Chamwe Kaira
Celsius Resources Limited was required this week to request a halt in the trading of its securities on the Australian Securities Exchange after discovering errors in certain cleansing notices issued by the company.
The company said the notices incorrectly stated that it was compliant with Chapter 2M of Australia’s Corporations Act 2001.
The non-compliance relates to an administrative oversight linked to the resignation of a previous auditor in 2011, when the company was still known as View Resources Limited.
Celsius Resources holds a 95% interest in the Opuwo Cobalt Project in northern Namibia.
The project is described by the company as the largest cobalt deposit outside the Democratic Republic of Congo. Celsius has previously stated that Namibia offers a mining-friendly environment, political stability, safety and good infrastructure.
The board said it considers the oversight to be a serious matter and requested the trading halt after receiving legal advice.
The company plans to seek court orders under section 1322 of the Act to address past share issues covered by the cleansing notices.
Celsius told shareholders it is working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible and aims to have its shares reinstated to trading without delay.
The issue came to light after the company decided to change its auditor from RSM to Grant Thornton. RSM has acted as the company’s auditor since 2011.
As required by law, the board asked RSM to apply to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for permission to resign.
ASIC rejected the application because its records still list BDO, not RSM, as the company’s auditor.
Following this, the company investigated and found that when BDO resigned as auditor in 2011, the resignation was never properly recorded with ASIC.
As a result, BDO was never officially removed from the regulator’s records, even though RSM has acted as auditor since then.
The company said this administrative oversight has resulted in technical breaches of company law.
To resolve the matter, Celsius will apply to the Supreme Court of Western Australia for an order confirming that RSM’s appointment as auditor since 2011 is valid and lawful.
Caption
Celsius Resources Limited was required to request a halt in the trading of its securities on the Australian Securities Exchange this week.
- Photo: Contributed
