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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goalie who wrote (955)	4/28/1998 6:36:00 AM
From: INFOMAN	Respond to of 7235

"MEDIA RELEASE TO: ALL MEDIA FROM: DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY MINERALS AND ENERGY NOT TAKING SIDES IN SOUTHERN ERA DISPUTE Recent reports in local and Canadian newspapers that Minister Maduna is backing Southern Era in its attempts to secure diamond rights are based on an unfortunate distortion of facts. The Minister and the Department are not supporting any particular party in this dispute. Local reports are apparently based on an article which appeared in The Financial Post Daily (Toronto) of 23 April 1998, which quotes from a letter which Minister Maduna wrote to a reporter of that paper. Minister Maduna's letter was in response to a request in January this year for clarity on certain issues pertaining to the Marsfontein diamond-rights dispute which at that time received wide publicity. The information contained in the Minister's letter obviously related to the situation at the time, particularly with regard to a court interdict preventing him to proceed with the processing of Southern Era's application. This was at a stage when the Department was still in the process of discussing the issue with the affected parties, including the heirs to the deceased estates holding the mineral rights. The interdict was based on the argument that the Minister would not have a discretion to decide on the matter in terms of section 17 of the Minerals Act and that this section is unconstitutional. The Minister therefore indicated in his letter to The Financial Post Daily that it was his intention to oppose the interdict. This has now erroneously been construed as if the Minister was taking Southern Era's side in court. Subsequent events have since changed circumstances completely. The heirs have taken session of the mineral rights and the interdict has been removed. Southern Era and the heirs are still involved in legal proceedings and it would therefore be totally inappropriate for the Minister and the Department to take sides in the matter. END"