inadvertent overlapping applications!

More disappointing news from India. This time it relates to Pebble Creek and their Potash applications that we got excited about back in July. (for those who dont hold any IRL shares we have a 17% stake in the Canadian listed company PEB)

announcement from Pebble Creeks Web-site, 29th Dec 08

Vancouver, British Columbia and New Delhi, India – December 29, 2008 – Pebble Creek Mining Ltd. (the “Company”) announces that it is withdrawing its Reconnaissance Permit (RP) applications for potash exploration in Rajasthan, India. On July 29, 2008, the Company announced that it had filed three RP applications on a total of 6,000 square kilometers of previously prospected potash deposits and that the government had accepted these applications.
Although data and maps pertaining to mineral tenures in India are available to the public, the lack of computerized systems in government offices that administer mineral tenures makes it difficult or impossible to obtain timely information on existing tenures or pending applications. Thus inadvertent overlapping applications are commonplace.
After the Company applied for the RPs, it learned that some prior applications of unknown location and size had been filed in respect of some of the areas covered by the Company’s applications. Only recently the Company learned that the state government has granted RPs on 14,400 square kilometers to prior applicants. Those RPs cover all of the main target areas identified by the Company.
As a result, this week the Company will notify the Rajasthan government that it is withdrawing its three potash RP applications and any fractions thereof. Under existing law, a party is allowed only 10,000 square kilometers of RPs within a given state. By withdrawing these applications, the Company will retain the ability to apply for other large-area RPs in Rajasthan, which is known for Vedanta’s large Rampura-Agucha zinc mine, Hindustan Copper’s Khetri mine complex, and several other copper and zinc districts.