TORONTO, Dec. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSXV: TVC) (OTCQB: TVCCF) Three Valley Copper Corp. (“Three Valley Copper”, “TVC” or the “Company”) today announced that Minera Tres Valles SpA (“MTV”), the Company’s 95.1% Chilean copper mining subsidiary, has filed an application for bankruptcy liquidation with the Civil Courts of Santiago. Under applicable Chilean law, a liquidator is expected to be appointed by the larger creditors of MTV in the coming days, and such liquidator will assume full responsibility for the operations and management of MTV. The public company, Three Valley Copper, is expected to continue as a going concern independent of the application for bankruptcy liquidation filed by MTV.
Upon appointment, the liquidator will carry out or exercise, as applicable, all acts, rights, and obligations of MTV and will be required to perform all acts necessary for the preservation of MTV’s rights against its debtors and creditors.
Although MTV has sought creditors’ protection by filing a Judicial Restructuring Procedure on June 13, 2022, the order has not yet been granted by the Chilean courts and MTV’s liquidity position has continued to deteriorate.
Beginning in January 2022, MTV scaled down operations while the Company and MTV, together with the senior lenders to MTV, began a process to attract a long-term financing solution for MTV. To date, a long-term financing solution has not been sourced and there are no ongoing discussions with potential investors.
MTV has operated at a limited capacity since January 2022 while it continued to harvest copper cathodes from its current inventory. MTV forecasts an accelerating decline in its liquidity position as its current inventory is nearing depletion, and together with the substantial funding requirements to carry out a restart of operations, MTV is unable to effectively carry on its business or meet its obligations as they become due.
As a result of the foregoing, MTV has applied for voluntary liquidation with sufficient cash resources for the liquidator to manage MTV for several months in full care and maintenance. It is expected that employees dedicated to environmental compliance and general maintenance activities at MTV will remain. The majority of MTV’s workforce was previously terminated and paid severance entitlements.
Following appointment of the liquidator, further information will be communicated to affected parties in accordance with applicable legislation.
For more information about the Company, please visit www.threevalleycopper.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements in this news release, contain forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as the "Forward-Looking Statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-Looking Statements. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains Forward-Looking Statements pertaining to: expected cash flow and capital resources of MTV; the timing and process of liquidation proceedings of MTV; cash resources of MTV being sufficient for several months of care and maintenance; employment arrangements for the ongoing environmental compliance and general maintenance at MTV; and the expectations regarding MTV’s debt restructuring and additional financing.
Although TVC believes that the Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievements. A number of factors or assumptions have been used to develop the Forward-Looking Statements, including: the availability of certain consumables (including water) and services and the prices for power, sulfuric acid and other key supplies; expected labour and materials costs and available supply; MTV’s planned maintenance being sufficient to maintain infrastructure stability at Papomono during the stated period; concessions from key suppliers continuing until the end of 2022; certain tax rates, including the allocation of certain tax attributes, being applicable to MTV; the continued availability of quality management.
Actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Statements should assumptions underlying the Forward-Looking Statements prove incorrect or should one or more risks or other factors materialize, including: (i) cash resources of MTV being insufficient for several months of care and maintenance; (ii) employment arrangements for the ongoing environmental compliance and general maintenance of MTV being inadequate; (iii) delays or complications related to the voluntary liquidation process; (iv) possible variations in grade or recovery rates; (v) copper price fluctuations and uncertainties; (vi) delays in obtaining governmental approvals or ability to raise capital; (vii) risks associated with the mining industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to mineral reserves, production, costs and expenses; and labour, health, safety and environmental risks) and risks associated with the other portfolio companies' industries in general; (viii) risks associated with investments in emerging markets; (ix) general economic, market and business conditions; (x) market volatility that would affect the ability to enter or exit investments; (xi) commodity price and foreign exchange fluctuations and uncertainties; (xii) risks associated with catastrophic events, manmade disasters, terrorist attacks, wars and other conflicts, or an outbreak of a public health pandemic or other public health crises, including COVID-19; (xiii) those risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Management" in TVC’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the period ended December 31, 2021; and (xiv) those risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" or incorporated by reference into TVC’s Annual Information Form dated March 3, 2021. The Forward-Looking Statements speak only as of the date hereof, unless otherwise specifically noted, and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update any Forward-Looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws.
For further information:
Michael Staresinic
President and Chief Executive Officer
T: (416) 943-7107
E: mstaresinic@threevalleycopper.com
Renmark Financial Communications Inc.
Joshua Lavers: jlavers@renmarkfinancial.com
T: (416) 644-2020 or (212) 812-7680
www.renmarkfinancial.com
Source: Three Valley Copper Corp.
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