TIDMCEY
RNS Number : 7499M
Centamin PLC
16 January 2023
16 January 2023
Centamin plc
("Centamin" or "the Company")
LSE: CEY / TSX: CEE
legal update: Favorable Constitutional Court Ruling
Martin Horgan, CEO, commented : "Today's judgment on the
constitutionality of Egyptian Law No. 32 is most welcomed. We are
delighted to now be in a position to apply to set aside the 2011
third party challenge to the validity of the Exploitation Licence
issued under the Sukari Concession Agreement."
Summary
-- Egyptian Law No. 32 of 2014 ("Law 32") was upheld as constitutional by the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ("SCC") on 14 January 2023, having been under challenge since 2014
-- Law 32 provides that third parties are prevented from
lawfully challenging contractual agreements between the Egyptian
government and an investor(s), such as the Sukari Gold Mine
Concession Agreement ("Concession Agreement")
-- The SCC judgment gives Centamin the right to request the
Supreme Administrative Court ("SAC") to rule that the 2011
challenge to the Concession Agreement is now legally inadmissible
on the basis that the original complainant had no capacity to bring
the claim as he was not a party to the Concession Agreement
-- As per the provisions of Egyptian Civil Procedures Law,
Centamin's subsidiary, PGM, will imminently submit an application
to the SAC to resume the Appeal proceedings and request the SAC to
reject the original case in its entirety in accordance with the
provisions of Law 32
-- Operations at Sukari Gold Mine remain unaffected and continue as normal.
BACKGROUND
Sukari Gold Mine Concession Agreement Case
-- The Concession Agreement between the Egyptian government,
Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority ("EMRA") and Centamin's
Egyptian subsidiary Pharaoh Gold Mines ("PGM"), was enacted by the
Egyptian Parliament under special law No. 222 of 1994.
-- On 29 September 2011, a private Egyptian individual issued
proceedings in the Administrative Court against the Ministry of
Petroleum and Mineral Resources ("MoP") and EMRA, in which the
individual sought nullification of the Concession Agreement. The
same individual also instigated similar claims against several
other international companies in Egypt around the same time, most
notably in relation to privatisations which took place during
President Hosni Mubarak's administration (1981 to 2011) .
-- On 30 October 2012, the Administrative Court, as court of
first instance, held that, although the Concession Agreement was
valid, insufficient evidence had been presented by the MoP and EMRA
to demonstrate that the 160km(2) exploitation lease between PGM and
EMRA had received approval from the relevant Minister as required
by the Concession Agreement.
-- In November 2012, Centamin's subsidiary, PGM immediately
joined proceedings and filed, with EMRA and the MoP, an additional
appeal against the judgment (the "Appeal") and submitted a copy of
the Sukari exploitation lease which clearly shows that the 160km(2)
exploitation lease was approved by the MoP.
-- On 20 March 2013, the SAC unanimously decided to suspend the
lower court's decision until a ruling was made by the SAC on the
Appeal. Operations at Sukari Gold Mine have continued
uninterrupted.
-- On 28 June 2016, the Appeal was stayed indefinitely pending
the outcome of the SCC's ruling on the constitutionality of Law 32.
On the basis that the constitutionality is upheld, an application
would be made to dismiss the proceedings.
Egyptian Law No. 32 of 2014
In April 2014, Law 32 was enacted by the former interim
president, Adly Mansour, which prevents third parties from
challenging contractual agreements between the Egyptian government
and investor(s). The law applied to all prospective cases and any
active cases in front of the courts where no final judgment had
been given.
In July 2014 the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
("ECESR") (a non-governmental body whose aim is to protect the
economic and social rights of workers) challenged the
constitutionality of Law 32 before the Egyptian SCC.
Delays ensued as the SCC was overwhelmed with cases following a
period of political disruption between 2011-2014 following the
Hosni Mubarak government and before the current stability under the
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi government.
On 14 January 2023, the SCC rendered its judgment considering
that Law 32 is constitutional, meaning third parties have no legal
standing to challenge contracts between the Egyptian government and
investor(s). A copy of the judgement will be available in due
course.
About Centamin
Centamin is an established gold producer, with premium listings
on the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The
Company's flagship asset is the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"),
Egypt's largest and first modern gold mine, as well as one of the
world's largest producing mines. Since production began in 2009
Sukari has produced over 5 million ounces of gold, and today has a
projected mine life of 14 years.
Through its large portfolio of exploration assets in Egypt and
West Africa, Centamin is advancing an active pipeline of future
growth prospects, including the Doropo project in Côte d'Ivoire,
and over 3,000km(2) of highly prospective exploration ground in
Egypt's Arabian Nubian Shield.
Centamin practices responsible mining activities, recognising
its responsibility to deliver operational and financial performance
and create lasting mutual benefit for all stakeholders through good
corporate citizenship.
FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit the website www.centamin.com
or contact:
Centamin plc Buchanan
Alexandra Barter-Carse, Corporate Communications Bobby Morse/ Oonagh Reidy/
+44 (0) 7700 713 738 George Cleary
investor@centaminplc.com + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000
centamin@buchanan.uk.com
Forward-looking Statements
This announcement (including information incorporated by
reference) contains "forward-looking statements" and
"forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws
(collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements
with respect to future financial or operating performance. Such
statements include "future-oriented financial information" or
"financial outlook" with respect to prospective financial
performance, financial position, EBITDA, cash flows and other
financial metrics that are based on assumptions about future
economic conditions and courses of action. Generally, these
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects",
"expected", "budgeted", "forecasts" and "anticipates"." and include
production outlook, operating schedules, production profiles,
expansion and expansion plans, efficiency gains, production and
cost guidance, capital expenditure outlook, exploration spend and
other mine plans. Although Centamin believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable,
Centamin can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to
be correct. Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature
and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current
expectations and projections of the management of Centamin about
future events and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from the future results expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. In addition, there are a number of
factors that could cause actual results, performance, achievements
or developments to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements; the risks and
uncertainties associated with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 or
other pandemic, general business, economic, competitive, political
and social uncertainties; the results of exploration activities and
feasibility studies; assumptions in economic evaluations which
prove to be inaccurate; currency fluctuations; changes in project
parameters; future prices of gold and other metals; possible
variations of ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour
disputes and other risks of the mining industry; climatic
conditions; political instability; decisions and regulatory changes
enacted by governmental authorities; delays in obtaining approvals
or financing or completing development or construction activities;
and discovery of archaeological ruins. Financial outlook and
future-ordinated financial information contained in this news
release is based on assumptions about future events, including
economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based on
management's assessment of the relevant information currently
available. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook or
future-ordinated financial information contained or referenced
herein may not be appropriate and should not be used for purposes
other than those for which it is disclosed herein. The Company and
its management believe that the prospective financial information
has been prepared on a reasonable basis, reflecting management's
best estimates and judgments at the date hereof, and represent, to
the best of management's knowledge and opinion, the Company's
expected course of action. However, because this information is
highly subjective, it should not be relied on as necessarily
indicative of future results. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such information or statements, particularly in
light of the current economic climate and the significant
volatility, uncertainty and disruption caused by the outbreak of
COVID-19. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as
of the date of this announcement and the Company disclaims any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.
LEI: 213800PDI9G7OUKLPV84
Company No: 109180
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