LIMA, PERU--(Marketwired - June 7, 2017) - Minera IRL Limited (BVLAC:MIRL) ("Minera IRL" or the "Company") wishes to advise that it has obtained an order from the Superior Court of Justice of Lima as a precautionary measure to preserve the value of the Company's assets and investment in favour of its shareholders, communities and employees. The order temporarily suspends any enforcement proceedings against the Company due to the expiry of the repayment period for the US$70 million Bridge Loan granted by the Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo ("COFIDE"). In order to keep the court order in place, the Company must request arbitration with COFIDE within 10 days.
The Company has requested a meeting with the members of COFIDE Board, to reach an agreement regarding the extension of the Bridge Loan payment term, within which the Company expects to finalize a new financial structuring plan with banks and/or investment funds. The Bridge Loan was part of the Exclusive Structuring Mandate of a senior debt facility for up to US$240 million maximum, which was unilaterally revoked by COFIDE with an announcement made in early March 2017 that became effective on April 01, 2017.
"Within 60 days after COFIDE's announcement of its decision not to continue with the loan structuring, the company has identified new financing options and is in active dialogue with a number of parties interested in considering an investment. We also maintain the local community's support for construction of a mine. We are confident we will resolve this matter and unlock the value of our flagship Ollachea Gold Project." stated Gerardo Perez, Chairman of Minera IRL.
The Ollachea Project, located in Puno Region, Peru is a robust, shovel ready development project that hosts probable reserves of 9.3 million tonnes grading 3.3 g/t for 1.0 million ounces of gold based on the 2014 post-feasibility optimization study. In Q1, 2017 the Company engaged Mining Plus from Australia to review the life of mine plan and further optimize the project. Final results of the project optimization and profitability studies will be soon announced.
Mr. Francis O'Kelly FIMM, CEng. a Fellow of the UK Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is the Qualified Person ("QP") responsible for the technical disclosure in this news release.
