El Salvador celebrates win against mining company

El Salvador is celebrating a win against a multinational mining company after an international arbitration panel in Washington ruled in its favor.

Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Menendez announced the decision in Washington Friday.

Mining company Pac Rim Cayman had asked the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes to order El Salvador to pay $250 million for potential profits lost when the country did not grant it a license to mine gold.

The government maintained that the company purchased by OceanaGold in 2013 had never met the regulatory requirements.

OceanaGold said in a statement Friday that it was disappointed and would review the decision. The arbitration panel told OceanaGold to pay El Salvador $8 million for legal fees.