MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — QUERY — Perron, Arimetco have faint pulse

AJ Perron and Arimetco International have both been de-listed. Is there any hope for either of them?

.SFred Carach,

.SMiami, Fla.

Arimetco International (ARX-T) was de-listed by the Toronto Stock Exchange on June 12, 1998, after a year under suspension. The TSE had suspended trading in the shares and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) had issued a cease-trade order when the company failed to file financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 1996.

Arimetco International’s U.S. subsidiary, Arimetco Inc., had filed for protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code at the end of May 1997. The U.S.

courts allowed the company to present a plan of reorganization to its creditors and shareholders, who approved it in a mail-in ballot.

There were objections to the plan of reorganization, which the court is now hearing. Because the court must approve of the final plan, the company’s situation is still unclear.

Susan Boswell, lead counsel for Arimetco, tells The Northern Miner that shareholders might have a chance of receiving something after the creditors are paid, but that will depend on the prices Arimetco can get for its existing assets. “This plan calls for the sale of properties over a very extended period,” she says, “so there are so many factors. If the market takes off again, there may be [shareholder compensation]; if it doesn’t, there won’t be.”

AJ Perron Gold (AJP-T) has been under a cease-trade order from the OSC since Dec. 20, 1996, and was de-listed by the TSE on Jan. 20, 1998. Its surface assets at the Kerr mine in Virginiatown, Ont., were seized by the local municipality, McGarry Twp., in October 1996 for back property and business taxes that the township said the company owed.

The company applied for a court order to prevent the auction, and, that failing, filed a statement of claim against the township. The township then filed a statement of defence, and says it has heard nothing more from the company.

To the best of our knowledge, the company has not applied for protection from creditors, though it remains delinquent in its filings in Ontario. In the meantime, it is being managed from Perron Corporate Services, 1595 Griffiths Place, Kelowna, B.C. V1Z 2T7. Phone: (250) 769-6080. Fax: (250) 769-6011.