Mines Management Receives Positive Verdict on Claims Near Montanore Project

Mines Management Inc. (TSX:MGT,NYSEMKT:MGN) announced that the US District Court of Montana, Missoula Division has ruled in its favor in a case involving alleged mineral claims overlying the Montanore adit.
The verdict affirms the conclusions of a court-appointed Commission, which previously ordered that claim holders “receive zero compensation for the easement and rights-of-way granted by the Court to the Company for the use of its Montanore adit.”
As quoted in the press release:

The claim holders, a group known as Optima Inc. led by former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Francis Duval (“Optima”), and Arnold Bakie, had contended that the Company owed Optima $10 million in compensation for the use of the Montanore adit that allegedly crossed their claims, and that the value of their claims had been reduced as a result of the presence and use of the adit.
Evidence supporting the Commission’s conclusion in part showed that there had, in fact, been no valuable mineral discoveries on the claims, and a 2008 effort made by the group to relocate the claims over the adit from a different location had been rejected by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”).

Glenn M. Dobbs, chairman and CEO of Mines Management, commented:

It is gratifying that the Commission and the court have, after examining the evidence, concluded that the adit and our activities do not reduce the value of Optima’s alleged claims, and in their favorable ruling have provided vindication for the years of misinformation distributed by the Optima group in their effort to extract money and stock from Mines Management. The easement granted by the U.S. District Court affirms the validity of our activities through the existing adit, and protects the construction of an additional adit planned for the Montanore mine project once it is approved by regulators.

Click here to read the full Mines Management Inc. (TSX:MGT,NYSEMKT:MGN) press release.