Down ( market wise ) but not out............ 2015-11-25 08:14 ET - News Release
Mr. Joaquin Merino reports
EMERITA PROVIDES UPDATE ON THE AZNALCOLLAR PROJECT PUBLIC TENDER
The Court of Seville has issued a resolution to the recent investigation regarding the public tender process to award the mining rights to Emerita Resources Corp.'s Aznalcollar mine. Judge Patricia Fernandez has stated that although there is not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a doubt the existence of a criminal act, the evidence clearly demonstrates the existence of numerous administrative irregularities that must be resolved by the administrative courts to ensure that the Aznalcollar project is awarded to the rightful bidder as per well-established public tender legislation.
Emerita has initiated the legal process in the administrative court against the Aznalcollar granting resolution as recommended by Judge Fernandez in response to this important ruling. The ruling is supported by a full police investigation and includes testimony by senior government officials outlining irregularities in the tender process and breaches of the legislation governing the public tender process in Spain. After consulting with its legal advisers, the company has also submitted an appeal in relation to the original charges pertaining to the occurrence of prevarication with respect to the Aznalcollar tender process. Emerita still considers that the awarding resolution by the Junta Andalucia was unfair and arbitrary and that there is evidence to support prevarication. The company is confident that appealing the Court of Seville's ruling while at the same time filing a claim in the administrative courts is the most effective way to ensure that its rights to a fair and legal process in the granting of the Aznalcollar project are ultimately adhered to.
Given the direct wording in the resolution by Judge Fernandez, the company is confident that the administrative process will move quickly and be favourable to Emerita. The administrative process will have access to the detailed evidence collected during the fulsome and extensive police investigation, and the testimony by senior government officials indicating serious breaches of the tender process, including awarding the project to a company that did not actually participate in the tender process.
According to Joaquin Merino, Emerita's president and chief executive officer: "Emerita is the company that is best positioned to develop this project in the shortest possible time frame. Due to the very detailed technical work that we completed during the tender process we are in a unique position to efficiently develop the project in an environmentally responsible and safe manner using the most modern standards. As part of the Forbes and Manhattan group of companies, Emerita has the technical and financial capability to complete this project to the highest modern standards. Forbes and Manhattan companies have built or restarted operations in Brazil, Canada, Mali and Australia, and have recently received the environmental permits to develop a large potash deposit in Brazil."
The company has granted a total of 200,000 stock options to a consultant recently engaged by Emerita. The stock options vest immediately, subject to a four-month regulatory hold period, and may be exercised at a price of 10 cents per option for a period of two years from the date hereof. This grant of options is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Qualified person
The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Joaquin Merino, PGeo, president and CEO of the company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
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