Emerita Advises Lower Court Reopens Aznalcollar Case; Scope of Criminal Charges Expanded
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EMERITA ADVISES LOWER COURT REOPENS AZNALCOLLAR CASE; SCOPE OF CRIMINAL CHARGES
EXPANDED
Toronto, Ontario, October 29, 2019 – Emerita Resources Corp. (TSX -V: EMO) (the “Company” or
“Emerita”) is pleased to announce that subsequent to the recent unanimous ruling by five judges of
the Appellate Court of Seville (the “Appellate Court”) in favour of Emerita’s appeal that the legal
process is moving quickly towards resolution. As announced earlier this month, Emerita had
successfully appealed a lower court’s (Seville Court No. 3) decision to dismiss a criminal case against
the Andalusian government panel (the “Panel”) responsible for awarding the Aznalcóllar project (the
“Project”) and the former Director of Mines of the Government of Andalucía (collectively, the
“Accused”) (see news release dated October 4, 2019).
Following the order from the Appellate Court that the lower court reconsider and investigate the
claims against the Accused as well as investigate certain representatives of Minorbis-GM, the case has
been expanded by the lower court in terms of number of c rimes as well as number of individuals
charged. This is the second time that the Appellate Court has ordered the lower court to reopen its
investigation. The Appellate Court reiterated its findings from its original decision, namely that there
is strong evidence of gross negligence and misconduct by the Accused. A key finding of the Appellate
Court was that Minorbis-GM failed to comply with the requirements of the first stage of the tender
process and should never have been eligible to participate in the second stage of the tender based on
the criteria set out in the tender documents.
Emerita has received correspondence from the Seville Court No. 3 indicating the Aznalcóllar case has
been re-opened following the orders from the Appellate Court. The instruction document, among
other things, states the following:
1. The scope of the criminal activity has been extended from a single crime of Prevarication to
include the crimes Embezzlement, Bribery, Influence Peddling and Fraud.
2. All the members of the Panel, as well as the individuals who were part of the various technical
commissions, have been called to give testimony.
3. The Principals of Magtel which owns Minorbis (the company that submitted the competing
bid) have also been formally named by the Appellate Court for the first time and have been
called to give testimony.
4. The Secretary General of Industry (Secretario General de la Consejería de Industria de la Junta
de Andalucía), Vicente Fernandez, who was the high-level bureaucrat responsible at the time
of the Public Tender, has been named for the original charge as well as the new charges. He
has subsequently resigned his position.
5. The judge will request the UCO (Federal police investigators) to inquire about the promotions
that the implicated people were granted after the Aznalcóllar tender was awarded.
6. The Deputy Director of Energy and Mines (Subdirectora de Industria, Energía y Minas), Mrs.
Susana Sarria, a key participant in the tender process has been called as a witness, as she is
copied in emails (CC) between Mr. Fernandez and Magtel.
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
The next phase of the legal process commences the first week of November and is expected to
conclude in early December. According to Joaquin Merino P.Geo., President of Emerita, “We are very
pleased to see the legal process moving forward quickly and efficiently. This is a very important step
as prior to this point the Seville Court No. 3 had shown a reluctance to proceed. Following the clear
directive of the Appellate Court , the Seville Court No.3 has not only ruled to proceed but it has
expanded the number of criminal charges as well as increased the number of people implicated.”
David Gower P.Geo., CEO of Emerita, stated; “Emerita looks forward to the resolution of the dispute
relating to the Public Tender and remains committed to working with the community and the
authorities on the development of the Aznalcóllar project into a modern operation with the highest
regard for environmental stewardship and safety for th e community and its employees. A key
conclusion of the upper court ruling was that the competing bid was incomplete and should have
been disqualified prior to being accepted into the second round of the public tender process. As such
Emerita is the only qualified bidder.”
Emerita continues to maintain that it is the only remaining qualified bidder in the Aznalcóllar tender
process and under Spanish law should be awarded the Project. Emerita remains committed to
working with the community of Aznalcóllar to develop the Project in an environmentally responsible
manner to benefit all stakeholders. Please see news release dated October 4, 2019 for a summary of
the Aznalcóllar project. The Aznalcóllar Project is a past producing property within the famous Iberian
Pyrite Belt that hosted the Aznalcóllar and Los Frailes open pit zinc-lead-silver mines.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr.
Joaquin Merino, P.Geo, President of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
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:
Helia Bento
+1 (416) 566-8179 (Toronto)
Joaquin Merino
+34 (628) 1754 66 (Spain)
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
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, statements regarding
the Company’s ability to be awarded the Project, the mineralization of the Project, the Company’s
ability to develop the Project, the prospectivity of the Project, the Company’s ability to complete a NI
43-101 resource estimate and feasibility study, the timing of legal processes 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 activities; 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 f actors 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. Acc ordingly, readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking information. Emerita does not undertake to update any forward-
looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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