ASX Announcement - TAMPAKAN PROJECT RIGHTS UPHELD BY PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISION
Indophil Resources NL (Indophil) is pleased to advise that the Philippine Supreme Court has reaffirmed the rights of Indophil’s operating associate Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) to the Columbio Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) following the dismissal of the last outstanding petition brought by Lepanto Consolidated Mining Inc challenging the 2001 transfer of the Tampakan Project interest to SMI. Prior court decisions of 2004 and 2005 had declared “with finality” that the FTAA is valid and constitutional. Prior to these decisions, Lepanto had made a separate Administrative appeal to the Supreme Court to have the Court of Appeals reconsider the transfer, and this last course of action has now been dismissed. Tony Robbins, Managing Director of Indophil commented: ”The latest decision of the Supreme Court is a pleasing outcome which reconfirms that Indophil and its Philippine partners are free to continue to advance the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project. Indophil has now resolved favourably every legal hurdle to ownership of the title to the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.” Mr Robbins added that Indophil was consistently advised by its Philippine legal counsel that it would be successful in its defence of the series of legal actions. He particularly wished to express his thanks for the support of Indophil’s Philippine partners, the Alcantara Group of Companies and the Tampakan Group of Companies, over the years on this matter. Indophil recently completed a A$27 million pre-feasibility study on the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, confirming its position as one of the world’s outstanding new large-scale copper-gold deposits. If the Tampakan deposit was in production now, it would rank among the top 20 copper producers in the world. Based on a 30Mtpa milling rate, the Tampakan deposit is expected to produce an average of 210,000 tonnes of copper and 218,000 ounces of gold per annum in its first 10 years of operation. For further information please contact: Gavan Collery Manager Corporate Affairs Indophil Resources NL Ph: +61 419 372 210
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