Supreme Court of Spain Confirms Ruling Supporting Emerita’S Challenge to the Paymogo Zinc Project Tender Award
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
SUPREME COURT OF SPAIN CONFIRMS RULING SUPPORTING EMERITA’S CHALLENGE TO THE
PAYMOGO ZINC PROJECT TENDER AWARD
Toronto, Ontario, November 6, 2019 – Emerita Resources Corp. (TSX-V: EMO) (the “Company” or
“Emerita”) is pleased to announce that the Supreme Court of Spain has rejected the appeal by the
Junta of Andalusia and reaffirmed the ruling of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (“the High
Court”) with respect to Emerita’s challenge of the awarding of the public tender for the Paymogo Zinc
Project (the “Project”) in Huelva Province, Andalusia Region in southern Spain. The Project which
occurs within the famous Iberian Pyrite Belt volcanogenic massive sulfide terrane, hosts two zinc
deposits (see below for details). The Project was subject to a public tender process in February 2014.
Subsequent to the awarding of the tender to a competing participant, Emerita filed an appeal of the
process due to irregularities with respect to the scoring of the bids. When the bids were initially
scored, the Junta awarded points to a competing bid in categories that were not part of the ten der
process. As such, other participants in the public tender were disadvantaged as they did not address
these points in their submissions.
The ruling by the High Court confirmed Emerita’s assertion and annulled the awarding of the tender
indicating that the bid results should be recalculated excluding the offending criteria (categories C and
H). Following is a summary of the hearings:
1. In September 2017, the High Court annulled the awarding of the Project to Matsa and
stated that the bids should be recalculated but excluding categories C and H, which were
illegal.
2. In October 2017, the Junta of Andalusia appealed the High Court’s ruling to the Spanish
Supreme Court.
3. In this most recent ruling, the Spanish Supreme Court dismissed the Junta’s appeal and
reaffirmed the High Court’s ruling.
4. If the bids are recalculated excluding categories C and H, as directed by the High Court and
confirmed by the Supreme Court, Emerita has 34.46 points and Matsa has 29.37, and
Emerita is the clear winner of the Public Tender (see table below).
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
Joaquin Merino, P.Geo, President of Emerita stated : “Emerita is very happy with the decision of the
Supreme Court. We are prepared to meet immediately with the Mining Authorities in Huelva and
finalize the awarding of the Paymogo Public Tender to Emerita. We look forward to working with
them to initiate the work program for the Project as soon as possible. The Company will conduct its
exploration program to the highest environmental standards and with full regard for the health and
safety of the community and our employees.”
David Gower, P.Geo., CEO of Emerita stated: “The Company is excited by the outcome and prepared
to begin work on the Paymogo project as soon as the tender can be finalized, in line with the
instructions from the courts. We are highly encouraged by public statements from senior officials of
the new Government in Andalusia that they will abide b y the rulings of the court and that they look
forward to seeing the economic activity and potential job creation such a project can generate. The
Paymogo project is highly prospective in our view and we are excited to work on its development.”
About the Paymogo Project
The Paymogo project occurs within the famous Iberian Pyrite Belt, one of the most highly mineralized
volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) terranes in the world. The Project is located in the western part
of the belt, adjacent to the border with Portugal, approximately 70 km west of Seville and 50 km from
the port city of Huelva (Figure 1). The Project extends along a strike length of approximately 18 km.
Access is excellent via paved and all-weather gravel roads. Within the Project area, several base metal
occurrences have been identified by previous exploration, the most significant of which are the
Romanera and the La Infanta base metal deposits.
Original Calculation by Panel Calculation Based on Supreme Court Ruling
Matsa Bid Emerita Bid Matsa Bid Emerita Bid
a 6.97 10 6.97 10
b 7.4 8.1 7.4 8.1
c 4 1 0 0
d 5 5 5 5
e 0 5 0 5
f 5 5 5 5
g 5 1.36 5 1.36
h 10 0.24 0 0
TOTAL 43.37 35.7 29.37 34.46
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
Figure 1. Location of the Paymogo Project.
The Romanera deposit was drilled primarily by Minera Rio Tinto in the 1990s and is reported to
contain 34 million tonnes grading 0.42% copper, 2.20% lead, 2.3% zinc 44.4g/t silver and 0.8 g/t gold
within which there is a higher grade resource of 11.21 million tonnes grading 0.40% copper, 2.47%
lead, 5.50% zinc, 64.0 g/t silver and 1.0 g/t gold (The Volcanic Hosted Massive S ulphide Deposits of
the Iberian Pyrite Belt, Garcia-Cortes ed., 2011). A qualified person, as defined in National Instrument
43-101, has not done sufficient work on behalf of Emerita to classify the historical estimate reported
above as current mineral r esources or mineral reserves and Emerita is not treating the historical
estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The historical estimate should not be relied
upon. The deposit extends from surface to approximately 350 meters depth based on historical
drilling. The mineralization remains open for further expansion down dip beyond the limits of the
existing drilling.
The La Infanta mineralized zone has been drilled from surface where it outcrops to a depth of
approximately 100 meters. Numerous high-grade intercepts (see table below) occur within the zone
and it remains open for expansion at shallow depths. Drilling was completed by Phelps Dodge in the
mid 1980s. La Infanta is located approximately 8 km to the east of the La Romanera deposit.
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
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 Qualifie d Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
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)
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 b e 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, eco nomic, 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 factors that cause r esults 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 s hould 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.
65 Queen Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5H 2M5
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