The statements regarding the value and status of the joint partnership are, to the best of Kinross' knowledge, without any basis in fact. The statement attributed to the Kinross employee in the Southridge news release was incorrectly attributed to him.
A complete and absolute denial would read "The statements regarding the value and status of the joint partnership are without any basis in fact." No need to insert "to the best of Kinross' knowledge."
This can also be interpreted as "we don't think we signed a J.V. agreement but we could be wrong." If they signed nothing, they would say they signed nothing.