Mongolian court recalls 4 mining licenses of Centerra Gold Inc. in Noyon Mountain

AKIPRESS.COM - The Mongolian appeal court on December 9 recalled four licenses of the Centrerra Gold Inc. for mining in the Noyon Uul Mountain, which is a "sacred place" and is located across Mondal soum of Selenge province of northern Mongolia. Extraction of mineral resources in the Noyon Mountain turned into a long dispute betwen locals and the mining company.
Accoirding to the current assessments, there are 27,667,378 tons of ore and 75,942,011 tons of gold in the Noyon Mountain today.
The Centerra Gold Inc. received a license for extraction of mineral resourses in this mountain in 2008 with a participating interest shares of 34%; 66% (government). However, a non-governmental organization Noyon Uul Avartsgaaya (Let's save the Noyon) was active in the dispute and sued the company to the Ulaanbaatar city court.
On September 10, the appeal court on administrative affairs of Ulaanbaatar decided to annul the geological and exploration licenses of the Canadian company.
The lawsuit was filed by another NGO Movement for Rescue of the Noyon Uul.
Centerra Gold Inc. made a statement, where it says that the company's licensed territories are located more than 10 km from the Noyon Mountain territory, where alleged valuable archaeological artifacts of the Hunnic period are located.