<article><p class="lead">Mining company Anglo American has filed a lawsuit challenging a ban that prevents Colombian coal mining firm Cerrejon from developing its La Puente pit. </p><p>The latest lawsuit comes after fellow Cerrejon shareholders BHP and Glencore <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2220446">filed separate suits for the same reason</a> on 27 April and 1 June, respectively.</p><p>Cerrejon has been blocked from working on the northern section of the La Puente pit since November 2017. Colombia's constitutional court suspended operations because of concerns about the impact of <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1885942">rerouting a stream on local water supply</a>.</p><p>Anglo American's latest legal challenge was filed to the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The government's legal defence agency director, Camilo Gomez, told <i>Argus</i> this week that the state made a strong attempt to reach a pre-arbitration agreement with these companies to avoid the lawsuits. </p><p>Cerrejon planned to develop La Puente to offset expected production declines elsewhere. The pit contains 35mn t of proven coal reserves and was expected to enable Cerrejon to offset 3mn t/yr declines in production from other pits over 2015-33.</p><p>Cerrejon exported 7.31mn t in January-April, which was flat on the previous year, but railway blockades in February and again throughout May have constrained supply to the seaborne market. Cerrejon exported 13.6mn t in 2020, an 18-year low.</p><p class="bylines">By Diana Delgado</p></article>
