TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2012) - Duran Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DRV)(BVL:DRV) ("Duran" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alex Black and Mr. David Prins to its Board of Directors effective immediately.
Alex Black lives in Lima, Perú and has 30 years' experience in the mining industry. Mr. Black holds a BSc in Mining Engineering from the University of South Australia and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr. Black is currently the President, CEO and a Director of Rio Alto Mining Limited, which operates the La Arena gold mine located in north central Perú.
David Prins is a Civil Engineer with extensive experience in the evaluation, design, planning and subsequent development execution stages of mining projects, principally in Latin America. Mr. Prins' previous position was as President and CEO of Explorator Resources Inc. Prior to this he was the principal of his own Santiago, Chile, based consulting firm which provided project evaluation and management services to many leading precious and base metals mining companies. Mr. Prins has also worked for Placer Dome Project Development Group directly and indirectly for a period of over 16 years which included a 10 year period at the Zaldivar Mine in Northern Chile.
The Company is also pleased to announce that it has completed the private placement financing ("Private Placement") with Rio Alto Mining Limited ("Rio Alto"), previously announced on September 17, 2012. The Private Placement consists of five million (5,000,000) units (the "Units") of Duran at a price of Cdn$0.15 per Unit for an aggregate subscription price of Cdn$750,000, with each such Unit comprised of one common share of Duran (the "Common Shares") and two half warrants; the "Series A Warrants" and the "Series B Warrants". Each whole Series A Warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of Cdn$0.25 per share until the date that is the earlier of (i) the date that is eighteen (18) months following the issuance thereof, and (ii) the date that is thirty (30) days following the date notice is given to Rio Alto that the Common Shares have closed at or above the price of Cdn$0.25 per share for a period of 20 consecutive trading days on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXVE") so long as such period occurs after twelve (12) months from the date of issuance of the Series A Warrants. Each whole Series B Warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of Cdn$0.35 per share until the date that is the earlier of (i) the date that is thirty (30) months following the issuance thereof, and (ii) the date that is thirty (30) days following the date notice is given to Rio Alto that the Common Shares have closed at or above the price of Cdn$0.35 per share for a period of 20 consecutive trading days on the TSXVE so long as such period occurs after twenty four (24) months from the date of issuance of the Series B Warrants. Rio Alto must exercise 100% of the Series A warrants to have the right to exercise the Series B warrants. In the event that Rio Alto is precluded from exercising the warrants due to trading restrictions imposed pursuant to applicable securities laws or by Duran under any applicable policy respecting restrictions on trading in its securities, the expiry dates of the Series A Warrants and Series B Warrants may be extended for a period of ten (10) business days from the end of any such restricted period (subject to regulatory approvals).
As previously announced in a press release dated September 17, 2012, Duran and Rio Alto entered into a non-binding letter of intent ("LOI") whereby Duran has granted to Rio Alto options (the "Options") pursuant to which it may earn up to a 70% interest in the Company's Minasnioc Gold-Silver Property ("Minasnioc") and a 65% interest in the Company's Ichuña Copper-Silver Property ("Ichuña").
In order to maintain their Minasnioc and Ichuña property option earn-in rights Rio Alto must exercise 100% of the warrants included in the Private Placement.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for exploration and development of the Company's mineral projects in Peru and general corporate purposes. The Private Placement is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
A total of 950,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company have been granted to directors of the Company at an exercise price of $0.15 per share, expiring on September 30, 2017. The grant is subject to regulatory approval.
The Company also announces that Mr. Todd Bruce has decided to resign from the Board effective October 1, 2012. Mr. Bruce has been a Board member since May 2010. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Bruce for his valuable insight and advice over that time. Mr. Bruce has agreed to join Duran's Advisory Board effective immediately.
Duran is a Canadian exploration company focused on the exploration and development of porphyry copper, precious metal, and polymetallic deposits in Peru.