Antofagasta PLC TWIN METALS MINNESOTA MINING LEASES (0833S)
16 December 2016 - 10:11PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMANTO
RNS Number : 0833S
Antofagasta PLC
16 December 2016
NEWS RELEASE, 16 DECEMBER 2016
Twin Metals Minnesota Mining Leases
Renewal Denied by US Federal Government
Antofagasta plc announces that on 15 December, its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Twin Metals Minnesota LLC ("Twin Metals"), was notified
that the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
("BLM") have denied renewal of two of its long-held federal mining
leases in the Iron Range region of north-eastern Minnesota. Twin
Metals is in the early stages of developing a proposal for an
underground copper-nickel mining project in the region.
Twin Metals' leases have been held in good standing by the
federal government for more than 50 years, and have been twice
renewed without controversy. As stated in a federal lawsuit filed
by Twin Metals in September 2016, Twin Metals believes denial of
the leases is inconsistent with federal law, the terms of leases
themselves and the federal government's established precedent in
supporting and renewing the leases over five decades.
While Twin Metals is assessing the impact of the agencies' lease
renewal decision, Twin Metals is committed to progressing the
project and will continue to pursue legal avenues to protect its
contractual mineral rights.
The leases in question were issued by the federal government in
1966 with a right of unlimited, successive 10-year renewals. The
leases were renewed by BLM without controversy in 1989 and again in
2004. Twin Metals filed the current lease renewal application in
mid-2013.
Further information, including a Fact Sheet, is available on the
Twin Metals website: www.twin-metals.com.
Investors - London Media - London
Andrew Lindsay alindsay@antofagasta.co.uk Carole Cable antofagasta@brunswickgroup.com
Paresh Bhanderi pbhanderi@antofagasta.co.uk Will Medvei antofagasta@brunswickgroup.com
Telephone +44 20 7808 0988 Telephone +44 20 7404 5959
Investors - Santiago Media - Santiago
Alfredo Atucha aatucha@aminerals.cl Pablo Orozco porozco@aminerals.cl
Telephone +56 2 2798 7000 Carolina Pica cpica@aminerals.cl
Telephone +56 2 2798 7000
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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