TriMetals Mining Inc. Reports That the Tribunal has Issued Procedural Order No. 1 in South American Silver Limited Arbitration Case Against Bolivia
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jun 3, 2014) - TriMetals Mining Inc. (TSX:TMI)(TSX:TMI.B)(OTCQX:TMIAF)(OTCQX:TMIBF), a gold stock, is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned Bermudan subsidiary South American Silver Limited ("SAS") received Procedural Order No. 1 from the Arbitral Tribunal. The Tribunal had held a first procedural meeting ("First Procedural Meeting") with SAS and Bolivia (the "Parties") on May 13, 2014 in Bogota, Colombia.
Procedural Order No. 1 constitutes the Tribunal's binding decisions on procedural matters that will govern the remainder of the arbitration process. The Tribunal took into account the Parties' respective positions, comments and arguments related to these issues, as articulated at the First Procedural Meeting and submitted to it for determination.
With Procedural Order No. 1 the Tribunal fixes the place of arbitration at The Hague, the Netherlands (where the arbitration is considered held from a legal point of view) and stated that the meetings and hearings will take place in Bogota (Colombia) or Washington DC (U.S.A.), to be determined by the Tribunal after consultation with the Parties before each hearing or meeting.
Procedural Order No. 1 also includes a procedural schedule with two rounds of pleadings (4 months to each party for the first round and 3 months to each party for the second round, with an additional 1 month to SAS for a potential rejoinder on jurisdiction). The Tribunal also limited the document production phase to approximately 5 months. Based on the procedural calendar, SAS's statement of claim and memorial on the merits will be due on September 24, 2014. The hearing on the merits will take place between April and May 2016 and will last for approximately 10 days. The Tribunal held that any justifiable extension that may be granted upon request of the Parties would not affect the dates fixed for the hearing or other meeting although it is possible that the hearing dates could change, but only upon request of the parties and for good cause.
The Tribunal included a confidentiality mechanism to protect certain information to be used in the proceedings when a party so wishes and which includes the ability to classify documents as "highly confidential" by the Tribunal and requiring the signing of confidentiality agreements for the recipients of highly confidential information.
The Tribunal stated that the hearing will be held in camera pursuant to UNCITRAL rules and that orders of the Tribunal, including any awards, and pleadings (but not exhibits, witness statements or expert reports) will be posted on the Permanent Court of Arbitration's website at www.pca-cpa.org .
A copy of the Procedural Order No. 1, which includes the procedural calendar, is expected to be posted on the Permanent Court of Arbitration's website at www.pca-cpa.org later this week.
About TriMetals Mining Inc.
TriMetals Mining Inc. is a growth focused mineral exploration company creating value through the exploration and development of the near surface, Gold Springs gold-silver project in mining friendly Nevada and Utah in the U.S.A.; the advancement of the large scale Escalones copper-gold project in Chile, and realization of value from the expropriated Malku Khota project in Bolivia through an arbitration process.
South American Silver Limited is a company incorporated in the Bermuda Islands, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, which through its wholly owned Bahaman subsidiaries: Malku Khota Ltd, G.M. Campana Ltd. and Productora Limited., owns 100% of the outstanding shares of Compañía Minera Malku Khota S.A., a Bolivian company, holder of the Malku-Khota mining concessions until their expropriation by the Bolivian Government.
The Company's approach to business combines the team's track record of discovery and advancement of large projects, key operational and process expertise, and a focus on community relations and sustainable development. Management has extensive experience in the global exploration and mining industry.
The Company's common shares and Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "TMI" and "TMI.B" and the common shares and Class B shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol "TMIAF" and "TMIBF". Additional information related to TriMetals Mining Inc. is available at www.trimetalsmining.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .
Forward-looking statements
This News Release contains forward-looking statements regarding the matters covered by the Arbitration Tribunal's Procedural Order No. 1. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements as the matters covered by the Arbitration Tribunal's Procedural Order No. 1 are not within the Company's exclusive control and may change materially from the Company's expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors affect the Arbitration process. Therefore, the Company cannot provide any assurance that forward-looking statements will materialize. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, uncertainties associated with the arbitration proceeding against Bolivia, including the timing and substance of the next procedural steps. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include the dates in Procedural Order No. 1 remaining unchanged.
Subject to applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this News Release describe the Company's expectations as of June 3, 2014.
TriMetals Mining Inc.
Ralph Fitch
President & CEO
303.584.0606
rfitch@soamsilver.com
TriMetals Mining Inc.
Matias Herrero
Chief Financial Officer
303.584.0606
mherrero@soamsilver.com
www.trimetalsmining.com
