Peregrine Diamonds forms, staffs new subsidiary
2015-02-12 08:24 ET - News Release
Mr. Eric Friedland reports
PEREGRINE DIAMONDS ANNOUNCES CORPORATE REORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. has made changes to its corporate structure and senior management team.
A recently completed review of Peregrine Diamonds' assets has provided a clear road map for the company. The changes Peregrine is announcing today ensures that the company maintains its focus on advancing Chidliak toward becoming Baffin Island's first diamond mine while capturing maximum value from Peregrine's non-Chidliak assets, including the Lac des Gras project and extensive diamond exploration databases.
Peregrine Diamonds has formed a new, wholly owned subsidiary, Peregrine Exploration Ltd. This new entity will identify and, as warranted, acquire for exploration and development diamond properties utilizing the company's extensive proprietary databases and expert technical staff. In addition Peregrine Exploration will manage all Canadian non-Chidliak assets of the company. Peregrine Diamonds will remain the legal owner of its existing assets.
Peregrine Diamonds will continue to focus on completing the diamond resource development program at Chidliak and advancing the project toward production. The company's continuing 2015 work program, which includes the collection of bulk samples from priority kimberlites by large diameter reverse circulation (RC) drilling, is designed to prove up a resource base that would be the foundation of a preliminary economic assessment to be completed in 2016.
To align the company's leadership with these focus areas, the company is pleased to announce the following management changes which are effective immediately:
- Eric Friedland has been appointed executive chairman of both Peregrine Diamonds and Peregrine Exploration, and has resigned as chief executive officer of Peregrine Diamonds.
- Tom Peregoodoff, currently executive vice-president, business development, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Peregrine Diamonds.
- Brooke Clements has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Peregrine Exploration and has resigned as president of Peregrine Diamonds.
- Dr. Herman Grutter, currently program manager, Chidliak exploration, has been appointed vice-president, technical services, of Peregrine Diamonds.
Mr. Friedland established Peregrine Diamonds as a private entity in 2003, taking the company public in 2006. He was chief executive officer and chairman of Peregrine Metals Ltd., a public copper exploration company which was spun out of Peregrine Diamonds, taken public in 2010, and sold to Stillwater Mining Company in a transaction that was valued at $487-million (U.S.) in July, 2011. Mr. Friedland will continue to play a key role in the growth of the company and Peregrine Exploration as executive chairman of both companies.
Tom Peregoodoff, Peregrine Diamonds' new president and CEO, who has over 25 years of mining and petroleum industry experience, joined the company in 2012 as executive vice-president, new business development. He was previously with BHP Billiton for 18 years, most recently as vice-president, exploration, based in Singapore. In this role he was responsible for global exploration activities managed out of regional offices located in Moscow, Beijing, Vancouver, Santiago, Johannesburg and Perth, and was responsible for a team that included over 100 employees and contractors.
Brooke Clements, newly appointed president and CEO of Peregrine Exploration, has over 30 years of diamond exploration and project evaluation experience. He joined Peregrine Diamonds in 2007 as president, and led the company through the discovery and evaluation of Chidliak. Prior to joining Peregrine Diamonds, Mr. Clements had been vice-president, exploration, for Ashton Mining of Canada Inc., where he led the team that discovered the Renard cluster of economic kimberlites in Quebec which are scheduled to go into commercial production in 2017.
Dr. Grutter, Peregrine's newly appointed vice-president, technical services, joined Peregrine Diamonds in January, 2014, as program manager, Chidliak Exploration. He spent the first 12 years of his career with De Beers based in South Africa and Canada, and from 2005 to 2012 held the position of commodity specialist (diamonds) for BHP Billiton. In his role with BHP Billiton, Dr. Grutter was the technical representative on the Chidliak joint venture management committee from 2007 to 2012. Dr. Grutter is recognized as a leading expert on diamond exploration and development and is the first author of several industry-leading publications that relate kimberlitic indicator minerals to diamonds.
Eric Friedland, executive chairman of both Peregrine Diamonds and Peregrine Exploration, said: "This is an important and exciting time for Peregrine Diamonds. The recently announced resource expansion at CH-6 is further evidence of the tremendous potential of the Chidliak project and I'm very confident the diamond resource will continue to grow. I believe Tom is ideally suited to position Peregrine to maximize shareholder value from this expanding resource. Tom has been involved with the project since he and I negotiated the original Baffin Island exploration agreement between Peregrine Diamonds and BHP Billiton which led to the discovery of the Chidliak kimberlite field. His extensive global mining industry experience will provide the company the sound leadership required to advance Chidliak towards development. Brooke Clements, with his exceptional track record of diamond discovery, is ideally suited to lead the effort towards finding Canada's next diamond district and to capture value for our non-Chidliak diamond assets. Both Tom and Brooke will benefit from the world-class diamond exploration and development skills that Dr. Grutter brings to the company. I will be very involved with both Peregrine companies focussing mainly on financing, strategic planning and new corporate opportunities."
We seek Safe Harbor.