Update on English appeal process

RNS Number : 9328C

Pathfinder Minerals Plc

22 April 2013

 



For immediate release

Pathfinder Minerals Plc
("Pathfinder" or the "Company")

Update on English appeal process:
Pathfinder succeeds in dismissal of permission to appeal application

Pathfinder announces that the Court of Appeal has today dismissed the application of General Veloso, his company JV Consultores Internacionais, Limitada and Diogo Cavaco (the "Appellants") for permission to appeal against the judgment of the English High Court given on 19 October 2012 (the "Application").  In dismissing the Application the Court of Appeal made clear that it was doing so, not just because the Appellants failed to provide the security for costs which they had been ordered to provide on 25 March 2013, but also because they are in deliberate breach of the English court's orders and their Application amounted to a "cynical and tactical ploy" to buy more time in Mozambique and a clear abuse of the English court's process.  The Court of Appeal also said that the Defendants' grounds of appeal appeared to be "devoid of merit".  The Court of Appeal ordered the Appellants to pay Pathfinder's costs incurred in contesting the Application and ordered an interim payment on account of those costs in an amount of £150,000 to be paid within 14 days.

Speaking after the hearing Nick Trew, Chief Executive, said:  "It is plain from the conduct of the Appellants that their application for permission to appeal has been a dishonest and disingenuous exercise from start to finish.  They have used and abused the English Court and the Company for their own ends. The dismissal of their Application marks the definitive conclusion of the English proceedings in Pathfinder's favour.  The Company can now resume focus on enforcing its rights in Mozambique and achieving a resolution of the position."

Enquiries:

Pathfinder Minerals Plc

Nick Trew, Chief Executive

Tel. [phone]

Daniel Stewart & Company Plc

David Hart or James Thomas

Tel: [phone]

M: Communications

Ben Simons or Maria Souvorov

Tel: [phone] /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. ("CMDN"), 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.

As announced on 3 February 2012, ownership of these licences is being disputed.

 

END

 

 

MSCUUVSROVASUAR