TriMetals Mining to Receive US$ 25.8 Million from Bolivia
TriMetals Mining to Receive US$ 25.8 Million from Bolivia
Vancouver, British Columbia - August 29, 2019
TriMetals Mining Inc. (TSX: TMI and TMI.B, OTCQB: TMIAF and TMIBF ) (the “Company”
or “TMI”) announces that today TMI and its wholly -owned subsidiaries South American Silver
Limited (“SASL” or the “Claimant”) and Compania Minera Malku Khota S.A., have entered into
an agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the Government of the Plurinational State of
Bolivia (“Bolivia”) to settle SASL’s international arbitration against Bolivia for the 2012
expropriation of the Malku Khota project, and to transfer to Bolivia the exploration data of the
Malku Khota project owned by the Company (the “Data”).
On November 22, 2018, the Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued an
award (the “Award”), (see press release dated November 23, 2018) , ordering Bolivia to provide
compensation to SASL in the amount of US$18.7 million (the “Compensation”) and to pay interest
thereon running from August 1, 2012 to the date of payment of the Compensation.
To avoid the time and expense of pursuing enforcement proceedings to collect the Award, which
the Company and the third party funder of the arbitration (the “ Fund”) agreed could take years
with no guarantee of outcome , the Company and the Fund decided to initiate discussions with
Bolivia with the view to obtaining a prompt settlement. From the first meeting with Bolivia, and
during the meetings that ensued, it became known to the Company that prompt settlement would
not be possible if the Company did not agree to transfer the Data to Bolivia as, for Bolivia, the
Data was crucial to facilitate the further development of the project. The Company determined it
was in its best interest to reach a prompt settlement with Bolivia by transferring its Data and by
accepting a discount to the amount payable to the Claimant pursuant to the Award.
Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Bolivia has agreed to pay US$25,798,000 to the Company
as a final settlement amount on or before September 5, 2019 and the Company agreed to transfer
the Data to Bolivia. Bolivia will deduct $209,475 from the amount payable in satisfaction of t he
Tribunal’s cost order included in the Award . The C ompany expects to recover the US$209,475
from the Fund, as it relates to costs and expenses of the arbitration payable by the Fund.
Once paid, the Company will cease all legal activities related to the collection of the Award.
Matias Herrero, President & CEO of TMI commented, " Reaching a settlement with Bolivia and
concluding the arbitration dispute is an important milestone for the Compan y and our
shareholders. All efforts and attention can now be focused on growing and creating value for the
Company, by exploring and further developing the mineral resources at the historic Gold Springs
project in southern Utah and Nevada, both, top-ten mining jurisdictions in the world1”.
After taking into account the costs and expenses of the international arbitration proceedings (the
“Malku Khota Arbitration Expenses”) which include the amount payable to the Fund pursuant to
the terms of the litigation funding agreement, the reimbursement to the Company for arbitration
expenses paid by it that were not covered by th e Fund and the value of the Company’s Data
transferred to Bolivia, the total redemption price of the Class B shares (the “Class B Shares Total
Entitlement”) is approximately US$11.36 million. The amount to be reimbursed has not yet been
finally determined as the Company is still receiving final invoices , but any changes are not
expected to be material.
The Company has 60 days from the date of payment by Bolivia to redeem all 116,375,152 Class B
shares outstanding. In the upcoming weeks, t he Company will notify its Class B shareholders ,
their agents and/or brokers, about the procedure to redeem the Class B shares.
Following redemption of the Class B Shares and repayment of the Credit Facility (see press release
of April 5, 2019), the Company will be debt free and expects to have approximately US$ 5 million
of free available cash to fund exploration and development activities at the Gold Springs project
and for general corporate costs.
About TriMetals Mining Inc.
TriMetals Mining Inc. (TSX: TMI and TMI.B, OTCQB: TMIAF and TMIBF) is a growth-focused
gold exploration company creating value through the exploration and development of the near -
surface Gold Springs gold-silver project in mining-friendly Nevada and Utah, U.S.A.
The Company’s Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol
“TMI.B” and on the OTCQB under the stock symbol TMIBF and have no interest in the properties
or assets of the Company other than the collective entitlement to 85% of the net cash, if any (after
deducting all costs, taxes and expenses and the amount due to a third party that funded the costs
of the arbitration), received by the Company from an award or settlement in relation to South
American Silver’s arbitration proceeding against Bolivia for the expropriation of the Malku Khota
project in 2012.
TriMetals Mining Inc. Contact:
1 Fraser Institute’s most recent annual survey of mining companies published on February 28, 2019.
Matias Herrero
Chief Executive Officer
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein constitute “forward-looking information” under applicable
Canadian securities laws (“forward -looking statements”). Forward -looking statements look
into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the
business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as “would”, “will”, “expect” and
similar expressions. The amount of the Class B Shares Total Entitlement , the Company’s
expectation to be debt -free and its expectation of the amount of free available cash to be
available to it each constitutes a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements
are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may
materially differ from expectations if known and unknown risks or uncertainties affect our
business or if our estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Factors that could cause results
or events to differ materia lly from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward -
looking statements, include, but are not limited to, Bolivia not paying the settlement amount by
September 5, 2019, and other risks more fully described in the Company’s Annual Information
Form and continuous disclosure documents, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained
in this press release. Except as required by law, 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 press
release describe the Company’s expectations as of the date hereof.