Last checked at 2 Dec 2011 15:03
For immediate release: 2 December 2011
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
("Pathfinder Minerals" or the "Company")
Comment Regarding Financial Times Article
Pathfinder Minerals notes an article in the Financial Times newspaper on 2 December 2011 referring to a statement by a former director of the Company, General Jacinto Soares Veloso, that a legal transfer of licences ultimately owned by Pathfinder Minerals Plc had occurred.
The Company is not aware of any such statement but reconfirms that the licences 4623C ("Moebase") and 760C ("Naburi") are assets which have been legally registered in the name of Pathfinder Minerals' subsidiary Companhia Mineira de Naburi S.A.R.L. ("CMDN"), of which General Jacinto Soares Veloso is a director. Neither Pathfinder Minerals, IM Minerals Limited (CMDN's immediate parent company and a subsidiary of Pathfinder Minerals) nor the London-based directors of CMDN were aware of, or authorised, the transfer of the Pathfinder Group's sole assets (for unknown consideration) to Pathfinder Moçambique SA, a company not connected to the Pathfinder Group. The Company has been advised that, in the absence of such authority, any such transfer would be unlawful.
The Company and its legal representatives have again been reassured that an investigation is underway by the Ministry of Mineral Resources of Mozambique ("the Ministry") to confirm the status of CMDN's assets. The Company is in possession of share certificates and licence certificates clearly evidencing its ownership interest in both CMDN and the Moebase and Naburi licences registered to it.
The Company understands that the Ministry had received and had been processing an application from Pathfinder Moçambique S.A. for the amalgamation of the Moebase and Naburi licences into a single licence to be assigned to Pathfinder Moçambique S.A. The Company is co-operating fully with the Ministry's investigation and, as previously announced, has alerted the Ministry to the fact that Pathfinder Moçambique S.A., a company established on 27 September 2011 of which General Jacinto Soares Veloso is a director and shareholder, has no affiliation with Pathfinder Minerals Plc.
The directors of Pathfinder Minerals, together with the Company's legal advisers in the UK and Mozambique, are pursuing all avenues to secure the Company's licences and resume project development. A further update will be issued as and when more information becomes available.
Enquiries:
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
Nick Trew, Chief Executive
Tel. +44 (0)20 7399 4371
Daniel Stewart & Company Plc
Paul Shackleton or James Thomas
Tel: +44 (0)20 7776 6550
M: Communications
Ben Simons or Maria Souvorov
Tel: +44 (0)20 7920 2340 /2327
Notes to Editors
Pathfinder Minerals Plc's subsidiary Companhia Mineira de Naburi S.A.R.L ("CMDN") was issued mining concession licence 4623C ("Moebase") on 13 July 2011 for a period of twenty-five years. The Moebase licence is in addition to licence 760C ("Naburi"), also granted in the name of CMDN for a period of 25 years ending in 2029. Taken together, these mining concessions cover approximately 32,000 hectares of land on the Indian Ocean coast of the Zambezia province of Mozambique, known to contain the heavy minerals, ilmenite, rutile and zircon.
Pathfinder Minerals Plc is admitted to trading on AIM. Trading was suspended on 11 November 2011 at the Company's request, following notification from General Jacinto Soares Veloso of his resignation as a director and assertions by him that CMDN is no longer the licence holder.