Administrative Superior Court Agrees to Emerita’s Request to Suspend the Administrative Court Resolution Until Ruling by the Criminal Courts is Rendered
36 Lombard Street West, Floor 4, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5C 2X3
Administrative Superior Court Agrees to Emerita’s Request to Suspend
the Administrative Court Resolution Until Ruling by the Criminal Courts is
Rendered
TORONTO May 2, 2022 – Emerita Resources Corp. (TSX – V: EMO; OTC: EMOTF) (the “Company” or “Emerita”)
announces that the Administrative Superior Court of Andalusia (Seccion Primera Sala de lo Contencioso -
Administravo del Tribunal Superior de Justic ia de Andalucia) has agreed to Emerita’s request to withhold its
resolution with respect to the Aznalcollar administrative case until the Criminal Court trial is resolved. This is
viewed by Emerita’s Spanish legal counsel as an important ruling as it ensures that the criminal process, where
most of the evidence has been collected, will be sufficiently advanced so that the evidence of the criminal trial
can be used in the administrative case.
Background
On September 30, 2021, the Administrative Court unilaterally lifted the suspension of the administrative case
involving the Aznalcollar public tender. Prior to that, the Administrative Court was awaiting the completion
of the criminal case. On October 14, 2021, Emerita appealed the decision of the Administrative Court as it was
concluded that the relevant facts were essentially identical in both cases and therefore the Administrative
Court should wait for the facts to be resolved in the Criminal Court where most of the evidence was compiled.
This is the normal process in the vast majority of cases where the Criminal and Administrative courts are in
proceedings related to the same case.
The Administrative Court has now concurred with Emerita that the facts in the criminal case and the
administrative case are substantially similar and has decided to suspend issuing its resolution pending the
outcome of the criminal trial. With this decision it is expected that the evidence of the criminal case will be
fully available to the Administrative Court in the administrative case. The Administrative Court has already
reviewed the case in order to make the determination that the cases are substantially similar and as such
Spanish Counsel does n ot anticipate a significant delay beyond completion of the upcoming criminal court
hearings for the Administrative Court resolution.
According to Emerita’s Spanish counsel, an ambiguous or unclear administrative ruling could have potentially
weakened the legal arguments in the criminal trial. Emerita’s request that the Administrative Court withhold
resolving the administrative case until the criminal case was resolved was part of Emerita’s strategy to ensure
that both the Administrativ e and Criminal cases benefitted from the extensive evidence collected in the
criminal case as well as preserving Emerita’s right to appeal in the administrative case had a decision in such
case preceded a resolution in the criminal case.
The date for the criminal hearing has not yet been set due to Covid backlogs, however the judges and the
court have been named and a date is expected in the near future, once a suitable period of court time is
available. Due to the number of people charged the criminal hearing is expected to require approximately
2-3 weeks of court time.
36 Lombard Street West, Floor 4, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5C 2X3
According to Damian Lopez, Corporate Secretary for Emerita, “The Company views this decision as very
positive. The criminal case has been supported unanimously by five judges, that have articulated the
irregularities in detail. T he Administrative Court indicating that it considers the facts to be substantially the
same as the Criminal Court supports the expectation that the cases will be resolved in line with the court
rulings we have seen to date.”
About Emerita Resources Corp.
Emerita is a natural resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral
properties in Europe, with a primary focus on exploring in Spain. The Company’s corporate office and technical
team are based in Sevilla, Spain with an administrative office in Toronto, Canada.
For further information, contact:
Joaquin Merino
+34 (628) 1754 66 (Spain)
Helia Bento
+1 416 566 8179 (Toronto)
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information
This press release contains “forward -looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian
securities legislation. Forward -looking information includes, without limitation, the Company’s ability to
obtain the rights to the Aznalcollar project, the timing and results of the court cases in Spain and the
Company’s future plans. Generally, forward -looking information can be identified by the use of forward -
looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”,
“estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such
words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be
taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward - looking information is subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or
achievements of Emerita, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by
such forward -looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive,
geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activit ies; risks associated with
operation in foreign jurisdictions; ability to successfully integrate the purchased properties; foreign operations
risks; and other risks inherent in the mining industry. Although Emerita has attempted to identify important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward -looking
information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events
could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward -looking information. Emerita does not undertake to update any forw ard-looking
information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
NEITHER 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.