PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Australian Mines will pay a A$450 000 penalty as well as a further A$55 550 in legal costs to resolve its dispute with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
The company on Friday reported that the Federal Court had approved an agreement between Australian Mines and ASIC concerning civil proceedings brought by the watchdog in 2022 against the company.
The proceedings related to certain announcements made by Australian Mines in 2018 relating to its Sconi cobalt/nickel/scandium project, in Queensland, and the term sheet for an offtake agreement with SK Innovation.
In filing its civil proceedings against Australian Mines last year, the ASIC claimed that the company and its MD Benjamin Bell had falsely claimed that the company had secured funding from SK Innovation for the construction of a plant at Sconi, at an expected cost of A$500-million or more, when no such agreement had been in place.
ASIC also claimed misleading statements that the value of the offtake agreement was A$5-billion when the terms of the agreement included a potential buyer’s discount of 15%.
In addition to paying the A$450 000 penalty and covering the ASIC’s costs of A$55 550, Australian Mines will also make certain admissions of contravening its continuous disclosure obligations.