Thanks we are all getting there from here, as they say in Maine, "Ya can't get there from here!" So, you are most welcome to advise this Palladium Growd about the what mights in the breakthru of such a new virgin, so to speak industrializations in North America on overlooks, or underbudget mining that will bein the news other than us new forward lookers ...just looking backwards...here is a NR I was going to put on Global Platinum Thread, what The Heck, I'll put it here:
AG Armeno Mines and Minerals Inc -
AG Armeno's Newmont action crumbles in B.C. court
AG Armeno Mines and Minerals Inc AGM
Shares issued 25,262,209 1999-06-14 close $0.18
Tuesday Jun 15 1999
Also (U:NEM)
by Brent Mudry
Bedo Kalpakian's AG Armeno Mines and Minerals has lost a bold bid to drag gold giant Newmont Gold into Armeno's high-stakes Vancouver suit against Indonesian financier Jusuf Merukh and his company, PT Pukuafu Indah, over the Batu Hijau gold and copper project in Indonesia. In a decision released Tuesday, Mr. Justice Barry Davies of the Supreme Court of British Columbia agreed that Newmont is entitled to a declaration that the B.C. court has no jurisidiction over Newmont in the suit. The action stemmed from Armeno's May 28, 1998, option to purchase 90 per cent of Indah's 20 per cent interest in the project for $2-million (U.S.) and 50 million Armeno shares. Newmont holds 56.25 per cent of the other 80 per cent of the exploration and development rights to the project. Judge Davies notes that Newmont first learned of the Armeno option in early June, 1998, through an article in The Globe and Mail.
After the one-day hearing on May 4, Judge Davies has ruled that Armeno's case against Newmont was too thin. "In my judgment, the evidence submitted by the plaintiff in this case amounts to nothing more than assertion and opinion," stated the judge. Judge Davies took particular objection to Mr. Kalpakian's affidavit evidence that a former employee of Mr. Merukh provided Armeno with a document dated Sept. 28, which Armeno claims served as evidence of Newmont's interference in the Armeno option agreement. "I note that the identity of the former employee is not disclosed (making the hearsay evidence even more objectionable)," stated Judge Davies.
The judge also noted several other significant flaws in Armeno's case. "When these serious deficiencies in the plaintiff's own evidence are considered in light of Newmont's undisputed evidence as to the need for the consent of other parties to the project to the proposed transaction between PI (Indah) and the plaintiff, coupled with the fact that the plaintiff did not provide Newmont with the documentation requested, I conclude that the plaintiff has not placed before the court a body of evidence which establishes that it has a good arguable case against Newmont sufficient to establish jurisdicition simpliciter," ruled the judge. Lawyers Henning Weibach and Gavin Crickmore appeared for Armeno at the hearing, while Newmont was represented by lawyer William Everett and articling student John Kleefeld.
The dispute traces back to May 28, 1998, when Indah granted an option to Armeno, exercisable until Sept. 15. Newmont discovered the deal in the newspaper in early June and became quite concerned. On June 3, Newmont executive vice-president and chief financial officer Wayne Murdy wrote to Mr. Merukh, expressing Newmont's concerns about the Armeno option, citing existing agreements between numerous parties involved in the project, and Indonesian restrictions on ownership of interests in the project.
Mr. Murdy asked for an immediate meeting, and on June 8, Mr. Merukh and Mr. Kalpakian flew to Denver to discuss the proposed transaction with Mr. Murdy. "Murdy advised that Newmont would be willing to assist Merukh in 'monetizing' his interest in PI (Indah) and the project, subject to the approval of the Indonesian government and acceptable assurances that Newmont's' interests and the interests of its partners in the project would not be compromised," according to Judge Davies.
At this meeting, Mr. Merukh and Mr. Kalpakian agreed to provide Newmont's Mr. Murdy with copies of the documentation detailing the proposed deal. Three days later, on June 11, Mr. Kalpakian sent Newmont a copy of Armeno's press release, but the Vancouver stock promoter did not send a copy of Armeno's option agreement with Indah. The judge notes that shortly after the Denver meeting, Newmont's associate general counsel, Britt Banks, phoned Armeno's Vancouver lawyer, Doug Garrod, to follow up on the request for documentation, but despite this and other follow-up requests, Newmont never received the documentation. Mr. Banks informed the Armeno lawyer that in his opinion, the Armeno option required the consent of the other project participants and the consent of the Indonesian government.
On July 6, a month after the Denver meeting, Indah and Armeno agreed to extend the deadline for signing their "definitive agreement" from July 15 to Aug. 31, and to extend the expiry date for the option from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31. The deal, however, unravelled sometime in September. Despite the extensions, in late September, Mr Merukh told Mr. Banks and another Newmont official that his agreement and option with Armeno had expired and the proposed deal was dead. Armeno filed suit against Mr.Merukh and Indah on Oct. 14, claiming the defendants misrepresented their authority to enter into the agreement and deliver title to Mr. Merukh's interest in the project. (Armeno added Newmont to the suit in January.)
In a court-filed affidavit, Mr. Kalpakian claims that in early November, he and his brother Jacob, Armeno's vice-president, met with an unidentified former employee of Mr. Merukh in Indonesia, who blamed Mr. Merukh's reluctance to complete the Armeno deal on direct pressure from Newmont. This mystery employee alllegedly handed the Vancouver stock promoters a document entitled "Discussion Notes - Meeting in Jakarta on September 28, 1998."
Bedo Kalpakian claims this document, "apparently prepared by Newmont, purports to show how Merukh could monetize his interest in PI (Indah) through a public offering which would presumably be financed by Newmont." The Vancouver stock promoter claims the timing of this meeting coincided with a meeting between Mr. Merukh and Newmont's Mr. Murdy in Indonesia.
Armeno bumped its B.C. court action up into high gear in early January. On Jan. 7, Armeno obtained default judgment against Indah, with damages to be assessed later. Four days later, on Jan. 11, Armeno, brandishing Mr. Kalpakian's affidavit, succeeding in getting a junior judge, Master Doolan, in an ex-parte action to add Newmont as a defendant. On Jan. 13, Armeno also obtained default judgment against Mr. Merukh, with damages to be assessed later. Soon after being served with the suit, Newmont launched its jurisdictional challenge.
"I am satisfied that the case advanced by the plaintiff against Newmont is a tenuous one," ruled Judge Davies. The judge noted that there is no real or substantial connection between Newmont and B.C., and the pleadings against Mr. Murdy's action are "virtually devoid" of details. In addition, "Kalpakian's evidence is internally inconsistent in that while he deposed that 'almost immediately' after the June 8, 1998, meeting, Merukh's attitude toward fulfilling Indah's obligations under the agreement changed, there is undisputed objective evidence that on July 6, 1998, Merukh signed the amendment to the agreement" which extended the option," stated Judge Davies.
(c) Copyright 1999 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com
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Chucka
Go - Palladiums -Go MXAM and Go PFN.ASE ( and others! )
P.S.- Hey, Chuck # 1...Mr Banks is mentioned in the article! He lost an E. Will you sell him a vowel? |
