There is no reason to believe that there will be a problem with title here.
First, we are extremely conscientious about how we do this, and, having pre-Yamana experience down there going back many, many years, we have gotten to know the system very well. In many cases, we were the first exploration or mining people to set foot on this ground. Also, our country manager, Delfor Cadario, who is personally responsible for this issue, has close personal and professional ties with the government officials and bureaucrats who handle this. He has also been a manager at the only producing mines that have operated in Argentina, and contributed to writing the mining law there. He is also meticulous about these vital details. On a more basic level, once you have the cateo -- effectively the first step in getting the mineral development rights -- you have a security which is unlikely to be overturned... something akin to a title search for your home. To drill, you need permission from the land owner (ie surface rights). Normally, this is not a problem and we have a couple of people working with Delfor who deal with this. In the case where there is a problem with access, you can force it through government regulations. (We've only run into this once, at Santa Cruz West -- which has not been part of the Santa Cruz Vanguardia project -- and it's a matter of balancing the value of the prospect with the hassle of working with an unhappy landowner.) The Manifestation of Discovery is the next step in the progression towards full title, and based on having made a discovery. This is limited to the key part of the property. Once it has been completed -- i.e. once it's gone through the bureaucracy -- then it can't be taken away unless for cause. In some cases, such as the Bema Ranch, we actually own both the rights and the land itself, outright.
I hope this helps.
Greg |
