ISTANBUL — The Canada-based mining company Alamos Gold announced Tuesday it would seek more than $1 billion from Turkey for “expropriation and unfair and inequitable treatment” regarding a halted gold mining project in the country’s northwestern Canakkale region.

In a statement Tuesday, Alamos said its Netherlands-based office would file an investment treaty claim against Turkey over the controversial Kirazli gold mine project, which stalled in October 2019 after its mining concessions expired amid protests against the development.

Located in Mount Ida, also known as Mount Kaz, the project was met with resistance from local residents as well as politicians in 2019 after large areas of forest were razed in preparations for the gold mine. Alamos acquired rights to develop the land in 2010 and said it had since invested over $250 million for the project, but halted construction after the Turkish government did not renew the company’s mining licenses.

“We have been shut down for over 18 months in a manner without precedent in Turkey, despite having received all the permits required to build and operate a mine,” John A. McCluskey, president and CEO of Alamos Gold, said in a statement Tuesday, adding, “The Turkish government has given us no indication that relief is in sight, nor will they engage with us in an effort to renew the outstanding licenses.”