VANCOUVER, Sept. 6, 2016 /CNW/ - Bear Creek Mining
Corporation (TSX Venture: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the "Company")
announces that in-person hearings in respect of its Santa Ana
arbitration claim (the "Arbitration") will commence Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at the headquarters
of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
("ICSID") in Washington, DC.
During the hearings, which are expected to continue until
September 14, 2016, witnesses and
experts called by both the Company and the Republic of Peru (together, the "Parties") will provide
oral testimony, will be cross-examined by counsel for the opposing
party, and the tribunal of three arbitrators (the "Tribunal") will
have the opportunity to ask questions. After the hearings, the
Tribunal will likely request the Parties to submit final written
post-hearing memorials in support of their respective positions,
after which the Tribunal will officially close the proceedings and
commence deliberations. As such, the hearings are a key
milestone in the Arbitration.
A decision by the Tribunal on the outcome of Bear Creek's case
is anticipated within the second half of 2017 (though there is no
prescribed deadline). Bear Creek and its legal counsel remain very
confident in the merits of the Company's claim that the Santa Ana
project was treated unfairly by the Republic of Peru and ultimately expropriated in
June 2011 through Peru's issuance of Supreme Decree 032 that
revoked, without notice or an opportunity to be heard, the
Company's rights to advance the Santa Ana project.
Information related to the Arbitration, including procedural
orders, written submissions and details regarding the hearings, is
available to the public at
https://icsid.worldbank.org/apps/ICSIDWEB/cases/Pages/casedetail.aspx?CaseNo=ARB/14/21&tab=PRO,
and a comprehensive summary of the history of the Santa Ana dispute
is provided in the Company's Annual Information Form dated
June 20, 2016 (available at
http://www.bearcreekmining.com/i/pdf/agm/2016-AIF.pdf).
In other news, Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation
("JOGMEC") has withdrawn from the joint venture agreement on the
Company's La Yegua copper-gold-molybdenum project, a non-core asset
of Bear Creek's in Central Peru.
The Company will maintain the La Yegua mineral claims covering the
low-grade copper mineralization at La Yegua but plans no further
work on the project at this time.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Andrew Swarthout
President and CEO
Regulatory Footnotes
Bear Creek's exploration programs
are overseen by, and disclosure of a technical or scientific nature
has been reviewed and approved by, Andrew
Swarthout, AIPG Certified Professional Geologist, President
and CEO of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in NI
43-101. Mr. Swarthout has read, verified and approves such
information disclosed in this release.
This news release contains forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements related to the timing of the Arbitration
hearings and the anticipated events and timing thereof subsequent
to the Arbitration hearings. This forward-looking information is
provided as of the date of this news release and reflects current
estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future
events and is based on the Company's or its consultants' beliefs at
the time the statements were made, as well as various assumptions
made by and information currently available to them. Although
management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on
information available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By
their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist
that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking
statements will not be achieved or that assumptions on which they
are based do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not
to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a
number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to
differ materially from the expectations expressed in them. These
risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the
assumptions and estimates used to make such forward-looking
statements do not occur and the additional risks described in the
Company's most recent Annual Information Form. When relying on our
forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and
potential events. The Company does not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time by the Company or on behalf of the Company,
except as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Bear Creek Mining Corporation