- Mineros Norteños has a filed an appeal to overturn a recent ruling regarding Silver Bull Resources’ (SVB) Sierra Mojada Project in Mexico
- The legal battle has been ongoing since 2014 and relates to a C$8.95 million royalty payment allegedly payable to Mineros Norteños
- This is the latest in a number of appeals launched by Mineros Norteños, which established a protective blockade at the project in September 2019
- Silver Bull is anticipating a final ruling on the case, which cannot be further appealed by Mineros Norteños, within the next six months
- Silver Bull Resources (SVB) is currently down 3.12 per cent and is trading at 16 cents per share
Mineros Norteños has a filed an appeal to overturn a recent ruling regarding Silver Bull Resources’ (SVB) Sierra Mojada Project in Mexico.
The legal battle has been ongoing since 2014 and relates to an agreement between Silver Bull and Mineros Norteños on two mineral licenses which cover the eastern portion of the Sierra Mojada deposit.
According to the agreement, the licenses are subject to a two per cent net smelter return royalty, payable to Mineros Norteños, should the mine go to production.
The feud began when Mineros Norteños filed a law suit to recover the royalty, estimated at approximately C$8.95 million, which includes interest to the amount of six per cent per year.
However, Silver Bull argues that the payment is not owed since there has been no revenue produced from the applicable mining concessions.
Mineros Norteños also sought the payment of wages since its involvement in late August 2004, but Silver Bull also denies this, claiming that a mineral processing plant was never built and there had been no formal agreement to hire the workers.
The Mexican court ruled in favour of Silver Bull on October 4, 2017, but Mineros Norteños subsequently appealed this on October 19, 2017.
On July 31, 2019, the Federal Appeal Court ruled again in favour of Silver Bull and, again, Mineros Norteños challenged the ruling. This was then upheld in March this year.
Mineros Norteños’ latest appeal is its final opportunity to challenge the decision at the Federal Circuit Court, after which the ruling will be considered final.
Tim Barry, President and CEO of Silver Bull Resources, said he is extremely disappointed to see that Mineros Norteños has filed another appeal.
“We strongly believe the law suit filed by Mineros Norteños is without merit and is largely being driven by their lawyer, who stands to gain a considerable contingency payment if successful, and a small radical group of approximately 10 Mineros Norteños members who do not accurately reflect the sentiment of the much larger Mineros Norteños group,” he added.
Mineros Norteños established a protestive blockade at the Sierra Mojada Project in September 2019 in an effort to encourage a settlement with Silver Bull. As such, the company has elected to halt all operations on the project until a resolution can be found.
“We remain committed to good faith dialogue with the Mineros Norteños group, many of whom have worked for Silver Bull, to find a solution, but to date any proposal put forward by Silver Bull has been rejected, and any counter proposals from Mineros Norteños have been completely unrealistic,” Tim concluded.
Silver Bull Resources (SVB) is currently down 3.12 per cent and is trading at 16 cents per share at 3:47pm EDT.