Pathfinder Minerals Plc Further Update on Mozambique Court Proceedings (0243B)
December 31 2014 - 5:19AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMPFP
RNS Number : 0243B
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
31 December 2014
For immediate release: 31 December 2014
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
("Pathfinder" or "the Company")
Further update on Mozambique court proceedings
Application for recognition of English court costs orders
Pathfinder announces that it has received judgment in respect of
its application to the Mozambique Supreme Court (the "Supreme
Court") for recognition of orders by the English court for costs
aggregating GBP106,000 (the "First Costs Order") to be paid by
General Jacinto Veloso, Diogo Cavaco and General Veloso's company,
JV Consultores Internacaionais, Limitada (the "Defendants").
The Company is awaiting a full translation of the Supreme Court
judgment but is advised by its Mozambique lawyers that the Supreme
Court has rejected the Company's claim for recognition of the First
Costs Order while upholding, with one exception, all of the
Company's arguments.
Importantly, the Company understands that the Supreme Court
confirmed that the judgment of the Maputo Court obtained by the
Defendants in October 2013 (the "October 2013 Judgment"), which
determined, contrary to the English court, that Pathfinder's wholly
owned subsidiary IM Minerals Limited ("IMM") was not the legal
owner of 99.99% of the shares in Companhia Mineira da Naburi
("CMDN"), is not binding on Pathfinder.
The Supreme Court also rejected the Defendants' argument that
the English courts did not have jurisdiction to determine the
dispute because of the inconvenience for the Defendants in having
to defend legal proceedings in London.
However, the Supreme Court determined that the jurisdiction
clauses contained in the agreements which were the subject of the
dispute were not valid as a matter of Mozambique law because they
conferred jurisdiction on the courts of England and Wales without
specifying which court in England and Wales was to have
jurisdiction (or providing the criteria for selecting the competent
court). The Supreme Court rejected the Company's application for
recognition of the First Costs Order on this basis alone. The
Company is investigating the possibility of an appeal or other
remedies against the Supreme Court's rejection of the application
for recognition of the First Costs Order.
The Company is advised that the formulation conferring
jurisdiction on the courts of England and Wales contained in the
jurisdiction clauses in question is entirely standard for English
law governed contracts. The Supreme Court's judgment would
therefore seem to have serious implications for other existing and
future foreign investors in Mozambique.
In the meantime, the Company notes that, as previously
announced, the courts of Mozambique have already determined on two
previous occasions that IMM is the legal owner of the shares in
CMDN and the Supreme Court's judgment has no impact on those
decisions (albeit that they remain subject to appeal).
Speaking after the judgment Nick Trew, Pathfinder's chief
executive, said: "It is perverse that the Company's application for
recognition of the first claim for costs should be rejected on the
basis outlined in the judgment. The jurisdiction clauses contained
in the contracts were in standard form and are no different to the
clauses which appear in countless contracts around the world
conferring jurisdiction on the courts of England and Wales. While
this first judgment concerns only the recognition of a relatively
small order for costs, the implications for foreign investors in
Mozambique are profound. Those investors with standard form
jurisdiction clauses conferring jurisdiction on the courts of
England and Wales (or potentially the courts of any other country)
can now have no confidence that the parties' mutual choice of
jurisdiction for determination of disputes will be respected by the
Mozambique courts.
"Notwithstanding the matter of costs, I am pleased that the
Supreme Court has held that the October 2013 Judgment is not
binding on the Company. The Mozambique courts have now twice
determined that IMM is the lawful owner of the shares in CMDN and
we will continue to focus our efforts on recovery of the Company's
assets for the benefit of the Project and Pathfinder's
shareholders."
Enquiries:
Pathfinder Minerals Plc
Nick Trew, Chief Executive
Tel. +44 (0)20 7464 8410
WH Ireland Limited (Nomad and Broker)
Tim Feather or Liam Gribben
Tel: +44 (0)113 394 6600
Vigo Communications
Ben Simons or Ali Roper
Tel: +44 (0)20 7016 9595
Email: pathfinderminerals@vigocomms.com
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., 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.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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