Northland Halts Operations After Decision by the Trustee to Accelerate and Enforce the Bank Account Pledge
Luxemburg, May 24, 2013 – Northland Resources S.A. (OSE: NAUR, Frankfurt: NPK, First North/Nasdaq: NAURo – together with its subsidiaries, “Northland” or “the Company”) announces that Norsk Tillitsman, the (“Trustee”), acting on behalf of the bondholders of the USD 370 million senior secured bond (“the Bondholders”) has today decided to enforce on bank account pledges leaving the Company without access to its own funds.
As a consequence Northland lacks the liquidity to make any payments. The Board of Directors has therefore decided that as of today none of the companies in the Group shall order or receive any goods or services. The Company will over the weekend pursue all available options to try to find a solution for the short and long term funding.
The decision to block the bank accounts came after a meeting today between the Trustee, a few larger bondholders and their advisers where they also turned down the proposed USD 35 million short bridge facility which would have required a bondholder approval which was planned for Thursday May 30.
“Karl-Axel Waplan”
President & CEO, Northland Resources S.A.
For more information, please contact:
Karl-Axel Waplan, President and CEO: +46 705 104 239
Eva Kaijser, CFO, +46 709 320 901
Petter Brunnberg, Investor Relations: +46 727 244 109
Web site: www.northland.eu
Northland is a producer of iron ore concentrate, with a portfolio of production, development and exploration mines and projects in northern Sweden and Finland. The first construction phase of the Kaunisvaara project is complete and production ramp-up started in November 2012. The Company produces high-grade, high-quality magnetite iron concentrate in Kaunisvaara, Sweden, where the Company will exploit two magnetite iron ore deposits, Tapuli and Sahavaara. Northland has entered into off-take contracts with three partners for the entire production from the Kaunisvaara project over the next seven to ten years. The Company is also preparing a Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) for its Hannukainen Iron Oxide Copper Gold (“IOCG”) project in Kolari, northern Finland and for the Pellivuoma deposit, which is located 15 km from the Kaunisvaara processing plant.
Forward-Looking Information
This announcement may include “forward-looking” information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes”, “estimates”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “may”, “will” or “should” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. This forward-looking information includes all matters that are expectations concerning, among other things, Northland’s ability to meet its continuous disclosure and MCTO obligations, the likelihood of Northland rectify its default under Canadian Securities laws, Northland’s results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which it operates. By their nature, forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and that Northland’s actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which it operates may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking information contained in this press release. In addition, even if Northland’s results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which Northland operates are consistent with the forward-looking information contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.