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Emerita Resources Corp. (TSX V: EMO; OTC: EMOTF) (the "Company" or "Emerita") announces that the Administrative Superior Court of Andalusia (Seccion Primera Sala de lo Contencioso-Administravo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucia) has agreed to Emerita's request to withhold its resolution with respect to the Aznalcollar administrative case until the Criminal Court trial is resolved. This is viewed by Emerita's Spanish legal counsel as an important ruling as it ensures that the criminal process, where most of the evidence has been collected, will be sufficiently advanced so that the evidence of the criminal trial can be used in the administrative case.
Background
On September 30, 2021, the Administrative Court unilaterally lifted the suspension of the administrative case involving the Aznalcollar public tender. Prior to that, the Administrative Court was awaiting the completion of the criminal case. On October 14, 2021, Emerita appealed the decision of the Administrative Court as it was concluded that the relevant facts were essentially identical in both cases and therefore the Administrative Court should wait for the facts to be resolved in the Criminal Court where most of the evidence was compiled. This is the normal process in the vast majority of cases where the Criminal and Administrative courts are in proceedings related to the same case.
The Administrative Court has now concurred with Emerita that the facts in the criminal case and the administrative case are substantially similar and has decided to suspend issuing its resolution pending the outcome of the criminal trial. With this decision it is expected that the evidence of the criminal case will be fully available to the Administrative Court in the administrative case. The Administrative Court has already reviewed the case in order to make the determination that the cases are substantially similar and as such Spanish Counsel does not anticipate a significant delay beyond completion of the upcoming criminal court hearings for the Administrative Court resolution.
According to Emerita's Spanish counsel, an ambiguous or unclear administrative ruling could have potentially weakened the legal arguments in the criminal trial. Emerita's request that the Administrative Court withhold resolving the administrative case until the criminal case was resolved was part of Emerita's strategy to ensure that both the Administrative and Criminal cases benefitted from the extensive evidence collected in the criminal case as well as preserving Emerita's right to appeal in the administrative case had a decision in such case preceded a resolution in the criminal case.
The date for the criminal hearing has not yet been set due to Covid backlogs, however the judges and the court have been named and a date is expected in the near future, once a suitable period of court time is available. Due to the number of people charged the criminal hearing is expected to require approximately 2-3 weeks of court time.
According to Damian Lopez, Corporate Secretary for Emerita, "The Company views this decision as very positive. The criminal case has been supported unanimously by five judges, that have articulated the irregularities in detail. The Administrative Court indicating that it considers the facts to be substantially the same as the Criminal Court supports the expectation that the cases will be resolved in line with the court rulings we have seen to date."
About Emerita Resources Corp.
Emerita is a natural resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Europe, with a primary focus on exploring in Spain. The Company's corporate office and technical team are based in Sevilla, Spain with an administrative office in Toronto, Canada.
For further information, contact:
Joaquin Merino
+34 (628) 1754 66 (Spain)
Helia Bento
+1 416 566 8179 (Toronto)
info@emeritaresources.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, the Company's ability to obtain the rights to the Aznalcollar project, the timing and results of the court cases in Spain and the Company's future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward- looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Emerita, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; risks associated with operation in foreign jurisdictions; ability to successfully integrate the purchased properties; foreign operations risks; and other risks inherent in the mining industry. Although Emerita has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Emerita does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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