7th Aug 2014 09:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Metminco Ltd Thursday said a Chilean Constitutional Tribunal has dismissed the defences of the land holder at its Mollacas copper project and declared Metminco's lawsuit to be admissible in court.
The news comes after the company said in July that the Supreme Court in Chile had rejected the company's application to appeal a recent decision which found that a granted First Easement Extension, allowing the company to engage in further mining at the Mollacas project, was invalid.
At the time, the exploration and development copper-mining company, with operations in Peru and Chile, said the Supreme Court made the decision on the basis that the Court of Appeal was right to say that the extension cannot be granted without the land holder's permission.
In March, the company said that the original judgement was based on a technicality related to a judge's decision to approve the First Extension over the property in November 2011 when it was not owned by Metminco, despite the company being a related party and despite a change in the area and purpose of activities since the original easement.
On Thursday, Metminco said the Supreme Court proceedings will remain suspended while the tribunal considers Metmino's case.
Metminco said that should the tribunal rule in its favour, then the Chilean courts would not be able to rely on the Court of Appeal's interpretation of the situation.
The company holds title to 20 exploitation concessions covering the Mollacas deposit and surrounding area, and owns 179 hectares of land adjacent to the proposed open pit operation, which is located on private land.
Metminco shares were up 16% to 1.22 pence, putting it amongst the top AIM All-Share risers on Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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