Last checked at 9 Jul 2012 07:00
Embargoed: 0700hrs, 9 July 2012
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
("Pathfinder Minerals" or "the Company")
Update re. English High Court proceedings:
strike-out application granted
As previously announced, on 19 December 2011 Pathfinder Minerals commenced substantive legal proceedings in the English High Court seeking, amongst other things, declarations from the English court as to the validity and effect of the agreements by which the shares in Companhia Mineira de Naburi S.A. ("CMDN") were acquired by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary IM Minerals Limited ("IMM").
Pathfinder Minerals announces that on 6 July 2012 it and IMM obtained an order from the English High Court striking out the Defence and Counterclaim of General Veloso, Diogo Cavaco and JV Consultores Internacionais Limitada (the "Defendants") to the Company's claims, on the basis of the Defendants' breaches of the English Court's orders and their stated intention no longer to participate in the English Court proceedings. The Court also ordered that there should be a hearing of the Company and IMM's application for judgment on their claims on an expedited basis and that the Defendants should pay the Claimants' costs of the strike-out application.
Speaking after the Court's ruling, Nick Trew, the Company's Chief Executive, said:
"The validity and effect of the agreements by which the shares in CMDN were acquired by IMM lies at the heart of the current dispute with General Veloso and Diogo Cavaco. Today's ruling means that we may now proceed to seek a judgment from the English Court on this critical issue on an expedited basis, which the Company has been advised will be both recognisable and enforceable by the Courts of Mozambique. The Company regrets the length of time it is taking to bring about a resolution of the issues which it currently faces but today's judgment brings us one step closer to taking back control of CMDN."
Enquiries:
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
Nick Trew, Chief Executive
Tel. +44 (0)20 7464 8413
Daniel Stewart & Company Plc
David Hart 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 is incorporated in England & Wales and is admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Companhia Mineira de Naburi S.A.R.L., a subsidiary of Pathfinder Minerals, was issued mining concession licences 760C and 4623C on 13 September 2004 and 13 July 2011 respectively, each for a period of twenty-five years. 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.