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Shares in Aguia Resources (ASX:AGR) were flat at lunchtime on Friday according to CBOE live pricing after the company confirmed it had effectively ‘won’ a civil lawsuit against its Brazilian phosphate mine.
This means the company has now received the penultimate approval it needs to launch its phosphate mine set for operational commencement in 2025.
Management’s position on the outcome was clear on Friday, given it can now get back to developing its flagship Fosfato Tres Estradas project.
“At all times the board was of the opinion that it would successfully defend its position, but it is pleasing that this issue has been officially resolved in the company’s favour and Aguia is now free pick up where it left off, three years ago,” company EC Warwick Grigor said.
“There is now no regulatory impediment to developing and commissioning the Tres Estrades rock phosphate mine in 2025, once the final approvals are received for the operating licence.”
The civil lawsuit was an administrative legal matter that ultimately hinged on whether or not Aguia had followed its legal obligations by consulting with relevant stakeholders before going ahead with mining activities.
Under Brazilian law, mining companies must consult with “traditional [communities]” nearby slated projects.
A group of ranchers had gone to court challenging Aguia and the Rio Grande do Sul State environmental regulator, which was upheld originally by Brazilian prosecutors (who have the power to bring forward civil cases).
But, Aguia on Friday reported the court handling the matter determined this week that ranchers do not satisfy the intended meaning of “traditional community.”
Local populations did attend public hearings, and so with that fact set in stone, there was little reason, in the justice’s eyes, that any injunction against Aguia’s environmental permit for its Fosfato Tres Estradas project should remain in question.
The company will now move on to preparing the project for first production, upon which it anticipates to receive an operating licence from the same environmental regulator it was taken to court alongside with.
AGR last traded at 5.3cps.
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