Arbitration Update – Submission of Reply
Arbitration Update – Submission of Reply
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TSXV Trading Symbol: GBU
November 5, 2018
Arbitration Update – Submission of Reply
Gabriel Resources Ltd. (“Gabriel” or the “Company”) announces that it has submitted its Reply and counter-
memorial on jurisdiction (“Reply”) in its arbitration against Romania under the rules of the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) part of the World Bank (“ ICSID Arbitration”).
The Reply, Gabriel’s second substantive written pleading in the ICSID Arbitration case, sets out a
comprehensive rebuttal of the legal and factual contentions raised in the Counter-Memorial filed by
Romania on February 22, 2018 (“Count er-Memorial”) and includes Gabriel’s response to Romania’s
supplemental preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the tribunal (“Tribunal”) appointed to adjudicate the
ICSID Arbitration (“Jurisdictional Challenge”).
The Reply was filed in accordance with established procedural orders (“Procedural Orders”) of the Tribunal,
including a recent revision to the calendar that now includes the following amended dates:
Comments on submissions by non-disputing parties (if any are admitted by the Tribunal) by January
18, 2019
Romania to file its response to the Reply (“Rejoinder”) and its reply on the Jurisdictional Challenge by
May 10, 2019
Gabriel to file its rejoinder with regard to the Jurisdictional Challenge by June 14, 2019
A hearing on jurisdiction and the merits of the claim before the Tribunal from December 2 to 13, 2019.
A redacted version of the Reply will be published on the ICSID website in due course following the
completion of a process prescribed by certain Procedural Orders.
Dragos Tanase, Gabriel’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“The Roșia Montană Project met all of the applicable requirements for the issuance of the key environmental
permit, yet ultimately t he Romanian Government unlawfully blocked the permitting process . The Reply
highlights the abundant, contemporaneous evidence establishing Romania’s liability -creating conduct,
which its Counter-Memorial fails to rebut, and unequivocally substantiates the factual and legal grounds of
our claim, detailed in Gabriel’s June 2017 Memorial that assessed the damages caused by Romania, with
accrued interest, at US$4.4 billion. Given the passage of time since the Memorial, and interest continuing
to accrue on the damages, that total has now risen to US$4.75 billion.”
For information on this press release, please contact:
Dragos Tanase
President & CEO
Phone: +4021 223 1351
Richard Brown
Chief Commercial Officer
Mobile: +44 7748 760276
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of
the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Arbitration Update – Submission of Reply
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About Gabriel
Gabriel is a Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company’s principal focus has been the exploration and
development of the Roșia Montană gold and silver pr oject in Romania (“Roşia Montană Project”). The Roşia Montană Project, one of the
largest undeveloped gold deposits in Europe, is situated in the South Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania, Romania, an historic and prolific
mining district that since pre-Roman times has been mined intermittently for over 2,000 years. The exploitation license (“License”) for the Roşia
Montană Project is held by Roșia Montană Gold Corporation S.A., a Romanian company in which Gabriel owns an 80.69% equity interest, with
the 19.31% balance held by Minvest Roșia Montană S.A., a Romanian state-owned mining company. It is anticipated that the Roşia Montană
Project would bring over US$24 billion (at US$1,200/oz gold) to Romania as potential direct and indirect contribution to GDP and generate
thousands of employment opportunities.
Upon obtaining the License in June 1999, the Group (as defined below) focused substantially all of their management and financial resources
on the exploration, feasibility and subsequent development of the Roşia Montană Project. Despite the Company’s fulfilment of its legal
obligations and its development of the Roşia Montană Project as a high-quality, sustainable and environmentally-responsible mining project,
using best available techniques, Romania has blocked and prevented implementation of the Roşia Montană Project without due process and
without compensation. Accordingly, the Company’s current core focus is the ICSID Arbitration. For more information please visit the Company’s
website at www.gabrielresources.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking information” (also referred to as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management’s current
expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of the Company’s operating environment. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements.
In this press release, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered
reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertaintie s and
contingencies that may cause the Company’s actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from thos e
expressed or implied herein. Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation,
the uncertainties associated with: the ICSID Arbitration, actions by the Romanian Government, conditions or events impacting the Company’s
ability to fund its operations or service its debt, exploration, development and operation of mining properties and the overall impact of
misjudgments made in good faith in the course of preparing forward-looking information.
Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors including those set out below, that may never
materialize, prove incorrect or materialize other than as currently contemplated which could cause the Company’s results to d iffer materially
from those expressed or implied by such forward -looking statements. Any statements that express or involve d iscussions with respect to
predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified
by words or phrases such as “expects”, “is expected”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”, “projects”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategy”,
“goals”, “objectives”, “potential”, “possible” or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events, conditions or r esults “may”, “could”,
“would”, “should”, “might” or “will” be t aken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not
statements of fact and may be forward-looking statements.
Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:
• delay or extension to the duration of the ICSID Arbitration;
• required disclosure, costs, process and outcome of the ICSID Arbitration against Romania;
• changes in the liquidity and capital resources of Gabriel, and the group of companies of which it is directly or indirectly parent (“Group”);
• access to funding to support the Group’s continued ICSID Arbitration and/or operating activities in the future;
• equity dilution resulting from the conversion or exercise of new or existing securities in part or in whole to Common Shares;
• the ability of the Company to maintain a continued listing on the TSX Venture Exchange or any regulated public market for trading
securities;
• the impact on business strategy and its implementa tion in Romania of: unforeseen historic acts of corruption, uncertain fiscal
investigations; uncertain legal enforcement both for and against the Group and political and social instability;
• regulatory, political and economic risks associated with operating in a foreign jurisdiction including changes in laws, governments and
legal regimes and interpretation of existing and future fiscal and other legislation;
• volatility of currency exchange rates, metal prices and metal production;
• the availability and conti nued participation in operational or other matters pertaining to the Group of certain key employees and
consultants; and
• risks normally incident to the exploration, development and operation of mining properties.
This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements.
Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and investors should not infer that there has been no change
in the Company’s affairs since the date of this press release that would warrant any modification of any forward-looking statement made in this
document, other documents periodically filed with or furnished to the relevant securities regulators or documents presented on the Company’s
website. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly
qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise re vise any forward-
looking statements or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject
to the Company’s disclosure obligations under applicable Canadian securities regulations. Investors are urged to read the Company’s filings
with Canadian securities regulatory agencies which can be viewed online at www.sedar.com.
ENDS