THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emerita Resources Corp. (TSXV: EMO) (the “Company” or “Emerita”) announces that it has entered into a credit agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund II, LP (the “Lender”) pursuant to which the Company will borrow up to an maximum aggregate principal amount of USD$15,000,000 from the Lender to be issued in three tranches of: (i) USD$6,000,000 (“Tranche 1”); (ii) USD$4,500,000 (“Tranche 2”); and (iii) USD$4,500,000 (“Tranche 3” and, together with Tranche 1 and Trance 2, the “Tranches” and each a “Tranche”) (the “Loan”). The Loan will provide flexible non-dilutive financial support to allow Emerita to continue to advance its wholly-owned Iberian Belt West Project (the “IBW Project”) during a difficult equity market.
David Gower, Emerita’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This transaction with Nebari gives Emerita access to up to USD$15M of non-dilutive capital in a challenging equity environment for resource companies and allows the Company to maintain the momentum in developing its ongoing Spanish projects. Emerita is only required to draw down on Tranche 1 as it looks forward to the continued advancement of its wholly-owned IBW Project and the resolutions of the ongoing Aznalcollar criminal and administrative cases in 2025. There are several short-term and medium-term milestones which we expect to achieve that we believe will add value to Emerita shareholders. Drawing Tranches 2 and 3 referred to above are at the Company’s discretion subject to satisfying the applicable condition precedents.”
Steven Bowles, Managing Director of the Lender, commented: “Nebari is extremely excited to partner with Emerita Resources as it advances the IBW Project. We are impressed with the experience and professionalism of the Emerita and IBW teams and have the utmost confidence in their ability to continue to unlock value at IBW and beyond.”
The proceeds of the Loan are to be used by Emerita for working capital requirements related to exploration and geological drilling, advancement of study work, environmental permitting at the IBW Project, and general and administrative costs of the Company. Interest will accrue on the advanced outstanding principal amount on the Loan based on a floating rate per annum equal to the sum of: (i) the three-month term SOFR reference rate administered by CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited (the “Term SOFR”), as determined on the first date of each calendar month; and (ii) 11.50% per annum, provided that if the Term SOFR is less than 4.0%, it shall be deemed to be 4.0%. The maturity date of the Loans will be the date that is 48 months following the closing of Tranche 1. The Loan may be repaid prior to their maturity at any time subject to the additional payment of a make-whole threshold.
Advertisement
The Company will issue on the closing of each Tranche a number of common share purchase warrants (the “Loan Bonus Warrants“) equal to:
a) Tranche 1: the Canadian equivalent of USD$6,000,000 divided by a Canadian dollar amount equal to a 25% premium to the lower of: (i) a 20-day VWAP of the Company’s share price on the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche; and (ii) the Market Price (as such term is defined under the policies of the TSXV) as of the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche;
b) Tranche 2: the Canadian equivalent of USD$1,687,500 divided by a Canadian dollar amount equal to a 25% premium to the lower of: (i) a 20-day VWAP of the Company’s share price on the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche; and (ii) the Market Price as of the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche;
c) Tranche 3: the Canadian equivalent of USD$1,687,500 divided by a Canadian dollar amount equal to a 25% premium to the lower of: (i) a 20-day VWAP of the Company’s share price on the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche; and (ii) the Market Price as of the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of such Tranche
Advertisement
Each Loan Bonus Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at an exercise price equal to a 25% premium to the lower of: (i) the 20-day VWAP of the Company’s share price on the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of the Tranche under which such Loan Bonus Warrant is being issued; and (ii) the Market Price (as such term is defined under the policies of the TSXV) as of the date which the Company issues its request for the advance in respect of the Tranche under which such Loan Bonus Warrant is being issued until the date that is 48 months following the closing of Tranche 1.
Upon the closing of Tranche 1, the Loan will be guaranteed by the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Emerita Resources Espana SL (the “Guarantor”). The Guarantor and the Company will subsequently enter into the security arrangements described in the paragraph below with the Lender while also initially securing the Loan by way of: (i) a pledge of 100% of all shares of the Guarantor (the “Share Pledge”); and (ii) a registered, perfected first priority senior security interest in, lien on and pledge of all intercorporate debt between the Company, the Guarantor and all affiliates thereof.
Upon receipt of an exploitation concession for the IBW Project, the Share Pledge will be cancelled (unless receipt follows the closing of Tranche 2), and the following will be granted, registered and fully perfected:
a) A first lien senior security on all current and future tangible and non-tangible assets and working capital assets of the IBW Project; and
b) A first priority lien senior mortgage over and security interest in, lien on and pledge of: (i) all current and future tangible and non-tangible assets and working capital assets relating to or used in connection with the IBW Project; and (ii) all real property and mining claims, mining concessions, permits (including the exploitation permit for the IBW Project), usufructs and surface leases in which it now has and hereafter acquires rights relating to or associated with the IBW Project.
Advertisement
Upon the closing of Tranche 2, the Share Pledge (if it has previously been cancelled in accordance with the above) will be restored. A drawdown of Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 is at the sole discretion of the Company.
The granting of the Loan and the issuance of the Loan Bonus Warrants are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”). The Lender is at arms-length to the Company.
Upon receipt of final acceptance by the TSXV for the Loan and Loan Bonus Warrants, the Company will issue 9,963,636 Loan Bonus Warrants at an exercise price of $0.825 per common share, which will expire on the date that is 48 months from the date of issuance and will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day under applicable securities laws.
About Emerita Resources Corp. Emerita is a natural resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Europe, with a primary focus on exploring in Spain. The Company’s corporate office and technical team are based in Sevilla, Spain with an administrative office in Toronto, Canada.
For further information, contact:
Advertisement
Ian Parkinson +1 647 910-2500 (Toronto) info@emeritaresources.com www.emeritaresources.com
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) nor any other regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information
This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Loan and the completion thereof; the Company’s intended use of proceeds from the Loan; the approval of the Loan and Loan Bonus Warrants by the TSXV; the advancement of the IBW Project; the resolution of ongoing criminal and administrative proceedings; short and medium term milestones; the issuance of the Loan Bonus Warrants and the Company’s future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward- looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Emerita, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: risks related to the negotiation of the terms of the Loan Agreement and issuance of the Loan Bonus Warrants, the repayment of the Loan, TSXV acceptance of the Loan and Loan Bonus Warrants and business prospects and opportunities of the Company. Although Emerita has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Emerita does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
The $537,000-a-year office created in 2014 to advise the City Council on financial issues and avoid a repeat of the parking meter fiasco has failed to deliver on that mission, the city’s chief watchdog said Tuesday.
Days before concluding her four-year term, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said a shortage of both adequate staff and financial information closely held by the mayor’s office prevents the Council’s Office of Financial Analysis from helping the Council be the the “co-equal branch of government” it aspires to be.
In a budget rebellion not seen since “Council Wars” in the 1980s, a majority of alderpersons led by conservative and moderate Democrats rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate head tax and approved an alternative budget, including several revenue-generating items the mayor’s office adamantly opposed.
But Witzburg said the renegades would have been in an even better position to challenge Johnson if only their financial analysis office had been “equipped and positioned to do what it’s supposed to do” — provide the Council with “objective, independent financial analysis.”
“We are entering new territory where the City Council is asserting new, independent authority over the budget process. It can’t do that in a meaningful way without its own access to financial analysis,” Witzburg told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Advertisement
Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s latest report focuses on the Chicago City Council’s Office of Financial Analysis.
Jim Vondruska/Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
But the Council’s financial analysis office, she added, “has never been equipped or positioned to do what it needs to do. It needs better and more independent access to data, and it needs enough staff to do its job. It has a small number of employees and comparatively limited access to data.”
Advertisement
The inspector general’s farewell audit examined the period from 2015 through 2023. During that time, the financial analysis office budget authorized “either three or four” full-time employees. It now has a staff of five .
Witzburg is recommending a staffing analysis to identify how many people the financial office really needs — and also recommending that the office “get data directly” from other city departments, “ rather than having it go through the mayor’s office.”
The audit further recommends that the office develop “better procedures to meet their reporting requirements” in a timely manner. As it stands now, reports are delivered “sometimes late, sometimes not at all,” the inspector general said.
“We find that those reports have been both not timely and not complete in terms of what they are required to report on and that those reports therefore have provided limited assistance to the City Council in its responsibility to make decisions about the city’s budget,” she said.
The Council Office of Financial Analysis responded to the audit by saying it hopes to add at least three full-time staffers in the short term and has made “some progress” over the last three years in improving their access to data, but not enough.
Advertisement
The office was created in 2014 to provide Council members with expert advice on fiscal issues.
For nearly two years the reform was stuck in the mud over whether former 46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller had the independence and policy expertise to lead the office.
Shiller ultimately withdrew her name, but the office was a bust nevertheless. In an attempt to breathe new life into it, sponsors pushed through a series of changes.
Instead of allowing the Budget chair alone to request a financial analysis on a proposal impacting the city budget, any alderperson was allowed to make that request.
The office was further required to produce activity reports quarterly, not just annually.
Advertisement
Now former-Budget Chair Pat Dowell (3rd) then chose Kenneth Williams Sr., a former analyst for the office, as director and gave him the “autonomy” the ordinance demanded.
Two years ago, a bizarre standoff developed in the office.
Budget Committee Chair Jason Ervin (28th) was empowered to dump Williams after Williams refused to leave to make way for a director of Ervin’s own choosing.
The standoff began when Williams said he was summoned to Ervin’s office and told the newly appointed Budget chair was “going in a different direction, and I’m putting you on administrative leave” with pay.
“He took all my credentials and access away. I would love to come to work. I wasn’t allowed to come to work,” Williams said then.
Advertisement
Williams collected a paycheck for doing nothing while serving out the final days remainder of a four-year term.
Ervin’s resolution stated the director “may be removed at any time with or without cause by a two-thirds” vote or 34 alderpersons. He chose Janice Oda-Gray, who remains chief administrator.
Little League® International has announced that Reilly Barnes accepted a new role as Purchasing/Finance Assistant, effective April 6, 2026. Barnes transitions from a temporary Purchasing Assistant to this full-time position to assist in the year-round demands of purchasing for the organization, as well as the region and Little League Baseball and Softball World Series tournaments.
“We are thrilled to welcome back Reilly to our team as a full-time Purchasing/Finance Assistant. Reilly’s prior experience, time management, and attention to detail make him an invaluable asset to the purchasing team,” said Nancy Grove, Little League Materials Management Director. “We look forward to the positive contributions he will have on our organization.”
In this role, Barnes will be responsible for processing purchase requisitions, coordinating souvenir products, and tracking order fulfillment. He will also assist with evaluating suppliers, reviewing product quality, and negotiating contracts for effective operations.
After most recently working as a Logistician Analyst at Precision Air in Charleston, South Carolina, Barnes, a Williamsport native, returns after honing his skills in the fast-paced environment. Prior to his time at Precision Air, Barnes served as a Procurement Specialist at The Medical University of South Carolina, where his expertise and knowledge were instrumental in supporting both education and healthcare needs.
“I am thrilled to return to Little League in this full-time role,” said Barnes. “Coming back to my hometown and having the opportunity to work for an organization that has played such a special part of my upbringing means a lot. I can’t wait begin this new opportunity.”
Advertisement
Barnes graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 with a B.A. in Supply Chain Management, Finance, and Business Analytics.
As conflict continues to destabilise the Middle East, the Gulf States elite are seeking solace in European alternatives that offer comparable financial benefits with a far lower risk of war on the doorstep. One such destination is the small Swiss town of Zug, which is becoming a “bolt-hole” for Gulf-based wealth, said the Financial Times.
‘Swiss Monaco’
Switzerland’s reputation as a magnet for the world’s financial elite is nothing new. In 2025, the country recorded the “densest concentration of millionaires” with an estimated 146 per 1,000 adults last year, said The Times. Now home to around 135,000 people, Zug’s canton – also named Zug – used to be the “poorest corner of Switzerland” until it lowered its tax rates in the 1950s. “Now it has corporate tax rates of 16.2% compared with 40% in the US and 33.3% in France.”
“In almost all ways Zug is unremarkable”, with its traditional Swiss architecture and cobbled waterfront lanes. But if its “Alpine lake water is clear”, the financial scene is more “murky”. Many credit Marc Rich and Pincus “Pinky” Green, founders of metals and minerals trading firm Glencore, with the transformation of Zug from a “Swiss backwater” to its status as the “Swiss Monaco”. The multinational is headquartered just outside Zug, and has made the town a “global powerhouse for trading crude and refined oil products”. It should be “no surprise” that the “1% of the world’s 1%” are taking shelter there, and at the same time, hoping to still “keep a hand in the oil business”.
Article continues below
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week’s Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Industry estimates suggest that tens of billions of dollars could flow into Switzerland depending on how the current conflict evolves,” said the Outbound Investment Group. The “immediate trigger” for the “surge in interest” from Gulf-based investors is the war in the Middle East. However, Switzerland’s underlying appeal is its unwavering “Swissness”: “political neutrality”, “strong legal frameworks”, and reputation for wealth preservation. It’s a safe bet with no sign of slowing.
Advertisement
‘Availability tightening’
There are some drawbacks, said the FT. For “would-be arrivals”, the appeal of the region for Middle Eastern residents comes with “practical constraints”. Those outside the EU “face a higher bar”. Usually, the condition of residency is “tied” to employment or company formation. For the “very wealthy”, there is the added option of “negotiated lump-sum taxation agreements with cantonal authorities” that allow individuals to “pay a flat annual tax based on living expenses rather than global income”.
Even if they are holders of EU passports, the “main bottleneck” is the availability of property. Competition is “intense” and “rental supply is extremely limited, with properties often snapped up within days”. With Zug’s “availability tightening”, other cantons in the region with similar tax arrangements could benefit, such as Lugano, an Italian-speaking city in the Ticino region.
The uncertainty of the duration of the conflict is one of the most pressing concerns, said Bloomberg. The recent breakdown of ceasefire talks risks “forcing a reckoning for the professional and expat classes considering options after putting down roots in the Middle East”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The short-term benefits of physical safety from leaving the Gulf are clear, but changing tax residency “takes time” and practicalities such as finding schools and “conforming to national requirements such as opening local bank accounts” is often “complicated and time-consuming”. The region’s ultra-wealthy are facing “uncomfortable decisions on whether to make the move permanent, especially with the end of the school year in sight”.
