Aurcana Corporation Announces Settlement of Trans-Pecos Pipeline Easement
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aurcana Corporation ( AUN.V) ( AUNFF) ("Aurcana" or the Company") is pleased to advise shareholders that it has received net proceeds of US$582,651 from a mediated settlement of its eminent domain dispute against Trans-Pecos Pipeline, LLC (“Trans Pecos”) at the Shafter Silver Project in Presidio County, Texas. Cash proceeds are net of all fees and expenses incurred.
Trans Pecos constructed a pipeline to transport natural gas between the Permian Basin and Presidio, Texas for delivery to customers in Presidio and Chihuahua, Mexico. The route of the pipeline crossed the Shafter property, owned by Rio Grande Mining Company (“RGMC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aurcana. The Company had been in discussions with representatives of Trans Pecos concerning safety, the near and long-term impacts of a pipeline on the Company and Shafter, and alternate routes for the pipeline easement.
In March 2016 the Company was made aware that Trans Pecos filed a lawsuit against RGMC to acquire the proposed easement through exercise of its alleged power of eminent domain. The Company engaged counsel to challenge the public use of the pipeline project and, in the alternative, to ensure it received fair compensation for the impact of the proposed pipeline on the market value of the property and the Company’s Shafter operations. In June 2018 the Company entered into a Permanent Easement Agreement granting the requested easement to Trans Pecos. The proposed settlement included the cash compensation for the land taken by Trans Pecos, industry-standard indemnity clauses against future damages, certain limitations on blasting parameters within a measured set-back from the pipeline right-of-way, and rights of access to the Company’s roads at Shafter.
The pipeline is now built and operational. The pipeline right-of-way does not impact on any proposed resumption of operations at Shafter and should be of long-term benefit to the economy of Presidio County and its citizens. |
