Chile Supreme Court upholds mining concession ruling

The Supreme Court of Chile has upheld a ruling regarding the statute of limitations in a lawsuit seeking the nullity of mining concessions. The Fourth Chamber rejected a cassation appeal filed by Pachon Transportes y Servicios Limitada against Minera Pacific West Resources Limitada.

The dispute originated in the Juzgado de Letras de Illapel. The plaintiff sought to invalidate a mining concession, claiming a preferential right based on a prior exploration concession and an earlier survey request. However, the court determined that the four-year statute of limitations established in Article 96 of the Mining Code had expired.

The timeline established that the constitutive sentence for the “LA DIVISA ONCE, 1 al 20” concession was published on February 2, 2015. Although the lawsuit was filed on January 31, 2019, it was not legally notified until March 26, 2019, which exceeded the legal timeframe. This decision confirms previous rulings by the Illapel Court of Letters and the La Serena Court of Appeals.