REG - Centamin PLC - Legal Update: Favourable Constitutional Ruling

CentaminAnnouncement

16/01/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230116:nRSP7499Ma&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7499M  Centamin PLC  16 January 2023

16 January 2023

Centamin plc

("Centamin" or "the Company")

LSE: CEY / TSX: CEE

 

legal update: Favorable Constitutional Court Ruling

 

Martin Horgan, CEO, commented: "Today's judgment on the constitutionality of
Egyptian Law No. 32 is most welcomed. We are delighted to now be in a position
to apply to set aside the 2011 third party challenge to the validity of the
Exploitation Licence issued under the Sukari Concession Agreement."

Summary

·     Egyptian Law No. 32 of 2014 ("Law 32") was upheld as
constitutional by the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ("SCC") on 14
January 2023, having been under challenge since 2014

·    Law 32 provides that third parties are prevented from lawfully
challenging contractual agreements between the Egyptian government and an
investor(s), such as the Sukari Gold Mine Concession Agreement ("Concession
Agreement")

·      The SCC judgment gives Centamin the right to request the Supreme
Administrative Court ("SAC") to rule that the 2011 challenge to the Concession
Agreement is now legally inadmissible on the basis that the original
complainant had no capacity to bring the claim as he was not a party to the
Concession Agreement

·   As per the provisions of Egyptian Civil Procedures Law, Centamin's
subsidiary, PGM, will imminently submit an application to the SAC to resume
the Appeal proceedings and request the SAC to reject the original case in its
entirety in accordance with the provisions of Law 32

·      Operations at Sukari Gold Mine remain unaffected and continue as
normal.

BACKGROUND

Sukari Gold Mine Concession Agreement Case

·     The Concession Agreement between the Egyptian government, Egyptian
Mineral Resource Authority ("EMRA") and Centamin's Egyptian subsidiary Pharaoh
Gold Mines ("PGM"), was enacted by the Egyptian Parliament under special law
No. 222 of 1994.

·    On 29 September 2011, a private Egyptian individual issued
proceedings in the Administrative Court against the Ministry of Petroleum and
Mineral Resources ("MoP") and EMRA, in which the individual sought
nullification of the Concession Agreement. The same individual also instigated
similar claims against several other international companies in Egypt around
the same time, most notably in relation to privatisations which took place
during President Hosni Mubarak's administration (1981 to 2011).

·     On 30 October 2012, the Administrative Court, as court of first
instance, held that, although the Concession Agreement was valid, insufficient
evidence had been presented by the MoP and EMRA to demonstrate that the
160km(2) exploitation lease between PGM and EMRA had received approval from
the relevant Minister as required by the Concession Agreement.

·      In November 2012, Centamin's subsidiary, PGM immediately joined
proceedings and filed, with EMRA and the MoP, an additional appeal against the
judgment (the "Appeal") and submitted a copy of the Sukari exploitation lease
which clearly shows that the 160km² exploitation lease was approved by the
MoP.

·      On 20 March 2013, the SAC unanimously decided to suspend the
lower court's decision until a ruling was made by the SAC on the Appeal.
Operations at Sukari Gold Mine have continued uninterrupted.

·      On 28 June 2016, the Appeal was stayed indefinitely pending the
outcome of the SCC's ruling on the constitutionality of Law 32. On the basis
that the constitutionality is upheld, an application would be made to dismiss
the proceedings.

Egyptian Law No. 32 of 2014

In April 2014, Law 32 was enacted by the former interim president, Adly
Mansour, which prevents third parties from challenging contractual agreements
between the Egyptian government and investor(s).  The law applied to all
prospective cases and any active cases in front of the courts where no final
judgment had been given.

In July 2014 the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights ("ECESR") (a
non-governmental body whose aim is to protect the economic and social rights
of workers) challenged the constitutionality of Law 32 before the Egyptian
SCC.

Delays ensued as the SCC was overwhelmed with cases following a period of
political disruption between 2011-2014 following the Hosni Mubarak government
and before the current stability under the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi government.

On 14 January 2023, the SCC rendered its judgment considering that Law 32 is
constitutional, meaning third parties have no legal standing to challenge
contracts between the Egyptian government and investor(s). A copy of the
judgement will be available in due course.

 

About Centamin

Centamin is an established gold producer, with premium listings on the London
Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company's flagship asset is the
Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"), Egypt's largest and first modern gold mine, as
well as one of the world's largest producing mines. Since production began in
2009 Sukari has produced over 5 million ounces of gold, and today has a
projected mine life of 14 years.

Through its large portfolio of exploration assets in Egypt and West Africa,
Centamin is advancing an active pipeline of future growth prospects, including
the Doropo project in Côte d'Ivoire, and over 3,000km(2) of highly
prospective exploration ground in Egypt's Arabian Nubian Shield.

Centamin practices responsible mining activities, recognising its
responsibility to deliver operational and financial performance and create
lasting mutual benefit for all stakeholders through good corporate
citizenship.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit the website www.centamin.com
(http://www.centamin.com) or contact:

 Centamin plc                                                 Buchanan

 Alexandra Barter-Carse, Corporate Communications             Bobby Morse/ Oonagh Reidy/ George Cleary

 +44 (0) 7700 713 738                                         + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000

 investor@centaminplc.com (mailto:investor@centaminplc.com)   centamin@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:centamin@buchanan.uk.com)

Forward-looking Statements

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference) contains
"forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under
applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"),
including statements with respect to future financial or operating
performance. Such statements include "future-oriented financial information"
or "financial outlook" with respect to prospective financial performance,
financial position, EBITDA, cash flows and other financial metrics that are
based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action.
Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "expected",
"budgeted", "forecasts" and "anticipates"." and include production outlook,
operating schedules, production profiles, expansion and expansion plans,
efficiency gains, production and cost guidance, capital expenditure outlook,
exploration spend and other mine plans. Although Centamin believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable,
Centamin can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be
correct. Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature and are not
based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections
of the management of Centamin about future events and are therefore subject to
known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to
differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. In addition, there are a number of factors that
could cause actual results, performance, achievements or developments to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements; the risks and uncertainties associated with the ongoing impacts of
COVID-19 or other pandemic, general business, economic, competitive, political
and social uncertainties; the results of exploration activities and
feasibility studies; assumptions in economic evaluations which prove to be
inaccurate; currency fluctuations; changes in project parameters; future
prices of gold and other metals; possible variations of ore grade or recovery
rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry;
climatic conditions; political instability; decisions and regulatory changes
enacted by governmental authorities; delays in obtaining approvals or
financing or completing development or construction activities; and discovery
of archaeological ruins. Financial outlook and future-ordinated financial
information contained in this news release is based on assumptions about
future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action,
based on management's assessment of the relevant information currently
available. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook or
future-ordinated financial information contained or referenced herein may not
be appropriate and should not be used for purposes other than those for which
it is disclosed herein. The Company and its management believe that the
prospective financial information has been prepared on a reasonable basis,
reflecting management's best estimates and judgments at the date hereof, and
represent, to the best of management's knowledge and opinion, the Company's
expected course of action. However, because this information is highly
subjective, it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future
results. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove
to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such information or statements, particularly in
light of the current economic climate and the significant volatility,
uncertainty and disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. Forward-looking
statements contained herein are made as of the date of this announcement and
the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.

LEI: 213800PDI9G7OUKLPV84

Company No: 109180

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCGPUAGGUPWGBA