Friday, June 29, 2012 -
Canadian rare earths miner Stans Energy Corporation slammed on Thursday reports in Kyrgyzstan and the firm has violated its contract, put forward by are ‘blatantly false’.
“Recent reports emanating from various sources in Kyrgyzstan of the company’s failure to comply with elements, as defined in our licenses, are not accurate and in certain cases, blatantly false,” the firm said in a statement.
Stans pointed out that the Kyrgyz State Geological Agency on June 18 unanimously approved a contract extension for the firm to proceed with development of its Kutessay II project.
The company did not provide details of the allegations.
“We have always worked within the laws of Kyrgyzstan, and we are meticulous in our adherence to the rules and guidelines set out within our license agreements,” the statement said.
“We have invested seven years of our time and over $18 million Canadian dollars [U.S. $17.6 million] of our shareholders’ money in Kyrgyzstan.”
“I want to assure our shareholders that we will use every resource at our disposal to defend your rights, as the legal owners of the Kutessay II mine and Kashka HRE Processing facility, should any source attempt to attack the integrity of Stans Energy,” said the firm’s president Robert Mackay.
The firm's woes appear to be strikingly similar to recent attempts by Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to seize assets belonging to another Canadian firm, Centerra Gold.
Foreign investors are worried that a resource nationalism feeding frenzy may be underway in Kyrgyzstan.