Gold Reserve Inc. said in a recent press release that officials have met with members of the Venezuelan government, which agreed to resolve a more than $740 million award owed the company.

A face-to-face meeting occurred in July but was not publicized by Gold Reserve until last month. Gold Reserve board chairman James H. Coleman and CEO Rockne J. Timm met with four members of Venezuela’s government and one from a state-run oil and natural gas company, the company says in a written press release.

“We are pleased with the open dialogue and seriousness demonstrated by senior representatives of the government in seeking a solution to resolve this matter in a manner that is positive for both the company and the government,” Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger says.

The Tribunal at the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) last year issued the judgment against Venezuela. Gold Reserve then filed a petition to confirm the award with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

A three-member international tribunal heard the case in accordance with provisions of the Canada-Venezuela Bilateral Investment Treaty. 

Gold Reserve is incorporated in Canada, but has its executive offices at 926 W. Sprague in downtown Spokane.

In 2008, Gold Reserve sued that South American country’s government for $2.3 billion after it seized the company’s primary mining property, called the Brisas Project. The gold and copper project was Gold Reserve’s main business for more than 16 years, the company says in court documents.

The award, including interest, is now approximately $757 million. Court records say Gold Reserve invested $300 million into Brisas from the early 1990s to the time the project was expropriated by the Venezuelan government. The company was in the process of clearing the Brisas site when the government revoked its construction permit.

Belanger says the company has spent at least $22 million in legal fees alone to argue the case.

As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed to work in good faith to reach an agreement.

Additionally, the company says, “While it is the objective of both the company and the Venezuelan government to amicably resolve the payment of the arbitral award, it was also understood that the company will continue to pursue all legal avenues to enforce and collect the arbitral award and in turn, Venezuela will take all legal steps to defend its legal rights.”