- Tesoro Resources (TSO) has been served with a notice of dispute from its joint venture partner over ownership of the El Zorro Gold Project in Chile
- The project is held in a JV between TSO subsidiary Tesoro Mining Chile and Wanaco
- Minority holder Wanaco is disputing the valuation and procedure following Tesoro Mining Chile’s capital increase in the project roughly five months ago
- Tesos says the claims are “vexatious” and hold no legal basis
- Tesoro Resources shares are trading steady at 10.5 cents
Tesoro Resources (TSO) has been served with a notice of dispute from its joint venture partner over ownership of the El Zorro Gold Project in Chile.
The El Zorro Project is held in a joint venture between Tesoro’s Chilean subsidiary, Tesoro Mining Chile — which currently owns 85 per cent of the project — and Wanaco, which holds the remaining minority interest.
Tesoro Mining upped its stake in the project from 70 per cent to 85 per cent in March, after claiming it paid approximately $7.6 million for exploration and development activities.
Wanaco is now disputing the valuation and the procedure followed for the capital increase, which Tesoro noted was granted in a shareholder meeting of El Zorro SCM in February this year.
Tesoro claims Wanaco did not contribute in accordance with its pre-emptive right to pro-rata contribute to the capital increase.
“Tesoro is confident that the capital increases were properly valued and duly approved under Chilean corporate and mining law and the dispute initiated by Wanaco is vexatious and with no legal basis,” the company said in a statement.
“Tesoro will vigorously defend its position and is considering its legal options to have this spurious claim rejected by the court.”
The claim has been lodged with 7th Civil Court de Santiago de Chile.
Tesoro Resources shares were trading steady at 10.5 cents.