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COURT FINDS FINAL APPEAL WITHOUT MERIT - CASE IS CLOSED
VANCOUVER, Feb. 24 /CNW/ - Farallon Resources Ltd. ("Farallon" or the "Company") (TSX: FAN) announces that the Fifth Collegiate Court in Mexico City has dismissed an appeal made by David L. Hermiston in November 2008, as being without merit. This appeal was related to a ruling made by the Civil Court in June 2007 regarding a civil case initiated by David L. Hermiston in September 2004. In the June 2007 ruling, the Civil Court dismissed the case and awarded legal costs to Farallon. The current ruling is final and has, once again, vindicated the Company's position in all respects with regard to its ownership rights to the Campo Morado property. The case is now closed.
As reported in a news release dated September 14, 2004, a writ was filed in the Federal Court of Mexico on September 6, 2004, wherein Farallon was named as a defendant along with 15 other parties, including the Government of Mexico, in a series of claims filed by David L. Hermiston ("Hermiston") as Plaintiff. This writ alleged Hermiston was defrauded of certain ownership rights in shares of Minera Summit de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., the prior owner of the Campo Morado property. In June 2007, the Civil Court in Mexico City dismissed the case and awarded costs to Farallon. In early August 2007, Hermiston appealed this judgment, but in February 2008, the Appeal Court in Mexico City dismissed the appeal. In March 2008, Hermiston filed a further appeal in Mexico to have this ruling reviewed. The Fifth Collegiate Court in Mexico City subsequently asked the First Unitary Court to review its ruling which it did in October, re-affirming the original June 2007 decision and, again, ordering Hermiston to pay costs to Farallon. Hermiston appealed the October ruling to the Collegiate Court; however, this February 6, 2009 ruling of the Fifth Collegiate Court has denied Hermiston's appeal and has, once again, re-affirmed the June 2007 ruling and has, again, ordered Hermiston to pay costs. This is the final appeal on this matter and the current judgment now concludes the civil action launched by Mr. Hermiston against Farallon in September 2004 and the case is closed.
Dick Whittington said: "This ruling is very good news. Mr. Hermiston's unfounded ownership allegations against the Company have again been found to be without merit. The case has been outstanding for a long time but is now finally over. It has been frustrating for shareholders to see this process linger on; however, we have prevailed in each instance and in each jurisdiction on this case and Mr. Hermiston has once again failed to substantiate, in any way, his allegations regarding the Company's ownership rights to the Campo Morado property. Furthermore, Farallon will take all measures possible to recover the costs awarded by the courts. Coupled with the default judgment awarded in a similar case in Nevada initiated by Hermiston, these costs are now well in excess of $1 million. The civil case has now reached conclusion as has the criminal case (February 9, 2009 news release). Again, I would like to thank our legal counsel for their patience and persistence in getting a final resolution to these matters."
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS J.R.H. (Dick) Whittington President and CEO No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release.
Forward Looking Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve or resource potential, continuity of mineralization, exploration drilling, operational activities, production rates, costs to completion and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward looking statements and may require achievement of a number of operational, technical, economic and legal objectives. The likelihood of continued future mining at Campo Morado is subject to a large number of risks, including obtaining lower than expected grades and quantities of mineralization and resources, lower than expected mill recovery rates and mining rates, changes in and the effect of government policies with respect to mineral exploration and exploitation, the possibility of local disputes including blockades of the company's property, the possibility of adverse developments in the financial markets generally, fluctuations in the prices of zinc, gold, silver, copper and lead, obtaining additional mining and construction permits, preparation of all necessary engineering for ongoing underground and processing facilities as well as receipt of additional financing to fund mine construction, development and operation, if needed. Such funding may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no known ore at Campo Morado and there is no assurance that the mineralization at Campo Morado will ever be classified as ore. For more information on the Company and the risk factors inherent in its business, investors should review the Company's Annual Information Form at www.sedar.com and the Company's annual report on Form 40-F at www.sec.gov.