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Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2024 Results

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LONDON, UK / ACCESS Newswire / April 17, 2025 / Gabriel Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GBU) ("Gabriel" or the "Company") announces the publication of its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024. The following summary should be read in conjunction with the Management's Discussion and Analysis and the audited consolidated financial statements of Gabriel for the year ended December 31, 2024, which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Summary

Highlights for 2024 and events subsequent to the year-end are set out below.

ICSID Arbitration and Annulment

  • On March 8, 2024, the presiding tribunal in Gabriel's ICSID arbitration claim against Romania ("Tribunal") issued its final decision, rejecting Gabriel's claims on the merits by a 2-1 majority ("Arbitral Decision") and awarding approximately US$10 million in costs to Romania (the "Costs Order").

  • The Arbitral Decision is binding on the parties, and the amount payable under the Costs Order bears simple interest from the date of the Arbitral Decision at the 3-month US Treasury rate.

  • In April 2024, the Romanian government requested Gabriel to settle the Costs Order and indicated its intention to enforce it. Subsequently, the Romanian State obtained a precautionary seizure on the shares held by Gabriel Resources (Jersey) Limited ("Gabriel Jersey") in Rosia Montana Gold Corporation S.A. ("RMGC"). Gabriel considers this seizure premature and flawed, and Gabriel Jersey and RMGC initiated legal challenges in Romanian courts to annul it, which remain ongoing.

  • The Company believes the Tribunal was improperly constituted due to a Tribunal member's repeated failures to make required disclosures, resulting in serious departures from fundamental procedural rules ensuring equal treatment and the right to be heard by an impartial and independent tribunal. Furthermore, the Company considers the majority's liability decision fatally defective in multiple respects.

  • On July 8, 2024, Gabriel announced that it has filed an application requesting the annulment of the Arbitral Decision ("Annulment"). On July 12, 2024, the Acting Secretary-General of ICSID registered the application and notified the parties of a provisional stay of enforcement of the Costs Order ("Stay of Enforcement").

  • On October 8, 2024, the ICSID Administrative Council Chairman appointed Professors Eduardo Zuleta (President, Colombian), Lawrence Boo (Singaporean), and Dr. Maxi Scherer (German) as the ad hoc committee to adjudicate the Annulment proceedings ("Committee").

  • On January 22, 2025, the Committee confirmed that it would maintain the provisional Stay of Enforcement conditional on Gabriel providing security. However, on March 7, 2025, the Committee deemed Gabriel's security proposals inadequate and directed Gabriel to provide, within 30 days, a guarantee from a bank or demonstrably solvent third party covering the Costs Order, including accrued interest. Subsequently, the Committee partially granted Gabriel's request for a 30-day extension, affording Gabriel 15 days from the original April 7, 2025 deadline to secure a third-party bank guarantee for the Costs Order. Failure to provide a satisfactory guarantee within this timeframe will potentially result in the automatic revocation of the Stay of Enforcement.

  • The Committee held its first session on February 3, 2025, to discuss procedural matters for the Annulment proceedings, and subsequently issued Procedural Order No. 1 on February 11, 2025, establishing the following procedural calendar:

  • Gabriel's Memorial on Annulment: April 3, 2025.

  • Romania's Counter-Memorial on Annulment: July 7, 2025.

  • Gabriel's Reply on Annulment: September 1, 2025.

  • Romania's Rejoinder on Annulment: November 3, 2025.

  • Hearing on the Annulment: January 22-23, 2026 (with January 24, 2026 reserved).

  • On April 3, 2025, Gabriel filed its Memorial on Annulment detailing the many grounds that support the annulment of the Arbitral Decision, including, in particular, that:

    • The Tribunal was improperly constituted, and the legitimacy and integrity of the ICSID arbitration was fundamentally undermined by undisclosed factors affecting the independence and impartiality of a Tribunal member.

    • The Tribunal majority's liability decision is fatally defective because the majority manifestly exceeded its powers by failing to apply or even consider applicable law, seriously departed from fundamental procedural rules guaranteeing the parties' rights to be heard and equal treatment, and failed to provide adequate reasoning for key conclusions.