Dissidents win control of Arizona Star

Vancouver – Albert Friedberg’s efforts at wrestling control of Arizona Star (AZS-T) away from its larger affiliate, Bema Gold (BGO-T), resulted in an independent board for the junior. But rather than being decided by a tally from the heated well-publicized proxy battle, the new team was negotiated ahead of Arizona Star’s reconvened annunal general meeting of Dec. 16.Although Bema Gold will continue to manage Arizona Star, it will have a much reduced presence on the board.The battle for votes was initiated by Friedberg, who owns 12.1 million shares (nearly a third of Arizona Star’s shares) through his family’s private bank, Pan Atlantic Bank and Trust.

It appears that when Arizona Star realized it could not win, it was willing to negotiate a compromise board with Pan Atlantic.

Four of Friedberg’s nominees were approved while two of the company’s existing directors, Mr. Richer and Paul Kostuik remain on the board.

On board are Rudi Fronk and James Anthony which Johnson had initially said could jeopardize Arizona Star’s ability to secure financing, owing to his involvment in the now-defunct Greenstone Resources.

Friedberg’s remaining nominees were Paul Parisotto and Thomas Dawson who have backgrounds in the junior mining sector.

Friedberg’s first attempt on Nov. 3 to use his share position to vote in new board members failed when the company was caught off-guard and disallowed Pan Atlantic’s proxy.

Friedberg believes that independence from Bema, which owns a 5% stake in Arizona Star, will better serve the shareholders of Arizona Star.

Clive Johnson, Bema’s president, who is also a director of Arizona Star, took a strong stand over the last month to defend the direction Arizona Star has taken in line with Bema.

The dispute mainly centered around the financing and development of the Cerro Casale copper and gold project in northern Chile, in which Arizona Star has a 25% stake. Bema Gold has a 24% stake, whereas Placer Dome (PDG-T) holds 51%, and thus controls its future which it says will be one of its cornerstone projects.

Placer is responsible for financing $1.3-billion of the estimated $1.6-billion cost of Cerro Casale’s development.The agreement pertaining to the financing and development of the mine was re-negotiated after Bema accused Placer Dome of not making enough of an effort to arrange the financing.Discovered by Bema in 1995, Cerro Casale is one of the world’s largest undeveloped porphyry copper projects. It occupies a portion of the Aldebaran property, 30 km south of Bema’s Refugio mine.