Supreme Court junks case versus Lepanto

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision junking the petition of NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd. to dismiss Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.’s complaint against the Australian firm.

The ruling stemmed from a case filed by Lepanto in 2005, asking the Makati Regional Trial Court to nullify its outstanding hedging contracts with Rothschild after the parties failed to settle their differences.

Lepanto’s position was that the hedging contracts, involving monetary settlements equivalent to 97,746 ounces of gold, were wagering contracts and therefore void under the Philippine law.

In its resolution, the SC ruled that jurisdiction had been acquired over the person of Rothschild through its voluntary appearance, that is through various affirmative reliefs that Rothschild sought from the RTC.

“The SC also affirmed the finding of the RTC and the Court of Appeals that the complaint sufficiently states a cause of action against Rothschild,” Lepanto said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Lepanto earlier said it had fully repaid a $30 million loan from Rothschild and Dresdner Bank.

With an annual gold production of over 150,000 ounces, Lepanto is the biggest gold producer in the Philippines. The company operates the high-grade Victoria deposits in Mankayan, Benguet.

South Africa’s Gold Fields has until March 2012 to decide whether it would push through with a plan to acquire 60 percent of Lepanto’s Far South East (FSE) gold project.

The FSE project is considered highly prospective and is located within an existing mining camp in Benguet province, and is in close proximity to two other mines historically operated by Lepanto.