- Argonaut Resources (ARE) lodges an appeal against the grant of a new exploration licence for its Lumwana West project in Zambia to other parties on the grounds of alleged fraud after “purported cancellation” of its licence
- Argonaut says its Zambian lawyers believe the unexpected non-renewal of the company’s licence is due to key compliance documents provided by Argonaut’s subsidiary to its Zambian shareholders have not been submitted as required
- An appeal has now been lodged against the awarding of the new licence to a recently registered company on the grounds of alleged fraud and impropriety
- The company is also preparing a complaint to the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission and currently settling the legal documents necessary to sue its Zambian partners for alleged breaches of contractual and fiduciary duties
- ARE shares plunge 50 per cent to 0.3 cents
Argonaut Resources (ARE) shares have taken a nosedive after the company lodged an appeal against the awarding of a new exploration licence over its Lumwana West project area in Zambia to other parties.
The company said the appeal had been lodged on the grounds of alleged fraud and impropriety.
Argonaut said the large-scale exploration licence covering its Lumwana West project was not renewed by the Zambian Government in late December as expected. The licence area contains the company’s Nyungu copper-cobalt deposit.
The company said its 90 per cent owned subsidiary, Mwombezhi Resources, was said to be operating in full compliance with all licence conditions and other regulatory requirements at the time of the purported cancellation of the licence.
However, Argonaut reported its Zambian lawyers discovered key compliance documents provided by the company to its Zambian shareholders for filing were not submitted to authorities as required, which it said may be behind the cancellation of the licence.
The company said it also learnt that a new licence over the Lumwana West area was “hurriedly and potentially corruptly granted to a recently registered company”.
Argonaut said it had lodged the appeal against the grant of the new licence.
The company was also preparing a complaint to the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission and settling legal documents necessary to sue its Zambian partners for alleged breaches of contractual and fiduciary duties.
Argonaut had begun fast-tracking a feasibility study into a potential commercial mining operation at Nyungu with a team of internationally known experts.
The company said it appeared to be against the national interests of Zambia to stop the process.
ARE shares plunged 50 per cent to 0.3 cents at 11:55 am AEDT.