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Gold/Mining/Energy : WWS.T World Wide Minerals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: traacs who wrote (782)	8/7/2002 5:55:51 PM
From: traacs	Respond to of 784

FOR : World Wide Minerals Ltd. August 7, 2002 World Wide And Nuclear Fuel Resources Report On Decision Of US Federal Court Of Appeals In US$1.0 Billion Lawsuit WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA--World Wide Minerals Ltd. and its subsidiary, Nuclear Fuel Resources Corporation, announced today that the US Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. issued a decision on Friday, August 2, 2002 in the US$1.0 billion lawsuit against Kazakhstan and Nukem, Inc. The Court found that the trial judge's earlier dismissal of the Company's civil conspiracy claims against Nukem for lack of personal jurisdiction had been based on the judge's misunderstanding of certain facts. The Court of Appeals remanded those claims to the trial judge for further deliberation. The Court of Appeals also affirmed the trial judge's dismissal of the Company's claims against Kazakhstan, albeit on somewhat different grounds. The Court disagreed with the trial judge's opinion that Kazakhstan had fully waived its sovereign immunity. Instead, the Court agreed with the judge that the case hinged on "acts of state" (namely, refusal to issue export licenses, and confiscation of assets without compensation), which were acts with which the Court would not interfere. The Company is reviewing with its legal counsel the further steps that can be taken in the lawsuit, including applying for leave to reargue the appeal before the full bench of the Court of Appeals, applying for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States and continuing to pursue the claims against Nukem before the trial judge. The Company will also consider further steps to be taken to collect the sovereign debt owing to it by Kazakhstan arising out of a loan made in 1996-1997 to revitalize the uranium industry of that country. That loan, with accrued interest and collection costs, now amounts to over US$29 million. Paul Carroll, President and CEO of World Wide, reiterated that "what happened to us, with our good faith investment of millions of dollars and with our operations in Kazakhstan, should be a warning to all international investors. The effect of this is that, if the Court decision is allowed to stand, a sovereign state can refuse to repay its debts and can cancel commercial contracts, without paying compensation. This would be a scandalous result. We certainly hope that other international investors, such as in the petroleum sector, will look long and hard at this result before making investments in emerging countries such as Kazakhstan." - 30 - FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT : World Wide Minerals Ltd. Paul A. Carroll President and CEO Phone: (416) 369-7217 Fax: (416) 369-6088 pcarroll@worldwideminerals.com INDUSTRY : MNG SUBJECT : LAW