CALGARY, Alberta, April 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bird River Resources Inc. (CSE:BDR) (“Bird River”) and
Divestco Inc. (TSXV:DVT) (“Divestco”) today announced a joint venture to create a high-volume, cost-effective commercial
cryptocurrency mining operation based in Calgary, Alberta using existing infrastructure.
This follows a previously announced joint cogeneration agreement under which the two companies have joined forces to produce
low-cost electricity by converting natural gas to electricity. The cryptocurrency mining operation will benefit with an estimated
cost of electricity at approximately 1.4 cents per kilowatt hour compared to the Canadian industry average cost of electricity at
approximately 6 cents per kilowatt hour.
“Electricity is one of the largest expenses in running a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation. Securing low-cost
electricity through our joint cogeneration facility provides us with an impressive competitive advantage,” said Ty Pfeifer,
Director of Bird River Resources. “Furthermore, we are able to utilize Divestco’s existing data centre infrastructure, providing an
even further substantial cost advantage in bringing our venture to the forefront of Canada’s cryptocurrency mining industry.
Building a similar data centre would cost in excess of $5 million.”
Under the agreement, Bird River will pay for 100% of the capital cost of acquiring mining rigs for cryptocurrency mining
operations. Divestco will provide the infrastructure for the cryptocurrency mining activity including climate-controlled space,
racking equipment for up to 3,000 mining rigs, and personnel with specific expertise in crypto mining. Divestco will operate the
data centre and all the crypto data mining rigs. Revenue, net of operating expenses, will be split with 80% of revenue to Bird
River Resources and 20% of revenue to Divestco until such time that the original capital cost has been fully recouped, and will
thereafter be split 50/50 between the two companies.
“We are pleased that the substantial investment we’ve made in our state-of-the-art data centre will be utilized for this
joint venture, and that existing IT resources can easily be augmented with expertise to run the cryptocurrency mining operations,”
said Stephen Popadynetz, President and CEO of Divestco. “We see great promise in this joint enterprise becoming Canada’s leader in
cryptocurrency mining with the infrastructure, expertise and low cost electricity that set us above the rest.”
About Bird River Resources Inc.
Established in 1958, Bird River Resources (CSE:BDR) is a Canadian natural resources company focused on three verticals within
the energy sector – Oil & Gas, Cogeneration and Technology. The Oil & Gas vertical was recently expanded through the acquisition of
High Point Oil and focuses on the acquisition, exploration and development of petroleum and natural gas in the Western Canadian
Basin. The cogeneration vertical is a joint venture with Divestco Inc. focused on the conversion of natural gas to electricity at
exceptionally low rates. The Technology vertical focuses on the application of technologies such as blockchain to identified
opportunities within the energy and technology sectors, including the establishment of a leading, ultra low-cost cryptocurrency
mining centre through a partnership with Divestco. For more information, visit birdriverresources.com, highpointoil.net and
divestco.com.
About Divestco Inc.
Divestco is an exploration services company that provides a comprehensive and integrated portfolio of data, software, and
services to the oil and gas industry. Through continued commitment to align and bundle products and services to generate value for
customers, Divestco is creating an unparalleled set of integrated solutions and unique benefits for the marketplace. Divestco’s
breadth of data, software and services offers customers the ability to access and analyze the information required to make business
decisions and to optimize their success in the upstream oil and gas industry. Divestco is headquartered in Calgary and trades on
the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “DVT”. Additional information on Divestco is available on its website at divestco.com and
on SEDAR at sedar.com.
For further information, contact:
Bird River Resources Inc. (birdriverresources.com)
Mr. Ty Pfeifer
Director (CEO, High Point Oil)
ty@highpointoil.net
Mr. Howard Blacker
CFO, High Point Oil
howard@highpointoil.net
Divestco Inc. (www.divestco.com)
Mr. Stephen Popadynetz
CEO and President
Tel 587-952-8152
spopadynetz@divestco.com
Mr. Danny Chiarastella
Chief Financial Officer
Tel 587-952-8027
dchiarastella@divestco.com
Neither Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor 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 news
release.
Forward-Looking Information and Statements
This press release contains forward-looking information and statements related to Bird River’s and Divestco’s capital
expenditures, projected growth, view and outlook with respect to future oil and gas prices and market conditions, and demand for
its products and services. This forward-looking information and the related statements are based upon factors, expectations and
assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements that reasonable at this time, but no assurance can be given that these
factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this
press release are based upon several material factors and expectations and assumptions of Bird River’s and Divestco’s including,
without limitation: Divestco’s status as a going concern; that Bird River and Divestco will continue to conduct its operations in a
manner consistent with past operations; future interests rates; future availability of debt and/or equity sources to fund Bird
River’s and Divestco’s capital and operating requirements as needed on terms acceptable to management of Bird river and Divestco or
at all; and future prices for crude oil and natural gas;. The forward-looking information and statements included in this press
release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such information and statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking information and statements including, without limitation: general economic, market and business
conditions; increased debt levels or debt service requirements; limited, unfavourable or no access to debt or equity capital
markets; volatility in market prices for crude oil and natural gas; ability of Divestco’s clients to explore for, develop and
produce oil and gas; availability of financing and capital; the ability of Bird River’s and Divestco’s customers to pay in a timely
manner; fluctuations in interest rates; demand for Bird River’s and Divestco’s product and services; competitive actions by other
companies; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner; adverse conditions in the debt and equity markets; and
government actions including changes in environment and other regulation; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in
Bird River’s and Divestco’s public disclosure documents including, without limitation, those risks identified in this press
release. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press
release, and Bird River and Divestco do not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or
circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws.
