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LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A Philippine island province that experienced mining waste disasters in the 1990s but has been unable to find a court to hear its claim for damages is asking Nevada's highest court to rekindle a nearly 10-year-old state lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corp.
Attorney James McCarthy pleaded with six Nevada Supreme Court justices Tuesday to let the Province of Marinduque sue in Nevada because the Toronto-based mining company has substantial operations in the state.
"We filed here for all the right reasons," McCarthy said. "We chased them here. They fled the Philippines."
McCarthy told the justices Philippine courts ruled that Barrick can't be sued there because it doesn't do business there.
Steve Morris, a Las Vegas lawyer representing Barrick, accused McCarthy of choosing Nevada because he hoped to find a judge amenable to his claim.
"He chose this forum, I believe, because he thought he could persuade the court, just by filing here, by trumpeting these ... evil activities that occurred in the Philippines, that he could persuade the court out of sympathy to say, 'You can try these claims here,'" Morris said.
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