Let’s see what The TSX says about material information and when it’s necessary for a company to inform shareholders of any public company on news or events pertaining to its operations:
“…any information relating to the business and affairs of an Issuer
that results in or would reasonably be expected to result in a
significant change in the market price or value of any of the Issuer’s
Listed Shares, and includes Material Facts and Material Changes”
Therefore, if I may be so bold as to suggest the following. If a group of local residents around a mining project…
- Oppose its development for nearly two decades.
- Campaign firmly within the law for its prohibition.
- Call for a officially recognized referendum, with the vote sanctioned by all national electoral authorities, since 2015.
- Comply with all the requisites demanded of it to hold the referendum.
- Suffer seemingly interminable delays to the sanctioning of the referendum due to the national and municipal government’s fear that the vote will go against their preferred pro-mining stance in overwhelming fashion.
- Never give up hope and continue to press for their constitutional right to a binding and official referendum.
- And finally, after years of campaigning, are awarded their democratic right to vote on whether or not the community will allow mining of the type proposed by said mining project to go ahead.
…do you think it might be classed as material information that the company should be right and moral transmit to its shareholders before the vote takes place, while also explaining the risks its project would face if the vote goes against them?
On March 24th 2019, the 15,363 registered votes of the Girón canton in the Azuay region of South Ecuador will vote in yes/no fashion on the question:
“¿Está usted de acuerdo que se realicen actividades mineras en los páramos y fuentes de agua del sistema hidrológico Quimsacocha?”
As for a translation to that, there’s always room for different takes but I translate it this way, as the tone and neutrality of the statement is the most important:
“Do you agree that mining activities take place in the páramos and the sources of water of the Quimsacocha hydrological system?”
This is directly related to the presence of the INV Metals (INV.to) Loma Larga (previously known as Quimsacocha) gold mine project in its locality. The referendum has been sanctioned by the Ecuador courts and approved by the Ecuador Election Authority (CNE), who will run and supervise the vote as well as announce the official result. The referendum result will be legally binding and recognized by the State. The people around the Loma Larga project have fought for years for their right to vote and have overcome block after legal block to get where they are today.
Perhaps you think INV Metals (INV.to) owes an explanation to its shareholders of this obviously material risk to its project. This humble corner of cyberspace certainly does. We await INV.to’s NR because up to now and strangely, the company hasn’t bothered to tell its shareholders about the impending risk of this referendum vote.