Kono Licence Dispute (1909B)
April 12 2012 - 1:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTEL
RNS Number : 1909B
Stellar Diamonds PLC
12 April 2012
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISSEMINATION
TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES.
12 April 2012
AIM: STEL
Stellar Diamonds plc
("Stellar" or the "Company")
Kono Licence Dispute
Stellar Diamonds plc (the "Company"), the London listed (AIM:
STEL) diamond mining and exploration company focused on West
Africa, announces it has received a letter from the Ministry of
Mines of Sierra Leone (the "Ministry") in relation to its two
licences in the Country's Kono district (the "Licences"). The
Company has operated over the Licences since their initial grant in
January 2005 in accordance with prevailing law, including the most
recent annual renewal dated 25(th) May 2011. Licence renewals for
the 2012 year were submitted to the Ministry of Mines on 2(nd)
November 2011 in accordance with the Mines and Minerals Act of
2009.
The letter from the Ministry asserts that the Ministry ought not
to have granted the renewals of the Company's licences in 2010
under the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009 and that as a result the
Company no longer has mineral rights over the licences.
The Company disputes the assertions and is seeking clarification
of the position with the Ministry. The Company has not received any
similar correspondence on the Tongo exploration licence which was
also renewed in November 2011 on the same basis as the Kono
licences. Furthermore, the Company received a letter of good
standing from the Ministry of Mines for the Tongo licence dated
30(th) December 2011.
Chief Executive Karl Smithson commented:
"Whilst this uncertainty is frustrating and unfortunate we
strongly believe that our legal tenure over the Kono licences is
intact and will be engaging with the Ministry of Mines to clarify
and then satisfactorily resolve this issue.
"Over the past 12 months we have been conducting exploration and
bulk sampling over the Lion kimberlite dyke project which is
strategically located in the Kono diamond district. The Company has
recently announced independent resource estimates from our key
projects of Droujba and Tongo where we have established an initial
resource base of 2.5 million carats and 0.66 million carats
respectively."
In accordance with AIM rules the information in this
announcement has been reviewed by Karl Smithson, Chief Executive of
Stellar, a qualified geologist with 23 years' experience.
For further information please contact the following or visit
the Company's website at www.stellar-diamonds.com.
Stellar Diamonds plc
Karl Smithson, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 20 7257 2930
Northland Capital Partners Limited
(Nominated Advisor and Broker)
Gavin Burnell, Edward Hutton Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 8800
Daniel Stewart & Company plc
(Joint Broker)
Martin Lampshire, Antony Legge Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550
Pelham Bell Pottinger
James MacFarlane, Joanna Boon Tel: +44 (0) 20 7861 3232
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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