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June 24, 2010. Vancouver, Canada. El Nino Ventures Inc. ("ELN", "El Nino" or
the "Company") (TSX.V: ELN; FSE: E7Q) announced today that it has received
notice that the previously announced claims commenced in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, (DRC) were dismissed by the Tribunal of Commerce of Lubumbashi.
El Nino successfully argued that the jurisdiction for hearing the claims is in
British Columbia and not the DRC. As well, the orders for garnishment of the
Company's shares in its joint venture Company, Infinity Resources SPRL, have
been removed and remain registered in the Company's name contrary to the
representations of Georges Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd. The Company continues to
take the position that the actions of its previous Country Manager, Georges
Kavvadias are both spurious and without merit.
El Nino has also served Mr. Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd. a Notice of Dispute and
petitioned the Supreme Court of British Columbia in response to two alleged
defaults of the Joint Venture Agreement.
The Company has stated in its Notice of Dispute and is prepared to prove that:
- The amounts claimed are not
due and owing and that Mr. Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd., despite repeated
requests are unable to provide an accounting of the funds entrusted with him
for the advancement of exploration works in the DRC.
- GCP Group Ltd. is in breach
of the Representations and Warranty contained in the Agreements.
- A claim of USD $850,349, for
the right to set-off, as against any sums which may be due and owing to
Georges Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd., as well as unspecified damages for
breach of the agreements by Georges Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd. and for
further damages for fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation by Georges
Kavvadias and GCP Group Ltd.
In addition to the above, the Company is claiming that Georges Kavvadias
breached the Joint Venture Agreement, in addition to the breach of warranty, by
purloining funds provided to him, by denying the Company access to financial
information and the Company's leased premises, equipment and property in the DRC
and refusing to follow the budgetary decisions of El Nino.
It is important for the Company to obtain a resolution of the disputes and to
determine the above quickly, so that the Management can begin addressing its
obligations and renewing its efforts to advance the Company's exploration
projects in the DRC.
Following receipt from GCP Group Ltd. of the Notices of Default relating to the
Joint Venture Agreement, El Nino has invoked the arbitration clauses contained
in the agreements. Whereas in the past, GCP Group Ltd. has commenced litigation
both in British Columbia which has been resolved and in the DRC which has been
dismissed, with respect to past disputes, the Company's purpose for invoking the
arbitration clause is to obtain a quick resolution of the current disputes.
If you have any questions, please contact J. Oness at either 604-685-1870 or by
email at jay@elninoventures.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
"Harry Barr"
Harry Barr, Chairman
and Acting CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange
nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of
the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
Note: this release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events
or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose,
statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In
addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company
uses words such as "continue", "efforts", "expect", "believe", "anticipate",
"confident", "intend", "strategy", "plan", "will", "estimate", "project",
"goal", "target", "prospects", "optimistic" or similar expressions. These
statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results
may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including,
among others, the Company's ability and continuation of efforts to timely and
completely make available adequate current public information, additional or
different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be
imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the
Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that
identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not
undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or
estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements
to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements.
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