13th Dec 2006 07:00
Medusa Mining Limited13 December 2006 13 December 2006 MEDUSA MINING LIMITED POSITIVE OUTCOME ON Co-O MINE MPSA APPLICATION Medusa Mining Limited ("Medusa" or the "Company"), the Australian based companyoperating and developing gold mines in the Philippines, advises that the SupremeCourt of the Republic of the Philippines has unanimously confirmed that theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources ("DENR") can now proceed,subject to regulatory compliance, with the issuance to Philsaga MiningCorporation ("Philsaga") of Mineral Production Sharing Agreement ("MPSA")application 084-XIII covering the Co-O Goldmine. Philsaga can now also advance other applications within its portfolio which wereaffected by the 'Picop case'. Background The unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on the caselodged by Picop Resources Inc ("Picop"), a timber concession holder, arose whenPhilsaga's predecessor was required under the new mining code introduced in 1995to convert old style tenements to new tenements compliant with the new mininglaw. Picop lodged an adverse claim against the MPSA applications in 1997 on thegrounds that mining could not be undertaken in timber concessions. Philsagaacquired these tenements in 2000 and proceeded to challenge the adverse claim.Philsaga won the case against Picop in two lower courts and subsequently Picoplodged a case in the Supreme Court against the claim owner and a division of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources. The final Supreme Courtdecision is enumerated above. Geoff Davis, Managing Director of Medusa commented: "This decision caps a very busy year for Medusa and couldn't have come at abetter time. We have always been confident that the Supreme Court would find infavour of the Constitution under which all minerals are owned by the State.Philsaga can now proceed to have its key application over the Co-O Mine grantedand we can progress other tenements in our portfolio which have been previouslyaffected by the Picop case. "Prior to completing the merger with Philsaga on 4 December, a substantialcapital raising was undertaken, the refurbishment of the milling facility wascompleted and significant progress in the re-development of the mine was made.The Group is now focused on steadily increasing its production to the targetedlevel of 100,000oz/year by late 2007 - early 2008, from multiple mines". 13 December 2006 For further information, please contact: Medusa Mining Limited +618 9367 0601Geoffrey Davis, Managing DirectorRoy Daniel, Finance Director Ambrian Partners +44 (0)20 7776 6417Richard Brown / Richard Greenfield Bankside Consultants +44 (0)20 7367 8888Michael Padley / Daniela Hale This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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