Argentina: Coro Mining files lawsuit against environmental organization
Published by MAC on 2012-05-01Source: Business News Americas, statement
The company now proposes to extract ore from Mendoza and to transport it to San Juan for processing.
Canada's Coro Mining has filed a lawsuit against the environmental organisation, Oikos Red Ambiental (http://www.oikosredambiental.org), in an Argentinian court.
It accuses Eduardo Sosa, Oikos' director, of libel and defamation.
The letter that motivated company claims against Oikos can be read here (in Spanish): Carta abierta a los legisladores provinciales que analizarán el proyecto San Jorge
14 de febrero 2011
See also previous posts: Coro Mining firmly rejected by Mendoza's legislature, Argentina and Canadians aim to float mining anew in Mendoza, Argentina
Coro could present San Jorge's EIS to San Juan govt by 2H13, CEO says
Mark Helmantoler
Business News Americas
23 April 2012
Vancouver-based Coro Mining could be in a position to submit an environmental impact study (EIS) for its San Jorge copper-gold project in Argentina to the San Juan provincial government by 2H13, CEO Alan Stephens told BNamericas.
San Jorge is actually located in neighboring Mendoza, but current legislation in the province prohibits the use of sulfuric acid required in heap leaching of copper ore.
In early March, Coro announced the results of a prefeasibility study for development of San Jorge using heap leaching only, involving the construction of an SX-EW plant in San Juan. Ore would be transported via a 22km-long railway line to be built for the project.
Coro intends to advance discussions with the governments of both provinces and national authorities to obtain approval from the Mendoza government before year-end. An EIS would then need to be prepared and submitted for the proposed plant facilities in San Juan.
"It would likely take 6-9 months to prepare the San Juan EIS and submit it to the provincial government," CEO Alan Stephens said. "I'm not in a position at this time to predict how long they would take to evaluate it."
Coro has received a legal opinion that there should be no impediment to the transport of ore between the provinces.
Taxes for San Jorge would be levied at the national level and the mine would be subject to royalties in Mendoza, as required, Stephens said.
In addition, Coro presented the results of the prefeasibility study to the 10 members of the recently created federal organization of mining provinces (Ofemi), which include Mendoza and San Juan, although it was under no obligation to do so, Stephens said.
Coro Provides Update on San Jorge Project
Coro Minng press release
17 April 2012
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Coro Mining Corp. is pleased to provide an update on its San Jorge project, located in Mendoza province, Argentina.
The results of the Company's Preliminary Feasibility Study for the San Jorge Copper Leach Project, announced in our news release dated March 5th 2012, have now been presented to all of the members of the recently formed Federal Organisation of Mining Provinces ("OFEMI"), including the governments of Mendoza and San Juan. The proposed Copper
Leach Project would comprise a rock quarrying operation in Mendoza province together with a processing plant located in San Juan province, for the production of up to 25,000 tonnes per year of copper cathode.
The Company is confident that the Project can be executed in an environmentally responsible manner to the lasting economic and social benefit of the Provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. In addition, San Jorge has the potential to more than satisfy Argentina's current consumption of copper, and thus could be developed in accordance with the country's policy of reducing imports.
Alan Stephens, President and CEO of Coro commented, "We intend to expeditiously advance discussions with the governments of both provinces and with Argentina national government authorities, with the objective of obtaining the approval of the government of Mendoza before year end. An Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") would then need
to be prepared and submitted for the proposed plant facilities in San Juan province."
San Jorge Legal Update
As stated in our news release of December 30th 2010, Oikos, a local environmental NGO opposed to the project, filed legal claims against our subsidiary, Minera San Jorge ("MSJ") and its directors, requesting that the San Jorge Flotation Project EIS approval process be
suspended, based on alleged non-compliance with certain resolutions and deliberate misinterpretation of documents.
Although the EIS was approved in February 2011, the resulting Environmental Impact Declaration ("EID") was denied legislative ratification last August, in part due to the negative media coverage and other protest actions provoked and fomented by Oikos, and its representative, Eduardo Sosa.
The Company is pleased to report that the Mendoza court has dismissed these legal claims as being without foundation or justification, and as a consequence, MSJ has demanded that Oikos issue a public retraction of its defamatory remarks and make a donation to a charity of our choosing. Failure to do so may result in MSJ launching criminal and/or civil proceedings against Oikos and its representative for defamation and libel; and seeking consequential damages.
The 7722 law, which required the ratification of the approved EID is currently subject to legal challenges of its constitutionality by Coro and several other parties. We continue to anticipate that this lawsuit may be resolved in the second half of 2012 and in the event that the courts find that the law is indeed unconstitutional, the denial of legislative ratification of the Company's EID, may be deemed to be null and void.
Finally, Coro maintains its rights to seek legal redress and compensation from the Mendoza government and certain individuals, resulting from the unlawful denial of the ratification of the Company's valid and approved EID in August 2011.