Kenya's row with mineral firm to be decided by World Bank tribunal

Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala (second left) operates the New Crawler Mounted Dando Corotec 9000 Diamond Core during the visiting of the Coal Exploration project and Commissioning of the Machine at Taru in Kwale County on Thursday 14th May 2015. He warned those exploring coal without permit will face arrest. [Photo/Kelvin Karani/STANDARD]

The row between Cortec Mining and Cabinet Secretary for Mining Mr Najib Balala over the Sh6.1trillion niobium deposits in Kwale is set to play out at the international stage after the firm took Kenya to a World Bank funded tribunal for arbitration.

Cortec Mining Kenya (CMK) jointly with its parent company in the UK, Cortec (Pty) Ltd and Stirling Capital Limited have filed an application at the International Centre For Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is headquartered in Washington.