CENTURY PROVIDES
UPDATE ON REGULATORY ISSUES
- Cease trade order revoked
today -
Blaine, WA: March
20, 2008 - Century
Mining Corporation (CMM: TSX-V) announced today that the cease trade
order issued by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) currently in
effect is revoked today, and a management cease trade order will be imposed upon
directors, officers and insiders of the Company.� Issues that have been raised by
the BCSC that remain outstanding involve technical disclosure regarding failure
to file NI 43-101 reports, financial disclosure in the Company’s 2007
third quarter financial statements and certain disclosure items in the
Company’s 2007 management information circular. �The Company is working
diligently to resolve the outstanding issues and has submitted a revised NI
43-101 technical report for the Lamaque property.� Century has also submitted documents
to the BCSC to address the financial statement and management information
circular issues.
The following is a
summary of the technical issues identified by the BCSC in a letter dated
February 21, 2008.
Failure to file NI
43-101 compliant technical reports
Lamaque Underground
Mine
As a result of the shift
to underground mining and certain other public disclosures in 2007, the Company
is required to file a new technical report on the Lamaque underground operation.�
As of the writing of the February 21 letter, the report had not been filed. �As
of today’s date the report had been filed and reviewed by the BCSC.� The
BCSC had fundamental concerns as to the structure and content of the report
because the report:
- did
not address the required items in the form
- lacked
a consent from the qualified person in the form required
- has
a non-compliant certificate of qualified person
- lacked�
required data verification in support of mineral resources and reserves
- references
previously filed reports for information required by the form
- contains
disclaimers of reliance for technical and other information.
As of the date of
this press release the report has been reworked by the technical consultant and
has been resubmitted for review by the BCSC. �No change has been made to the
reserve and resource table in the original report.� The BCSC will be reviewing
these changes in the coming days.
San Juan Property in
Peru
The technical report
filed by F. Barnard (CAM 2007) on May 1, 2007 did not comply with NI 43-101
requirements for the following reasons:
- it
contained prohibited disclaimers and has a non-compliant certificate of
qualified person
- contained
historical mineral resource and reserve estimates that do not qualify as
historical estimates
- includes
current and historical mineral resources that do not comply with NI 43-101
- is
not supported by a consent of qualified person
Forecasts made in
recent months and in the Company’s Annual Information Form (AIF) filed in
2007 and the November 2007 takeover bid of Sulliden Exploration Inc. included
scientific information that triggered the requirement for a new technical
report.
The Company has
completed this report, and the commission will review the report before
publication. �The Company has been allowed 30 days from March 17 to submit this
report. �The Company intends to comply with the commission’s request.
Rosario de Belen
Property in Peru
In Century’s
press release dated May 7, 2007 the Company cited a report on the Rosario de
Belen concessions that was provided to Century during the due diligence describing
the property as a historical resource.� However, because the report was dated after
February 2001, (the cut off period for classifying resources as historical) the
mineral inventory for Rosario de Belen does not qualify as a historical
resource.� The previous disclosure of mineral resource estimates at Rosario de
Belen, production forecasts and costs based on those resource estimates should
not be relied on.
Century also
announced that the terms of the Rosario de Belen purchase transaction are being
renegotiated.� Additionally, the sellers have not provided the Company with
certain operating permits and thus Century has made no further payments on the
property since September 2007.��
Rosario de Belen is
currently producing approximately 500 ounces of gold per month.� Because there
are no NI 43-101 compliant reserves or resources for Rosario de Belen, the
property is not a material asset.� Century is currently operating a
limited-scale heap leach processing operation on the property while it
delineates resources through an exploration program being implemented in 2008.�
The Company is currently capitalizing the exploration expenses on the
property.�
Because the property
is not a material property to Century, the BCSC has agreed that it is not
necessary to complete an NI 43-101 compliant report.
Summary
The Company continues
to work diligently to provide all information, and to resolve the issues with
the BCSC.� In the meantime, the directors, officers and management of the
Company have requested and been granted a management cease trade order
effective March 20, 2008.
Financial status
The Company’s cash
requirements for 2008 total $12 million.� A sum of $9.3 million of this amount
will be used for the ramp up of the Lamaque underground mining operation.� On
Friday March 14, the Company received Credit Committee approval for a $7.5
million leasing line for the Lamaque project.� The Company intends to cover the
balance of the shortfall, as well as capital requirements for San Juan and
additional working capital with a $4 million private placement and the $2.0
million in proceeds from the recent sale of the SAG mill.� The Company has
retained First Canadian Securities to assist with the placement, which will be
a combination of flow-through shares for Lamaque underground development and
units for necessary working capital.�
The Company continues
to have severe short-term cash issues because of the Lamaque ramp up capital
requirements.� This will likely continue until the fall of this year when the
daily production tonnage at Lamaque is expected to reach the break-even
threshold.� These cash demands have resulted in the need to complete the
aforementioned financings immediately.�
The BCSC has revoked
the cease trade order and imposed a management cease trade order, which will allow
the proposed financing to close as soon as is reasonably possible.� The Company
must comply with the necessary time frames imposed by the commission for filing
the San Juan reports and resolving all other issues.
Margaret Kent,
President & CEO said: “We are addressing all of the disclosure issues
raised by the British Columbia Securities Commission and we are confident these
can be resolved quickly.� The Company maintains a policy of meeting all
disclosure requirements of the TSX-V, the BCSC and all other regulatory bodies,
and we are working closely with our auditors and technical consultants.� In the
meantime, the BCSC has revoked the cease trade order so that our shares can
resume trading on the TSX-V and the Company can complete its financings.� On a
positive note, this thorough review of the Company should provide shareholders with
a higher level of confidence that any and all issues surrounding technical or
financial disclosure have been addressed. �We look forward to continuing our
focus on the ramp up of the Lamaque underground mine, and expanding production
as quickly as possible.”� ��
About Century Mining Corporation
Century Mining Corporation is an emerging mid-tier gold producer
that is aggressively acquiring producing mines and exploration properties in
Peru. The Company owns and produces gold at the Lamaque mine in Qu�bec that
historically has produced over 9.4 million ounces of gold. In Peru,
Century’s wholly-owned subsidiaries own an 82.6% interest in the San Juan
Mine where the Company accounts for 100% of gold production.� Century’s
subsidiaries also operate the Rosario de Belen mine where it accounts for 100%
of both gold and silver production. Century’s growth strategy is to
acquire gold producing assets in South America that will substantially reduce
the Company’s consolidated total cash cost of production and where there
is exceptional exploration potential to expand production at these mines.
On
behalf of the Board of Directors,
“Margaret M. Kent”
Chairman, President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Brent Jones, Manager of Investor Relations
E-mail: bjones@centurymining.com
Phone: (877) 284-6535 or (360) 332-4653
Fax: (360) 332-4652
Website: www.centurymining.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this press
release.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the
meaning of applicable securities laws. We use words such as “may”,
“will”, “should”, “anticipate”,
“plan”, “expect”, “believe”,
“estimate” and similar terminology to identify forward-looking
information. It is based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made
by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its
expectations of future developments as well as other factors which it believes
to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking information involves known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements and accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on those statements.� Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to vary include but are not limited to the speculative nature of
mineral exploration and development, including the uncertainty of reserve and
resource estimates; operational and technical difficulties; the availability to
the Company of suitable financing alternatives; fluctuations in gold and other
resource prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and
regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits;
political, economic and other risks arising from our South American activities;
fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; as well as other risks and
uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly
Management’s Discussion and Analysis and in other filings made by us with
Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www..sedar.com.
While the Company believes
that the expectations expressed by such forward-looking statements and�
forward-looking information and the� assumptions, estimates, opinions and
analysis underlying such expectations are reasonable, there can be no assurance
that they will prove to be correct. In evaluating forward-looking statements
and information, readers should carefully consider the various factors which
could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed
or implied in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.