Forsys dismisses report on Valencia disruptions

Forsys Metals stated that its plans to develop the Valencia uranium mine in Namibia have not been disrupted by a dispute over water permits, as had been reported by the Reuters news agency. Reuters ran a story on 21 April that Namibia's High Court had ruled that the permits granted to Forsys in February to extract groundwater were technically invalid. The report said that the owners of two farms near the mine site had claimed that allowing Forsys to extract groundwater in the Namib Desert would be environmentally unsound. However, the company said that the reports were "wholly inaccurate." In a statement Forsys said, "The Reuters report gives the misleading impression that the company no longer has the right to extract groundwater for construction and further states that as a consequence the company's plans to construct the Valencia uranium mine have been disrupted." Forsys confirmed that its rights to extract water were unaffected and there has been no disruption to its plans. The Valencia mine is scheduled for production in late 2009.