TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Malaysia-focused gold producer Monument Mining this week said it would appeal a summary judgement in the High Court of Malaya in Shah Alam, Selangor, giving the previous owner of the Selinsing gold project, Selinsing Mining, a 5% interest in the profits of a joint venture (JV) in relation to the Selinsing mine.

Monument said its Malaysian counsel had advised it the summary judgment was wrong in fact and in law, and was “highly likely” to be reversed on appeal.

“Counsel has been instructed to bring an appeal and to seek a stay of the order on an urgent basis pending the hearing of the appeal,” the company said on Monday.

The specific terms of the summary judgment were not yet known as the court had not yet issued its reasons for judgment or its written order, but the judge indicated that the order would go generally in the terms claimed.

The claim sought orders, among other things, requiring the JV to call a meeting for the purpose of replacing a Monument subsidiary as the manager of the JV, and an accounting of profits and general damages.

Monument affirmed that even if the judgment were permitted to stand, the alleged JV was not the owner of the mine, but merely an operator in terms of an operating agreement and, therefore, was not entitled to any profits and that in fact it had never realised any profits.

Monument will continue to vigorously dispute the “opportunistic” claim.

PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Meanwhile, Monument on Wednesday closed a second tranche of its private placement and had issued 14.5-million common shares at a price of 50c a share, for gross proceeds of $7.25-million.

Under the terms of an agreement with the company's 26% shareholder GoldMet, the offering was reduced to issuing a maximum of 82-million shares, of which a total of 44.5-million shares had been issued in the first and second tranches.

The company had paid agents Mackie Research Capital and Salman Partners a cash commission of $507 500 and issued agents' options for a total of one-million shares.