Roxgold Installs New Management Team
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec 19, 2012) - Roxgold Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ROG) ("Roxgold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide details of its recently enhanced senior management team.
Following the annual meeting of shareholders as detailed in Roxgold''s press release dated September 26, 2012, the Company has been active in building a strong senior management team to take the Yaramoko Project forward. The new board, led by Mr. Oliver Lennox-King, conducted a process to build a team to deliver on the company''s three prime goals:
Expand the scope of the high grade resource at the 55 Zone through infill and extensional drilling
Take the Yaramoko Project through development milestones towards production
Systematically and comprehensively unlock the extensive geological potential of the 167 sq. kilometer Yaramoko Concession
Management Capacity
John Dorward - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director
Mr. John Dorward, the current Interim CEO, has accepted the position of Roxgold''s President and CEO, and has been appointed to the Board of Directors. Mr. Dorward has a wealth of experience in management positions at leading operating and development stage companies including Fronteer Gold Inc. ("Fronteer"), Mineral Deposits Limited ("MDL") and MPI Mines Limited. As Vice President Business Development at Fronteer he was instrumental in closing a number of transactions including the US$2.3 billion acquisition of the company by Newmont Mining Corporation. While Chief Financial Officer at MDL, a West African focused development company, he was responsible for financing the Sabodala Gold Project in Senegal.
"We are delighted to confirm John as the President and CEO of the Company", stated Mr. Oliver Lennox-King, Chairman of Roxgold. "True to form he has taken charge and led the assembly of a first class management team. I have worked with John at both MDL and Fronteer and he has a long history of taking high quality projects, similar to Yaramoko, along the growth and development curve to unlock significant returns for shareholders. We welcome John to the Board of Directors."
Paul Criddle - Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Paul Criddle will be joining Roxgold as its Chief Operating Officer and will be responsible for managing all relevant studies as the Company advances Yaramoko towards production. Paul, a metallurgist, has many years of operating and project development experience in West Africa. Most recently Paul was the COO at Azimuth Resources Limited where he was responsible for resource growth and development studies. Prior to this he was the Acting COO of Perseus Mining Limited where he was responsible for operations at the Edikan Gold Mine in Ghana and the Definitive Feasibility Study for the Tengrela Gold Project in Cote D''Ivoire. Before joining Perseus, Paul managed the construction, commissioning and operation of the Sabodala Gold Project. Prior to MDL, Paul held a variety of senior technical roles at Placer Dome/Barrick in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania.
Aoife McGrath - Vice President Exploration
The Company has appointed Ms. Aoife McGrath as Vice President Exploration with the primary goal of building the mineral inventory at the prospective 55 Zone. Aoife has a number of years'' experience in West Africa and was an integral member of the team at Red Back''s Chirano Project in Ghana, where she led the discovery and drill out of the 1 million ounce Akwaaba Underground Deposit. Prior to joining Roxgold, Aoife was Executive Director Exploration at Carbine Resources Limited, an ASX listed junior explorer, where she established the operations in Burkina Faso from the ground up and directed the initial exploration programs. For several years, Aoife was the Senior Exploration Geologist at AngloGold Ashanti Limited''s Geita Gold Mine in Tanzania where she designed and managed programs which saw the addition of over 2.5 million ounces of gold to resources.
Ben Pullinger - Senior Manager Geology
Roxgold has also appointed Mr. Ben Pullinger to the position of Senior Manager Geology, where he will be responsible for advancing the highly prospective regional exploration package. Prior to joining Roxgold, Ben was a research analyst at Toll Cross Securities Inc. where he covered Roxgold. Before joining Toll Cross, Ben was involved in gold discoveries at Pelangio Exploration Inc.''s Manfo Project in Ghana and had several years'' experience working in high grade underground mines in Canada.
"I am very pleased with the calibre of the management team that we have been able to put together", commented John Dorward. "Each member has experienced success in West Africa and the team''s track record covers the full continuum of discovery, significant resource growth, evaluation, construction and ultimately gold production, which is exactly the path we are now seeking to follow."
Roxgold''s plans for 2013 are focused on growing the resource at the 55 Zone, pursuing new discoveries within its large land position and laying the groundwork for an attractive development project. To this end, the Company is planning an update to the current resource on the 55 Zone in Q1, 2013 which will be followed by a Preliminary Economic Assessment currently scheduled for Q3, 2013.
Associated with the management appointments, Roxgold has granted incentive stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,275,000 common shares exercisable on or before December 18, 2017 at a strike price of $0.75. One third is vested with the balance to vest in tranches of one third in 12 and 24 months respectively.
Furthermore, the Company will issue 1,200,000 Restricted Stock Units ("RSUs") to senior management. The RSUs will be cash settled instruments designed to mirror the performance of Roxgold''s underlying common shares. Vesting of the RSUs is subject to a number of performance milestones associated with the advancement of the Yaramoko Project and have a maximum term of three years.
About Roxgold
Roxgold is a TSX.V listed Exploration Company with its key asset, the 167 Km2 Yaramoko concession, located in the Hounde region of Burkina Faso, West Africa to the south of and contiguous to SEMAFO''s Mana project. Roxgold is focused on further exploring the Company''s 100% owned Yaramoko concession and advancing the 55 Zone Project.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management''s expectations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the potential for economic extraction and that material is potentially amenable to high recoveries in a conventional gravity/CIL circuit, with low cyanide consumption, and include words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The assumptions upon which forward looking statements in this news release are made include the reasonable assumptions of management with respect to the geologic model, laboratory results on a limited number of samples will be reproducible in mining operations on a larger scale, and current macro-economic conditions will continue to prevail .Actual results relating to such future events and conditions could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: changes in management, changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company''s forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company''s forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
