one asia pani dispute status

I'm not overly happy with the amount of information being distributed by One Asia and Lion Selection regarding the Pani ownership dispute. Why are court dates and related events released to the market?
Below is a relevant article I found on and Indonesian business web site Bisnis.com

Tuesday, April 8 2014, 2:24 PM
J Resources Expansion Awaits Pani Peak Disputes to Cool Down
Ardhanareswari, Maftuh Ihsan

Gold has always been a bone of contention since the Gold Rush era in California, USA, in 1848-1855 until now. In fact, the catering manager PT Pelita Sejahtera Abadi Tbk changed its name to PT J Resources Asia Pasifik Tbk (PSAB) to join the 'hunt' for gold.

After had long disappeared from news since mid-2012 through rights issues and shifted their business into gold mining by acquiring PT J Resources Nusantara and took over some assets from Avocet Mining Plc, the PSAB-coded company stuck out.

The dispute between the Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD) Dharma Tani Marisa and One Asia Resources Limited related to the termination of gold mine exploration contract in Pani mounts peak, Gorontalo, escalated to court. J Resources was also mentioned.

This occurs because KUD Dharma Tani as the mining license (IUP) holder forged a new partnership with J Resources through its subsidiary PT Puncak Emas Gorontalo to work on a 100-hectare mining area at the Pani peak.

As a result, One Asia who claimed to have pocketed a loan of US$150 million to fund the exploration project and Pani peak exploration got furious and sued KUD Dharma Tani to court.

One Asia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Walters said the project would soon be completed because it will complete a feasibility study and environmental impact assessment (EIA) then take care of a number of license to start processing construction.

However, according KUD Dharma Tani attorney Erik Panggabean when met some time ago, the contract was terminated without no reason. KUD Dharma Tani has desperate in waiting for One Asia promise.

"After waiting for years, One Asia never realized its promise to work on the mines. We've tried to negotiate, but they took legal action instead," said Erik.

In case trial No.01/Pdt.G/2014/PN.MRS on March 26, 2014, Stephen Walters revoked the lawsuit to four defendants from KUD Dharma Tani and another defendant, Syarif Mbuinga, Pohuwato Regent, because the lawsuit was considered less complete.

Not willing to lose the Pani gold mountain peak, Australia-based One Asia re-registered a new lawsuit on the same day using the name of new plaintiff, Boyke Abidin, who served as Director of Government Relations for One Asia.

If One Asia rests on the agreement according to which is still legal, Erik said there is one point that is observed in this case, related to the distribution of share ownership between One Asia and KUD Dharma Tani.

In www.oneasiaresources.com official website, the One Asia ownership percentage in Pani joint venture program reached 90%. In fact, Erik said One Asian shares ownership in the partnership is more than 90%.

Thus, the cooperation agreement violated the Government Regulation No.24/2012 on Mineral and Coal Mining Operation which limits foreign ownership to 49%. One Asia is also not an IUP holder. Then why did it happen?

“Maybe when the agreement was established, the cooperative was not too familiar with the regulation," said Erik.

Mutually Beneficial

Related to this issue, J Resources Director Edi Permadi said KUD Dharma Tani sent letters to the company twice, in order to work together on a Pani gold mountain peak.

After receiving the second letter, J Resources finally decided to cooperate with KUD Dharma Tami. In the agreement, the company became the majority shareholder at 51% stake while the rest was owned KUD Dharma Tani.

Edi said there were a number of reasons why cooperation was established. The main reason was because mine location owned by Dharma Tani is located at the top of the mountain which surrounded by mines owned by PSAB with an area of about 7,000 hectares beneath it.

The cooperation is considered beneficial to both parties. For KUD Dharma Tani, the gold mine eventually can be exploited. In the meantime, if cooperation has not been established, then technically J Resources would have been disturbed in working on its own mine.

If the case is finished and won by KUD Dharma Tani, J Resources could be really happy. By mastering the entire Pani Mountain region, the company could gain supply of mineral reserves around more than 30 million tons.

Thus, if the mine in Pani can begin to operate smoothly in 2016 with a production capacity of 100,000 troy ounces of gold per year, the company's performance is expected to return after last year recorded a loss of US$24.1 million due to too much expansion.

The company spent US$ 250 million to build a smelter in Bakan, North Sulawesi, and in Seruyung, North Kalimantan, last year which was funded by a loan of US$350 million from a syndicate of local and foreign banks.

With the operation of two new smelters which each have a capacity of 50,000 and 60,000 troy ounces, the company expected to increase production to about 210,000 troy ounces this year.

Nevertheless, the company seems to concern on the gold price fluctuations that occurred lately.

Head of Research and Analyst at PT Monex Investindo Futures Ariston Tjendra expected gold prices are still under pressure this year.

“Based on the technical analyses, it’s still low, but may not touch the last year’s lowest level of US$1,180, but still there’s a support to US$1,155 - US$1,180," he said.

Some issues that can affect the gold price is China's economic slowdown as well as improving economic data in developed countries like the United States and Europe which prompted investors to abandon the gold and turn to the capital markets.

Editor : Muhammad Sarwani