Lydian shares soar after Armenian courts grant order to remove trespassers from Amsular project

Lydian International Limited (TSE:LYD) (OTCMKTS:LYDIF) announced Friday that the company gained a favourable decision from the Armenian courts, who instructed police to remove trespassers from the Amulsar project.

Shares of Lydian soared over 17% on Friday to sit at C$0.17 in Canada and rose over 50% in the US to sit at $0.14.

The court ruling supports Lydian’s complaint against a decision made by local police to take no action against protesters trespassing at the Amulsar site and blocking access roads to the property.

Lydian’s Amulsar Project has been illegally blockaded since June 22 last year.

READ: Lydian International says Armenian government has begun third audit on Amulsar gold project

As per the Armenian court decision, the right to assembly is not absolute and may not be exercised on private property without the consent of its owner, meaning police must act to remove trespassers.

The ruling is effective one month after the date of publication unless appealed before that date.

“While we respect individuals’ right of free expression, we strongly believe this cannot be exercised in an illegal manner at the expense of the rights of others, meaning in this case Lydian’s shareholders, lenders, employees, community members, and other stakeholders,” said João Carrêlo, Lydian’s president and CEO in a statement.

The Toronto-based company initiated legal actions in Armenia related to the protests since July 2018.

Importantance of ruling

“This is a long overdue step that we hope will become an important milestone towards the abolishment of unlawfulness and discrimination that Lydian has been facing since June 2018,” said Carrêlo. “We look forward to the prompt implementation by the police of the Court’s ruling.”

Amulsar, in south-central Armenia, is expected to be a large-scale operation with annual gold production averaging around 225,000 ounces over a 10-year mine life.

–Updates with share price–

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Story by ProactiveInvestors