Century and Sulliden call it quits; abandon all litigation

The last chapter in a bitter, five-year legal battle between Century Mining (CMM-V, CMNZF-O) and Sulliden Exploration (SUE-T, EXSDF-O) over a disputed property in Peru has finally come to an end.

Century announced today that Sulliden has terminated a US$200 million lawsuit against it in Ontario seeking damages related to a dispute over Shahuindo, a gold-silver project 25 km north of Barrick Gold‘s (ABX-T, ABX-N) Alto Chicama deposit and 70 km south of Newmont Mining‘s (NMC-T, NEM-N) Yanacocha deposit in northern Peru.

The news comes seven months after Century withdrew its takeover bid for Sulliden, and three months after it terminated its purchase and interest in the shares of Compania Minera Algamarca, a company that claimed it owned Shauhindo.

“We have terminated that lawsuit against Century because Century has abandoned all interest in the Shahuindo property,” John Kearney, Sulliden’s president and chief executive, said in a telephone interview.

Litigation in Peru over Shahuindo between Algamarca and Sulliden continues, however.

“We are in discussion with Algamarca with regards to possible settlement to that litigation but it has not yet been concluded,” Kearney said.

Brent Jones, manager of investor relations for Century in Blaine, Washington, said the company had decided not to go ahead with the purchase of Algamarca because its strategy and emphasis had shifted to its core assets.

“It’s a tough time for everyone in the mining industry,” Jones said. “We just don’t have the time or money to continue pursuing these other properties.”

Century owns the Lamaque mine in the Val d’Or area of Quebec and its wholly owned subsidiaries own an 82.6% interest in the San Juan mine in southern Peru.

In Toronto, Century shares closed down 14.29% to a 52-week low of 3 per share on a trading volume of 7.2 million. Its 52-week trading range is 3-69 and the company has 168.7 million shares outstanding.

Sulliden closed at 78 a share. The company has a 52-week trading range of 20-$1.45 per share, with 80.14 million shares outstanding.