Poland has lost a high-profile coal dispute with Australian company GreenX Metals Limited (formerly Prairie Mining) following an international arbitration tribunal ruling. The tribunal found that Poland breached its treaty obligations regarding the Jan Karski coal mine project in the Lublin Coal Basin. As a result, GreenX is set to receive up to PLN 1.3 billion in compensation, excluding interest calculated from December 2019. However, claims related to the Dębieńsko project were dismissed.
The case centered around the Jan Karski coal mine and the Dębieńsko project. Despite GreenX Metals securing an exploration concession for Jan Karski, the Polish government failed to approve the mining usufruct agreement within the legal timeframe. This delay, coupled with the Ministry of the Environment's inaction, led to the eventual loss of the project to Bogdanka, a state-owned mining company under the control of Enea.
GreenX Metals had initially sought PLN 4.2 billion in damages through two separate arbitrations, claiming lost profits and losses from both the Jan Karski and Dębieńsko projects. The Australians accused Poland of violating both the BIT and the ECT, treaties designed to protect foreign investments.
While embroiled in the legal battle with Poland, GreenX shifted its focus to Greenland, where it began exploration activities in 2021 under the Arctic Rift Copper (ARC) project, which targets a large copper mineral system. Some of the funds won in this dispute may be redirected to support this venture.
The contested coal deposit was eventually awarded to Bogdanka, which in 2020 received a concession to extract hard coal from the “K-6 and K-7” deposits, part of the area intended for the Jan Karski mine. These deposits, with an estimated 66 million tons of resources, now serve as a key asset for Bogdanka.
GreenX Metals' Jan Karski project had aimed to build a major coking coal mine in the Lublin Coal Basin, projected to create 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs. Approximately 75% of the mine's production was expected to be coking coal.
