Lydian International Ltd. and subsidiaries Lydian Canada Ventures Corp. and Lydian U.K. Corp. Ltd. were granted protection from creditors by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, for an initial 10-day period expiring Jan. 2, 2020.

The court also granted a stay in favor of Lydian Armenia CJSC, Lydian International Holdings Ltd., Lydian Resources Armenia Ltd. and Lydian U.S. Corp., the company said in a Dec. 23 news release.

In addition, the Toronto Stock Exchange suspended trading of Lydian International's ordinary shares and launched a listing review given the restructuring process, the company said in a separate, same-day release. A delisting hearing is anticipated in early January 2020.

During the protection period, Lydian International intends to seek financing or sale options for the Amulsar gold project in southern Armenia, and finalize financing discussions for potential foreign investment arbitration proceedings against the Armenian government.

The company will remain responsible for the day-to-day operations under the oversight of Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc., appointed as monitor by the court.

Lydian International said it has been unable to develop the Amulsar project due to illegal blockades since June 2018, due to which its lenders refused to further extend a previously announced forbearance agreement that expired Dec. 20.

Armenia's Administrative Court recently dismissed an application seeking to revoke Lydian International's environmental impact assessment for the Amulsar project.