**NEWS**
Sandspring Appoints President & Chief Operating Officer and Grants Options
September 7, 2012 - 07:00:00 AM
DENVER, COLORADO--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2012) - Sandspring Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SSP) ("Sandspring" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Yani Roditis as President & Chief Operating Officer of Sandpring.
Rich Munson, CEO, states "Sandpring Resources is pleased to welcome Mr. Roditis to the Company. Mr. Roditis's appointment is a significant milestone in the Company's plan to become a gold producer. After successfully centralizing its exploration group in February of 2011 in its Georgetown, Guyana office under the direction of Mr. Werner Claessens, Vice President Exploration, and Mr. Pascal van Osta, Exploration Manager, Sandspring has focused on this senior management position to lead the development of the Toroparu Gold Project. Mr. Roditis's extensive experience in mine development, engineering, permitting and operations will be a valuable asset as we advance this project from the current optimization stage into feasibility, and then construction and operation."
Mr. Roditis most recently served as Vice President, Operations of Teranga Gold Corporation. Prior to joining Teranga, he was Chief Operating Officer of Gabriel Resources Ltd., where he was primarily responsible for stakeholder engagement, engineering, permitting and the operational aspects of the Rosia Montana project. Formerly, Mr. Roditis spent 11 years with Barrick Gold Corporation, gaining extensive experience in operations and mine development through a number of progressively senior positions at the company's operating mines and development projects in the United States, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Mr. Roditis holds two Master of Science degrees from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Science Degree on Mining and Metallurgical Engineering from the National Technical University in Athens, Greece.
Mr. Roditis will begin by overseeing the ongoing optimization of the Toroparu Operating Plan, which includes the evaluation of a number of scenarios based on selective mining of the higher grade core of the Toroparu deposit instead of bulk mining the resource as previously defined. The objectives of the optimization include defining an operation that provides a smaller initial project capital cost and a capability to expand to optimal throughputs financed from internally generated cash flow while maintaining life of mine gold and copper production ranges reported in the Company's Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment.
In addition to further mine plan optimization, more drilling within the high grade core of the deposit is needed to convert Inferred Resources to Measured and Indicated. This drilling is expected to be completed in Q4 2012. Once the infill drilling and mine plan optimization is complete, the company expects to have sufficient information to complete the Prefeasibility study for the Toroparu project.
Mr. Roditis states "I am pleased to join this dynamic team and to have the exciting opportunity to contribute to both the development of this emerging gold district and the country of Guyana. Toroparu is a multi-million ounce resource in a mining friendly jurisdiction that has a high potential for further growth, as evidenced by the recent discovery of a satellite mineralized body 1.2 km away from the main pit area. Additionally, Sandspring delivered a significant milestone in June by receiving the environmental permit for the development of the Toroparu project. Together with the capable exploration team assembled by Sandspring, we expect to create significant value for all stakeholders going forward."
Additionally, Sandspring announces that the Company has granted to certain officers and consultants a total of 1,011,000 stock options to purchase common shares of the Company. The stock options are exercisable at
.60 per share and will expire on September 6, 2017. This stock option grant is subject to regulatory approval.
Sandspring is a well-funded junior mining company currently exploring and developing the NI 43-101 Toroparu gold project in the Republic of Guyana, South America. Additional information on Sandspring can be viewed on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com or on Sandspring's website at www.sandspringresources.com.
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the future performance of our business, financial performance and condition, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, fluctuating commodity prices and the advancement of the Toroparu deposit toward feasibility and obtaining positive results from ongoing evaluation and testing of multiple gold targets located elsewhere in the Company's landholdings, among other risks as described in more detail in our recent securities filings available at www.sedar.com. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking-statements and we caution against placing undue reliance thereon. Sandspring Resources Ltd. has an ongoing obligation to disclose material information as it becomes available.