25th Nov 2015 11:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - South America precious metals miner Minera IRL Ltd is set for an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday at which it will attempt to see off a push by its Peruvian subsidiary to remove the current board amid an ongoing battle for control.
Should the resolutions be rejected, Minera IRL Ltd will continue with its own attempt to oust the management of the Peruvian subsidiary, who for their own part are seeking to take the helm of the parent company.
Minera IRL Ltd, which is listed on London's AIM market, has been seeking to remove Diego Benavides from his role as the president and general manager of the company's two Peruvian subsidiaries, Minera IRL SA and Compañía Minera Kuri Kullu SA, for the past couple of months. Benavides also is the former interim chief executive of the parent company.
Minera IRL Ltd is seeking to remove Benavides from his role after he failed to cooperate with former executive chairman Daryl Hodges, along with the resistance he showed to changes the company had sought to make to ensure it remained compliant with AIM and Toronto Stock Exchange rules. The company's shares have now been de-listed in Canada.
In addition to this, Minera IRL Ltd said allegations against Benavides had been made through a whistleblower hotline, but any investigation into the allegations has been prevented by Benevides refusing access to the corporate information required to verify the accusations.
Since the process of attempting to remove Benavides started, Minera IRL Ltd has filed a request for a criminal investigation into him related to a USD70.0 million credit facility Minera IRL SA was granted in June this year.
Beyond this, the Ltd and SA parts of the business have been trading blows about the support of the Ollachea community, who live close to the company's Ollachea gold project in Peru. Minera IRL Ltd has accused Benavides and another person linked to the community with misrepresenting the views of the community, while the Minera IRL SA business has made similar allegations back.
Last week, Minera IRL Ltd set out an eight-point plan to try to address the issues it currently faces and which it will implement if resolutions put forward by shareholders in support of Mineral IRL SA at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting are rejected.
The resolutions at the meeting are calling for Minera IRL Ltd's current board to be replaced by an alternative group led by Benavides.
Should those be rejected, Minera IRL Ltd intends to take back control of its Peruvian subsidiary through an extraordinary general meeting of the unit that it has requested. Should Benavides and other directors of the subsidiary fail to call the meeting, the parent company will apply to the Peruvian courts to force them to do so.
Minera IRL Ltd also intends to ensure all of its financial statements, which have been delayed due to the issues with Peruvian subsidiaries, are completed to allow trading in its shares to restart on AIM. Its shares are currently suspended pending publication of its interim results statement for 2015.
Minera IRL Ltd also said it intends to make a realistic assessment on the future of the Corihuarmi mine in Peru and will work with the Ollachea community to build a strong partnership with the local area to develop its project.
The group wants to appoint a chief executive and chief financial officer qualified to lead it through its transition to becoming a 100,000 ounce per year gold producer, and it will expand its board to four or five directors.
Minera IRL Ltd will review the funding requirements for the business and the development of the Ollachea project and intends to revamp its corporate governance standards in line with the Equator Principles, a set of guidelines for managing environmental and social risk.
The extraordinary general meeting of Minera IRL Ltd, at which the Peruvian subsidiary's calls to remove the current board will be voted upon, will take place on Thursday in Toronto.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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