Bear Creek announces its intent to commence an arbitration against Peru - Santa Ana dispute

VANCOUVER, Aug. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Bear Creek Mining (TSX Venture: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the "Company") announces that it intends to commence an arbitration proceeding against the Republic of Peru ("Peru") pursuant to Article 824 of the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Peru (the "Canada-Peru FTA").  Bear Creek has submitted the formal request on August 11, 2014 and is completing the required formalities to commence the arbitration proceedings. While Bear Creek remains committed to continuing discussions with the government of Peru to resolve and settle the dispute relating to the Santa Ana mining project, commencing the arbitration proceedings is necessary to preserve the Company's rights under the Canada-Peru FTA.  Commencing the arbitration proceedings against Peru does not preclude Bear Creek from continuing to participate in settlement negotiations with the government of Peru, which Bear Creek intends to do.

Bear Creek delivered to the Peruvian Minister of Economy and Finance, on February 6, 2014, a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration ("Notice of Intent"), under the Canada-Peru FTA (see news release dated February 7, 2014). The filing of the Notice of Intent initiated a six-month consultation period between the parties during which time the Company continued to attempt to amicably settle the dispute.  No settlement was reached during that six-month period.  The dispute arises, inter alia, out of the enactment by the government of Peru on June 25, 2011, of Supreme Decree 032 rescinding the Company's rights to operate the Santa Ana mining project and which resulted in a complete stoppage of activities at Santa Ana and significant damages to the Company.

Andrew Swarthout, CEO and President, stated "while I would characterize the settlement discussions to date as being productive and significant progress has been made towards an agreement, the protracted discussions have not yet produced a final settlement agreement within the mandated timeframe under the Treaty and the Company is required to take this action which fully protects Bear Creek's rights.  The government of Peru continues to send a clear message that it wishes to resolve this matter and it has committed to maintain the momentum in our negotiations. We too remain committed to working towards an amicable final resolution of the dispute which we hope will occur in the near-term."

Mr. Swarthout added, "the permitting process at Bear Creek's Corani silver-lead-zinc project, which represents the majority of the Company's value, continues to make good progress. Detailed engineering, including project optimization, are progressing solidly towards permit applications in Q1 2015 and community relations remain on very solid ground.  Interaction with the Government with respect to Corani continues to be positive."

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This document contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements" are made as of the date of this news release or as of the date of the effective date of information described in this news release, as applicable. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, without limitation, statements with respect to (i) the Company's plans to continue discussions with the Peruvian government and local communities for a settlement of the dispute in relation to the Santa Ana Project, (ii) the Company's plans to pursue any claims with regard to its projects in Peru, including, without limitation, any claims before an international tribunal, (iii) the Company's intentions to complete any environmental and social impact assessment or permitting application, and (iv) the planned development of the Corani and Santa Ana projects, including the timing thereof. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "envisages", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur, but specifically include, without limitation, risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the material identified as mineral reserves and mineral resources from that predicted; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; developments in world metals and minerals markets; risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar relative to other currencies; increases in the estimated capital and operating costs or unanticipated costs; difficulties attracting the necessary work force; increases in financing costs or adverse changes to global market conditions and the terms of available financing, if any; tax rates or royalties being greater than assumed; changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; risks relating timing and to receipt of regulatory approvals; adverse changes to government approval processes; the effects of competition in the markets in which the Company operates; operational and infrastructure risks; and the additional risks described in the Company's Annual Information Form, annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2013 and in the feasibility study entitled "Corani Project, Form 43-101F1 Technical Report, Feasibility Study" filed by the Company on December 22, 2011 filed on the SEDAR website in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.

When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on behalf of the Company, except as required by law.

SOURCE Bear Creek Mining Corporation