Australian police raid Reefton offices

THE Australian Federal Police on Tuesday raided the offices of Reefton Mining NL, the Australian mining company that on March 18 claimed to have made a new uranium discovery outside Karibib.

The homes of its directors were also raided. “Reefton Mining NL wishes to advise that the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) have today executed search warrants on the premises of the Company and the homes of several officers and former officers of the Company,” Reefton chairman Bradley S.Moore said in a brief statement issued on Tuesday.”The searches have been carried out in connection with an ASIC investigation into suspected contraventions of Sections 674, 1041E, and 1043A of the Corporations Act during the period from 1 July 2004 to 7 April 2005, and related matters,” he stated further.”The company has taken legal advice.This indicates that on the information available to the company, there has been no contravention by the company of any of the sections of the Corporations Act listed above,” Moore stated.The raid by ASIC and the AFP was widely seen as the beginning of the end for Reefton, which was last week forced to de-list from the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market after no one was willing to handle its shares any longer.Section 674 of the Australian Corporations Act relates to continuous disclosure of all share deals that would affect the company’s share price, while Section 1041E relates to false and misleading statements.Section 1043A relates to insider trading – when company officials make use of privileged information to enrich themselves.The ASIC and AFP investigation against Reefton appeared to be homing in on share deals concluded by the former MD Vladimir Nikolaenko shortly before and after Reefton announced with major fanfare on March 18 that it had made a “major uranium strike” on the Erongo Pyro-Metallic Project leases on Hakskeen, about 40 kilometres south-west of Usakos.Nikolaenko had resigned shortly afterwards on March 31, four days before Reefton was forced to announce that the right to explore for uranium was not included in the original licence for the Hakskeen area.About three weeks later, Reefton CEO Simon Gilbert also resigned from the company while it was still awaiting word from the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy about the future of its “major uranium strike”.In early April, The Namibian challenged Reefton about the validity of its claimed uranium find, as the Hakskeen area is known for giving off “false radiation” that is related more to the presence of the radio-active elements thorium and potassium in the area.In June, The Namibian exposed the “major new uranium strike” as false and misleading, as this specific deposit had already been discovered in the 1970s.Nonetheless, Reefton managed to complete an additional AUD $3 million (about N$12 million) share placement on June 20, only to disclose the next day that its application to have nuclear fuels included in its Erongo EPL had been turned down by the Ministry.By some estimates, Reefton had taken about AUD $5,040 million (about N$21 million before costs) off investors since it started operating in Namibia.At the time, the Ministry at the time issued a statement saying that Reefton had broken the Minerals Act by prospecting for a mineral it had no legal right to, and therefore nuclear fuels would not be included in the Erongo EPL.All work on Reefton’s Skeleton Coast diamond leases has now ceased, which Reefton said was done to complete urgent equipment maintenance.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587″Reefton Mining NL wishes to advise that the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) have today executed search warrants on the premises of the Company and the homes of several officers and former officers of the Company,” Reefton chairman Bradley S.Moore said in a brief statement issued on Tuesday.”The searches have been carried out in connection with an ASIC investigation into suspected contraventions of Sections 674, 1041E, and 1043A of the Corporations Act during the period from 1 July 2004 to 7 April 2005, and related matters,” he stated further.”The company has taken legal advice.This indicates that on the information available to the company, there has been no contravention by the company of any of the sections of the Corporations Act listed above,” Moore stated.The raid by ASIC and the AFP was widely seen as the beginning of the end for Reefton, which was last week forced to de-list from the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market after no one was willing to handle its shares any longer.Section 674 of the Australian Corporations Act relates to continuous disclosure of all share deals that would affect the company’s share price, while Section 1041E relates to false and misleading statements.Section 1043A relates to insider trading – when company officials make use of privileged information to enrich themselves.The ASIC and AFP investigation against Reefton appeared to be homing in on share deals concluded by the former MD Vladimir Nikolaenko shortly before and after Reefton announced with major fanfare on March 18 that it had made a “major uranium strike” on the Erongo Pyro-Metallic Project leases on Hakskeen, about 40 kilometres south-west of Usakos.Nikolaenko had resigned shortly afterwards on March 31, four days before Reefton was forced to announce that the right to explore for uranium was not included in the original licence for the Hakskeen area.About three weeks later, Reefton CEO Simon Gilbert also resigned from the company while it was still awaiting word from the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy about the future of its “major uranium strike”.In early April, The Namibian challenged Reefton about the validity of its claimed uranium find, as the Hakskeen area is known for giving off “false radiation” that is related more to the presence of the radio-active elements thorium and potassium in the area.In June, The Namibian exposed the “major new uranium strike” as false and misleading, as this specific deposit had already been discovered in the 1970s.Nonetheless, Reefton managed to complete an additional AUD $3 million (about N$12 million) share placement on June 20, only to disclose the next day that its application to have nuclear fuels included in its Erongo EPL had been turned down by the Ministry.By some estimates, Reefton had taken about AUD $5,040 million (about N$21 million before costs) off investors since it started operating in Namibia.At the time, the Ministry at the time issued a statement saying that Reefton had broken the Minerals Act by prospecting for a mineral it had no legal right to, and therefore nuclear fuels would not be included in the Erongo EPL.All work on Reefton’s Skeleton Coast diamond leases has now ceased, which Reefton said was done to complete urgent equipment maintenance.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587