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TSX: MNRLAST: 0.165 |
Volume21500 |
2011 News |
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January 25, 2011 Mediterranean Announces Receipt of Requisition For Special MeetingVancouver, B.C., Mediterranean Resources Ltd. (TSX: MNR; Frankfurt: MHM1) ("Mediterranean") acknowledges it has received a requisition from three shareholders of the Company, namely Philip Strathy, an ex-director, 2013072 Ontario Inc., and Frank Lucas, a principal of Loeb Aron, to call a special meeting of shareholders, which the Company has determined will be held on May 20, 2011. Management wishes to emphasize there are none more committed, both in terms of qualification and dedication, to Mediterranean's production process than its current management and directors, both in Canada and in Turkey. This has been demonstrated from May 2004 when its directors successfully managed the transition of Manhattan Minerals Corp., through the stages of it being delisted from the TSX to NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange, to solid growth and development leading to again being listed on the TSX in 2008. Two of its current directors paid personally to keep the Company going as a business concern when no financial support was available during this transition. Today, MNR is fundamentally strong, having earned out an option agreement acquiring two gold properties in Turkey from Teck Cominco in 2006 and developing these to where the Company now controls a contiguous 12km mineralized trend known as the Yusufeli project. This includes the Tac and Corak deposits, where an NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate established an indicated resource of 49.5 million tonnes grading 0.99 g/t Au containing 1.58 million ounces of gold and an inferred resource of 11.0 million tonnes grading 0.83 g/t Au containing 290,000 ounces of gold. In the years since 2006, Mediterranean has made significant progress and evolved from a junior exploration company into a more advanced exploration and development company through advancement of the Yusufeli project under the stewardship of its current Board of Directors and management. Approximately $16 million in cumulative expenditures have been made to date on the project. Mediterranean notes that the requisition has no business plan as to what will be done to protect the Company's assets, including the technical aspects of completing economic assessments and initiating an environmental impact study application. Nor is there any indication as to how its land management practices will be maintained, its licenses protected during a period of changes to the mining law and mining regulations in Turkey and its organizations in Canada and Turkey kept in place. From recent discussions with Loeb Aron, Mediterranean believes that the principal reason for this requisition is clearly an opportunistic attempt to force a business combination between Mediterranean and an AIM-listed Turkish explorer, Ariana Resources PLC. Loeb Aron has heavily promoted this company in the past and has insisted upon the attractions to Mediterranean of a merger. Mediterranean notes that the proposed slate of directors includes Kerim Sener, the Managing Director of Ariana, together with Huseyin Gun, who is a large shareholder of both Mediterranean and Ariana. Current management has rejected these vague proposals due to the incompatibility of both companies' exploration strategies and Ariana having a resource in Turkey (JORC compliant of approximately 450,000 ozs Au) which is a mere fraction of the size of Mediterranean's resource (1.87mn ozs Au). This would make this combination totally unsuitable for a "marriage of equals" and one in which Mediterranean's shareholders would not be fairly and reasonably compensated. As Mediterranean moves toward mine construction with the completion of a preliminary economic assessment and an application for environmental impact assessment in coming months, Mediterranean's Board of Directors and management continue to assess and expand upon the skills and experience required to advance Mediterranean's assets and interests against the backdrop of current market conditions for all resource companies. Recently, Mediterranean has added to its Board of Directors in order to meet the challenges ahead. Mr. Christopher Ecclestone brings strong outreach abilities to expand the Company's interaction with institutional shareholders and financial institutions. The Company is actively considering adding a second, more developmental, project to its portfolio to give mineral and geographical diversification within Turkey. Additionally the Company, as noted in its press release of the 20th of January 2011, has received an unsolicited merger approach to which it has responded by seeking more details of the proposed combination. The Board of Directors understands that Mediterranean will need to keep evolving to grow with its project(s) and serve its shareholders' interests on a variety of levels. Mediterranean is committed to the following three cornerstone elements to enhance shareholder value in difficult economic conditions:
For further information please contact: Peter J. Guest . |
