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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 30, 2012) - Gold Canyon Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:GCU)(PINKSHEETS:GDCRF) ("Gold Canyon" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Troy J. Fierro, and Mr. Richard J. Hall to the Board of Directors of Gold Canyon Resources, effective immediately.
Gold Canyon rapidly advanced its 100% controlled Springpole Gold Project over the past three years with a small, focused management and exploration team. Recognizing that Springpole is now one of the most exciting gold projects in Canada, Gold Canyon is pleased to strengthen its team with two proven, development-focused mining executives, Troy J. Fierro and Richard J. Hall. Both Mr. Fierro and Mr. Hall have long track records of advancing North American gold projects to production. Gold Canyon sees their collective experience as essential to advance the Springpole Gold Project toward feasibility and production.
"Gold Canyon's Board is extremely pleased to have two well-seasoned and successful mining executives join Gold Canyon - Mr. Fierro and Mr. Hall as Members of the Board of Directors," states Conrad Pinette, Chairman of the Board of Gold Canyon. "In addition, Mr. Fierro has entered into a Mining Consulting Agreement with Gold Canyon to focus on the development of the Springpole Project. Their collective exploration, mine development and executive experience will help expand the Springpole gold deposit and systematically address project risks as Gold Canyon moves the project towards feasibility."
Troy J. Fierro, BSc Mine Engineering
Mr. Fierro is a successful mining engineer with over 28 years of industry experience. He has previously held executive positions with Fronteer Gold Inc., Metallica Resources Inc., and Coeur d'Alene Mines where he has overseen the development, construction or management of mines in Nevada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Alaska. At Fronteer, which was acquired by Newmont Mining Corp. for $2.1 billion, Mr. Fierro acted as COO. He was also Vice President Operations of Metallica where he played the lead role in the construction of the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico. In August 2008, Metallica was part of a $1.6 billion merger with Peak Gold Ltd. and New Gold Inc. Mr. Fierro was a director of Grayd Resources which was acquired by Agnico-Eagle in December 2011. Currently, he is a Board Member with Timberline Resources. Mr. Fierro graduated with a Bachelor of Science - Mine Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines where he serves on the Advisory Board.
Richard J. Hall, MS Geology, MBA
Mr. Hall brings to Gold Canyon over 35 years of mining exploration and development experience. Mr. Hall was newly appointed a director of IAMGOLD on March 22, 2012. Mr. Hall brings nearly 40 years of exploration, development, mining and corporate experience. Mr. Hall currently serves as Chairman of Premier Gold, a position that he has held since 2010. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Northgate Minerals from July 2011 until October 2011 when Northgate was acquired by AuRico Gold. From 2008 until 2011 he held the position of Chairman of Grayd Resource Corporation when Grayd was acquired by Agnico Eagle in December 2011. He also served as a director and Chairman of the Special Committee of Creston Moly during its acquisition by Mercator Minerals in 2011. In addition to his Board activities, Mr. Hall acts as a mineral industry consultant to various companies. From 1999 to 2008 he served as President and CEO of Metallica Resources Inc., where he was involved in all aspects of the company's development including the financing, construction and commissioning of the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico. While at Metallica, the El Morro deposit was discovered in Chile and was brought through to a final feasibility study in conjunction with Metallica's operating partner on the project, Xstrata Copper. In August 2008, Metallica was part of a $1.6 billion merger with Peak Gold Ltd. and New Gold Inc. to form what is now New Gold Inc. Previous to his tenure at Metallica, Mr. Hall held senior management positions with Dayton Mining Corporation and Pegasus Gold Corporation. Mr. Hall holds a Bachelor and a Masters Degree in Geology and an MBA from Eastern Washington University. He has also completed an Executive Development Program at the University of Minnesota.
Lisa Sharp, CGA
The Company is also pleased to announce the addition of Lisa Sharp, CGA as Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Lisa Sharp, CGA has over 15 years of senior management experience in a variety of industries including mining, environmental technology and remediation and for the past eight years has focused on public companies listed on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and AMEX. Ron Schmitz has stepped down as Chief Financial Officer and has resigned his position as a Director but will continue to serve Gold Canyon in the capacity as Executive Vice President.
The Company further announces that pursuant to the Company's Rolling Stock Option Plan (the "Option Plan"), it has granted incentive stock options to the newly appointed directors and Chief Financial Officer to purchase an aggregate of 1,250,000 common shares. The stock options have a term of five (5) years, subject to one-third vesting of the grant every 6 months from grant day with full vesting in the first 18 months of the term, and have an exercise price of $1.45 per share, representing yesterday's closing price of the Company's common shares as reported on the TSX Venture Exchange.
About Springpole
Springpole is an alkaline intrusion hosting a gold system that represents a potentially new style of Canadian Archean Shield gold deposit. The Portage Zone is hosted by a trachytic porphyry intrusion displaying polyphase autolithic breccias that host gold mineralization. Other zones, including the East Extension and Main, consist of high-grade veins and pods hosted in diatreme breccias composed of intrusive and country rock fragments. These breccias surround the northwest and northern margins of the Portage Zone. The known mineralized zones underlie a total known area of about 4 square kilometers representing only about 15 percent of the greater alkaline intrusive complex which remains yet to be explored.
On February 27, 2012, Gold Canyon announced an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for Springpole, effective February 27, 2012, which included an indicated mineral resource of 1.22 million ounces gold and 4.82 million ounces silver and an inferred mineral resource of 2.45 million ounces gold and 11.58 million ounces silver (cut-off grade of 0.4 grams per tonne gold). Tonnage and grades were reported as 30.0 million metric tonnes at 1.26 grams per tonne gold and 5.0 grams per tonne silver for the indicated category, and 60.0 million metric tonnes at 1.27 grams per tonne gold and 6.0 grams per tonne silver for the inferred category. A technical report detailing this resource was filed by the Company on April 10, 2012 and is available through the Internet on the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com.
Quinton Hennigh, Ph.D., P.Geo. is the Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 responsible for, and has reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Hennigh is acting as a technical adviser to, and a director of, Gold Canyon.
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