The Toronto-based company said that the SGA has decided not to annul the company’s licence agreement as recommended by a committee in the Kyrgyz parliament earlier this year. Stans was granted a licence agreement extension on June 18 that was unanimously ratified by the 14-member licensing committee of the SGA of Kyrgyz Republic.

At the end of July, the company initiated legal action against a decision of the parliamentary committee (Jogorku Kenesh) represented by Rep. Badykeeva that demanded the annulment of the licence agreement. Stans said its lawsuit against Jogorku Kenesh will still be pursued in the courts to ensure that rule of law is enforced and the company’s shareholders’ rights are protected. Stans Energy’s president and CEO Robert Mackay declared:

We will continue negotiating the parameters of a public-private partnership, with the SGA, as set out in the previously granted framework on June 15, 2012.

Although the lawsuit against the committee in the Jogorku Kenesh is ongoing, we are eager to continue to working closely with the officials and experts at the SGA.

The aim of court action is to have the committee cease and desist from making further false claims against the company and its operations, and we are optimistic that given our day in court, Stans will be able to fully assert our legal position.

Stans said that its Kyrgyz advisors believe Jogorku Kenesh failed to follow Kyrgyz laws, in that “it failed to follow legislated inspection and investigation procedures and due process in respect of the activity of the SGA”.

The company also alleges that the Jogorku Kenesh failed to consider the interests of Stans or afford it due process, and that it “acted beyond its legislated authority and interfered in activities of the government of Kyrgyzstan and the SGA over which it had no right or capacity”.

Stans Energy is engaged in the acquisition and development of mineral deposits, such as uranium, molybdenum, vanadium, beryllium, lithium and rare earth metals in the Kyrgyz Republic. The company’s Kutessay II mine is the only past-producing heavy rare earth elements mine in the world outside of China. The Kashka rare earth plant, formerly known as the Kyrgyz chemical-metallurgical plant, was designed to process concentrate from Stans 100% owned Kutessay II mine.

Last month, Stans said it successfully separated dysprosium oxide from a stockpile of resins at Kashka. The company said it yielded 50-kg of dysprosium oxides ahead of target. Technical teams at the site separated 15 kg of dysprosium with a grading of 99.95% and 20 kg of dysprosium recording grades of 99.5%.

Stans said it plans to release a full chemical analysis of produced oxides, when a batch of 48 tonnes of resins is completed by fourth-quarter.