PFFOF news
Portofino Receives and Rejects Notice of Termination for Yergo Property Agreement
7:01 am ET September 22, 2022 (Newsfile) Print
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 22, 2022) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") announces that it has received a Notice of Termination (the "Notice") from Mr. Fabian Bertetto, the claim owner and Optionor of the Yergo Project in Catamarca, Argentina, regarding the April 2019 Binding Letter Option Agreement and the May 2021 Binding Letter Agreement Addendum (collectively the "Agreements").
The Notice purports to terminate the Agreements. The Company has immediately and forcefully responded to Mr. Fabian Bertetto that claims made in the Notice are completely unsubstantiated, inaccurate, false, and malicious, and the Company rejects the purported termination as baseless and having no merit whatsoever.
Portofino has not breached the Agreements and will defend its legal rights vigorously. As previously disclosed, the Company has spent over 15 months working closely with the Catamarca Ministry of Environment and Mining related to the development of an environmentally and socially responsible exploration plan for inclusion in the drill permit application. Portofino has not breached the Agreements with respect to payments required to keep the Agreements in good standing and has further completed all required work on the property to advance the Yergo property from a completely greenfield project to one that has the potential to deliver significant value to the Province of Catamarca, Mr. Bertetto and Portofino.
Among other things, the Agreements provide that Mr. Bertetto shall not initiate or solicit or entertain any expressions of interest or proposals from any person or take any action to facilitate the purchase or sale or option of all or any interest in the Yergo Project. In the event that such provision has been breached, the Company reserves the right to additionally pursue Mr. Bertetto and the counterparty, or counterparties, causing the contractual breach. Portofino will seek cost recovery and damages from Mr. Bertetto and all parties that induced, or attempted to induce, Mr. Bertetto to breach the Agreements.
Prior to receipt of the Notice, Mr. Bertetto made no complaint against Portofino. Portofino has kept Mr. Bertetto updated on all property related activities. Mr. Bertetto's regular involvement has included submission of all filings with the provincial mining ministry and detailed participation and support in the furtherance of a drilling permit application for the project. Additionally, the Company met with Mr. Bertetto in Catamarca 3 days prior to receipt of the Notice to discuss further revisions to the drilling permit application, and at no time during this meeting did Mr. Bertetto provide any indication verbally or in writing of any concerns related to Portofino or the Agreements.
A property payment due to be paid to Mr. Bertetto by October 13, 2022 (which includes a 60 day curative period from the original payment date of August 14, 2022), will be set in reserve until all legal issues have been settled to Portofino's satisfaction.
In defence of its rights, Portofino has engaged legal counsel in both Buenos Aires and Catamarca, filed an objection to the Notice with the Ministry of Mining in the Province of Catamarca and is currently pursuing formal avenues of dispute resolution in the Province of Catamarca.
Yergo Project Activity to Continue
Irrespective of the Notice, and pursuant to the rights conferred to the Company under the Agreements, Portofino is proceeding with revisions to the drill permit application as requested recently by the Catamarca Ministry of Mining. Assuming these revisions meet the requirements of the Ministry, and a drill permit is issued, the Company will proceed with site preparation and the planned drill program immediately thereafter.
David Tafel, CEO of Portofino, commented:
"This is a very surprising and unfortunate development, and seemingly timed to coincide with the near-term commencement of our next phase of exploration. Based on the facts and discussions with our legal consultants, we believe we have an extremely strong position, and we will aggressively work towards a quick resolution.
"Our team of geologists, biologists, drilling services and site logistics consultants have spent an inordinate amount of time preparing and filing required and requested documents and dialoguing with the various Catamarca ministries to advance exploration efforts in an environmentally sensitive and conscientious manner.
"We intend to proceed with filing final amendments to the drill permit application and will continue to advance our other projects in Salta Province (Argentina) and Northern Ontario (Canada)."
AI
