Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV: CDB), the Toronto-based miner developing the San Matías project in the department of Córdoba in northern Colombia, issued a media statement today detailing the reasons behind the lawsuits it filed in late 2018 and January 2019.
According to the press release, Cordoba was forced to present criminal charges before Colombian prosecutors against nine members of former management at its Colombian subsidiary, Minerales Cordoba S.A.S.
The miner alleges breach of fiduciary obligations, abuse of trust, theft, and fraud.
The financial irregularities were discovered by the subsidiary’s new administration following the termination of the employment contract of its former president
In detail, the financial irregularities were discovered by the subsidiary’s new administration following the termination of the employment contract of its former president. The Canadian firm says misappropriated payments and other transactions were completed by different members of the previous leadership team.
Now, it is up to the Colombian prosecutor service to determine if any formal charges should be laid.
Cordoba Minerals revealed that it is also seeking civil damages against some of the individuals involved and that the monetary amounts alleged to have been taken are currently expected to be around $500,000.
“While the situation with former Colombian management is unfortunate, we are happy to see Cordoba taking prompt action to investigate and address the matter. Cordoba continues to have an exciting suite of projects that we are looking forward to advancing. We remain fully committed to Cordoba and are working with senior management and the board to identify and execute funding solutions during this time of general market weakness for junior exploration companies,” said Eric Finlayson, a member of the Board of Directors and President of High Power Exploration, a company that sold San Matías to Cordoba in 2017 and owns a 67% interest in the Ontario firm.
San Matías project area. Photo by Cordoba Minerals.
Finlayson also said that all of Cordoba’s mining titles, applications, and operations in the South American country remain in good standing.
San Matías comprises of a 20,000-hectare land package in a newly identified high-grade copper-gold district that Cordoba says is characterized by porphyry type and “carbonate replacement” type and/or “iron oxide copper-gold” type deposits formed in an accreted island arc setting.
Within the San Matías project area, there is the Alacrán copper-gold system where Indicated Mineral Resources are currently 36.1 million tonnes grading 0.57% copper and 0.26 g/t gold, and 31.8 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 0.52% copper and 0.24 g/t gold.
