High River Gold Announces the Beginning of the Bankruptcy Procedures of Prognoz Silver LLC
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 06/08/10 -- High River Gold Mines Ltd. ('High River' or the 'Company') (TSX: HRG) was informed yesterday that the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow has approved the application of OJSC Buryatzoloto ('Buryatzoloto') for official bankruptcy procedures for Prognoz Silver LLC, which operates the Prognoz silver project in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, which the Company has an interest in. The commencement of the procedures will result in the preservation of Prognoz Silver LLC's assets, an analysis of its financial condition, the preparation of the list of creditors and the holding of the first creditors' meeting. It is anticipated that the bankruptcy procedures may last at least seven months and may permit Buryatzoloto to collect or restructure the indebtedness of Prognoz.
Buryatzoloto is 85% owned by High River. High River holds a 50% indirect interest in Prognoz Silver LLC. In October 2009, Buryatzoloto filed a claim to the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow against Prognoz Silver LLC to recover an outstanding debt due under the contract for exploration work on the Prognoz silver project. The amount of claim including interest and other expenses was approximately US$18 million. The outstanding debt of Prognoz Silver LLC originated from the inability of the shareholders other than High River to finance their share of expenditures at Prognoz Silver LLC. In December 2009, the court ruled in favour of Buryatzoloto. Later, in March 2010, the ruling was confirmed by the appellate court. The court awarded Buryatzoloto the claimed amount; however Buryatzoloto did not succeed in collecting it.
About High River
High River is unhedged gold company with interests in producing mines and advanced exploration projects in Russia and Burkina Faso. Two underground mines, Zun-Holba and Irokinda, are situated in the Lake Baikal region of Russia. Two open pit gold mines, Berezitovy in Russia and Taparko-Bouroum in Burkina Faso, are also in production. Finally, High River has two advanced exploration projects with NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates, the Bissa gold project in Burkina Faso and 50% interest in the Prognoz silver project in Russia.
FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION
This release and subsequent oral statements made by and on behalf of the Company may contain forward-looking statements. Wherever possible, words such as 'intends', 'expects', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'believes', and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will' be taken, occur or be achieved, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this release reflect management's current beliefs based upon information currently available to management and based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, High River cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause events and achievements to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve significant known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause High River's actual results, event, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although High River has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended, including those risk factors discussed in the Company's 2009 Annual Information Form. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and High River assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless otherwise required by law.
Contacts:
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
Igor Klimanov
CEO
011 7 495 981 0910 ext. 6678
info@hrg.ca
www.hrg.ca