VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 28, 2016) -
Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE: MIN) (FRANKFURT: 3XS) (OTCQX: EXMGF)
("Excelsior" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Distler as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Distler has replaced Carlo Valente who had served as the Company's CFO since December, 2014. The Company thanks Mr. Valente for his invaluable contributions during his tenure. This change is part of an ongoing transition of the Company's management to its Phoenix office as the Gunnison Project reaches an advanced stage.
Mr. Distler brings more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry focusing on financial strategies, regulatory compliance, and core internal operations. He began his career with Phelps Dodge Corporation and has held senior financial positions for a host of major resource companies including Agnico Eagle Mines (Senior Financial Manager), Mercator Minerals (CFO), Curis Resources (Operations Controller) and Frontera Copper Corporation (CFO). A graduate of Pennsylvania State University and a CPA, Mr. Distler's exceptional skill set in terms of financial structuring and strategic planning will serve Excelsior well as the Company moves through the project financing stage and into commercial production.
Excelsior has granted Mr. Distler, under the terms of its stock option plan, options to purchase up to 200,000 common shares at a price of C$0.36 per share. The options are subject to vesting over a two year period and have an expiry date of April 27, 2021.
Callinan Royalty Option
The final development milestone under the royalty option agreement with Callinan Royalties has been met with the successful administrative review of the Aquifer Protection Permit and the Underground Injection Control and Aquifer Exemption Permit. This resulted in the Company providing notice to Callinan with respect to its option to exercise the final development royalty option. In response, Altius, on behalf of Callinan, provided notice that it will not be exercising the third royalty option.
As noted in Excelsior's October 8, 2015 news release, in May 2015, Altius completed a plan of arrangement whereby Altius acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Callinan and Callinan became a wholly owned subsidiary controlled by the Board and management of Altius. The business model of Altius is to acquire royalty interests in producing mines and to generate its own projects that it then advances through various partner-funding arrangements. Excelsior's Gunnison Project is not yet a producing mine and is a project that was not generated initially by Altius, and as a result it falls outside of the current Altius business model. Altius, through Callinan, continues to hold a 1% Gross Revenue Royalty ("GRR") in the Gunnison Project and holds the remaining option to acquire up to an additional 0.5%GRR for C$5,000,000 based on the remaining Construction Milestone GRR.
About Excelsior Mining
Excelsior Mining, "The Copper Solution Company," is a mineral exploration and development company that is advancing the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County, Arizona. The project is an advanced staged, low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project that is scheduled for commercial production in 2018.
Further information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: "Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Prefeasibility Study Update" dated effective January 28, 2016.
For more information on Excelsior, please visit our website at www.excelsiormining.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE EXCELSIOR BOARD
"Stephen Twyerould"
President & CEO
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" concerning anticipated developments and events that may occur in the future. Forward looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the timeline for commercial production from the Gunnison Project; (ii) the exercise of the construction royalty option by Callinan and (iii) the ability to mine the Gunnison Project using in-situ recovery mining techniques.
In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, copper and other metal prices, the timing and amount of future exploration and development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the availability of necessary financing and materials to continue to explore and develop the Gunnison Project in the short and long-term, the progress of exploration and development activities, the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, the completion of the permitting process, the estimation of insurance coverage, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in project parameters as plans continue to be redefined including the possibility that mining operations may not commence at the Gunnison Project, risks relating to variations in mineral resources and reserves, grade or recovery rates resulting from current exploration and development activities, risks relating to the ability to access infrastructure, risks relating to changes in copper and other commodity prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of copper and related products, risks related to increased competition in the market for copper and related products and in the mining industry generally, risks related to current global financial conditions, uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks inherent in the conduct of mining activities, including the risk of accidents, labour disputes, increases in capital and operating costs and the risk of delays or increased costs that might be encountered during the development process, regulatory risks, including risks relating to the acquisition of the necessary licenses and permits, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks, including the risk that the financing necessary to fund the exploration and development activities at the Gunnison Project may not be available on satisfactory terms, or at all, risks related to disputes concerning property titles and interest, environmental risks and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's reports and filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and no securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this release.