
The dual-listed company is in the midst of an ongoing civil law claim against the MoE, owing to the Ministry's failure to implement a mining usufruct agreement over concessions that form the Jan Karski mine.
Subsequent to the filing of a civil claim, the Polish Civil Court granted Prairie an injunction preventing the MoE from granting concessions and concluding usufruct agreements with any other party.
The Appeals Court has now overturned the Civil Court decision and lifted the injunction, a move which Prairie stated on Tuesday was “fundamentally flawed”. The company said the ruling had the effect of “retrospectively applying the August 2018 amended version of the Geological and Mining Law and (incorrectly) concludes that Prairie did not have a priority right over the entire Jan Karski (Lublin) deposit”.
Prairie charged that the Appeal Court decision was further evidence of the “unfair and inequitable treatment” that it faced as a foreign investor in Poland.
In February, Prairie formally notified the Polish government of an investment dispute.
Prairie’s share price closed 3.90% up on the ASX, but fell 10.64% on the London exchange to 21p a share.