Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX: PVG, NYSE: PVG, FRA: 6P7)
Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Court File No: CV-13-00491800-00CP
Pretium Resources Inc. (“Pretium”) owns and operates Brucejack Project. Between November 20, 2012 and October 22, 2013, Pretium disseminated the Brucejack Resource Estimate (Snowden, November 2012) and the Feasibility Study (Tetra Tech, June 2013) about the investment quality of its Brucejack Project, and specifically the alleged gold resources and reserves contained within underground mines within the VOK zone, the average gold grade, the quantum of gold to be mined each year over the Life of Mine, and the manner to economically mine the ore. Pretium also published cored documents and press releases based upon these two Reports. These two Reports and Pretium’s related core documents distorted the investment quality of the Company and the Brucejack Project as reflected by the price of Pretium’s share price as traded on the TSX and NYSE.
Cross-examinations of the Defendants’ expert took place in Vancouver on February 3, 2017. On May 29 and 30, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice heard the Plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed with a statutory secondary market misrepresentation claim pursuant to s. 138.8 of the Ontario Securities Act. Justice Belobaba granted the Plaintiff’s motion, finding that the Plaintiff had demonstrated a reasonable possibility that he would be successful at trial. Justice Belobaba’s reasons for his decision can be found here.
Certification Details:
On January 23, 2019, the Honourable Justice Belobaba certified this action as a class proceeding against the Defendants on consent and appointed David Wong as the representative plaintiff. A copy of Justice Belobaba’s order can be found here.
A copy of the notices of certification that were approved by the Court can be found below:
Short-Form Notice of Certification: English Version; French Version
Long Form Notice of Certification: English Version; French Version
To remove yourself from the certified Class, you must complete the Opt-Out Form, available here in English or French. Your Opt-Out Form must be postmarked if sent by mail, or received if sent by email or courier, on or before Thursday, April 11, 2019 at 5:00pm E.S.T. Otherwise, you will be a part of the Class. Please note that after April 11, 2019, no further right to opt-out without express permission of the Court will not be provided.
Discovery:
The parties are engaged in discovery, which has been subject to disputes and a motion to compel Strathcona Mineral Services (“SMS”) to produce materials relating when it conducted the bulk sample program on the VOK deposit; SMS resigned from the project citing to Pretium statements released to the market between July 23 and October 3, 2013, were misleading. On March 25, 2020, the Court granted the Plaintiff’s Rule 30.10 motion to compel the production of materials from SMS.
Here are links to the relevant materials from the Rule 30.10 motion: Plaintiff’s factum, Plaintiff’s reply factum and Justice Belobaba’s endorsement.
Case Details:
Claim or Motion for Authorization issued: October 29, 2013
Class Period: July 23, 2013 to and including October 21, 2013
Leave to Proceed Granted: July 20, 2017
Class Certified: January 23, 2019
Shareholders’ Canadian Counsel: Andrew Morganti and Hadi Davarinia, Morganti & Co.
Defendants’ Canadian Counsel: Michael Rosenberg, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Defendants’ U.S. or European Counsel: Daniel J. Kramer and William B. Michael, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Shareholders’ Expert: R. Mohan Srivastava, Benchmark Six Inc.