Chalice Gold Mines Limited ACN 116 648 956, In the matter of Chalice Gold Mines Limited ACN 116 648 956

Chalice Gold Mines Limited applied for remedial curative orders under the Corporations Act 2001 to address its non-compliance with s 708A(6) of the Act. Chalice had issued 16,300,000 fully paid ordinary shares on 10 September 2009 as part of a placement agreement with Southern Cross Equities Limited, which was intended to raise $4.4 million for working capital. The shares were issued to 22 institutional and sophisticated investors. Chalice did not lodge an Appendix 3B with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) within five business days of the shares' issue as required by s 708A(6) of the Act, and therefore sought orders to cure this defect.

The central legal issue was whether the Court could grant curative orders under s 1322 of the Act to address Chalice's non-compliance with the five-business-day lodgment requirement under s 708A(6). The Court needed to determine whether the failure to lodge the Appendix 3B within the statutory period constituted an irregularity that could be cured by the Court, and if so, what orders should be made to rectify the situation.

The Court held that the failure to lodge the Appendix 3B within the five-business-day period was a procedural irregularity that could be cured by the Court under s 1322 of the Act. The Court noted that Chalice had acted promptly to address the defect and had not engaged in any deliberate or reckless conduct. The Court also accepted that the delay in lodging the Appendix 3B was due to genuine administrative error and not due to any fault or negligence on the part of Chalice. The Court held that it was appropriate to grant the orders sought by Chalice to extend the lodgment period and deem the notice to ASX to have been given within the original period.

The Court made orders extending the period within which Chalice was required to lodge the Appendix 3B to the second business day after the date of the orders, deeming the notice to ASX to have been given within five business days of 10 September 2009, and requiring Chalice to serve and publish the orders. The Court also granted liberty to any interested party to apply to revoke or vary the orders within 28 days of their entry.