Victoria Gold: New Board of Director Nominees
Experienced Mining Industry Professionals Join Board
Kimberly Keating
Steve Haggarty
Ria Fitzgerald
TORONTO, April 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Victoria Gold Corp. (TSX-VGCX) (“Victoria” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce three new nominees to its Board of Directors. The Company’s Annual General Meeting will be held on May 10, 2023 whereat Kimberly Keating, Steve Haggarty and Ria Fitzgerald are being nominated as new members to Victoria’s Board of Directors. Concurrently, Michael McInnis, Stephen Scott and Letha MacLachlan will not be standing for re-election and are stepping off the Board.
“We are very pleased to invite and nominate Ms. Keating, Mr. Haggarty and Ms. Fitzgerald to the Board of Directors. Each brings a wealth of mining experience and are expected to reinvigorate the Board with their deep and relevant technical, capital markets and ESG knowledge and skillset,” stated John McConnell, President and CEO.
“On behalf of Victoria’s Board and management, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to Mr. Michael McInnis, Mr. Stephen Scott and Ms. Letha MacLachlan who will not be standing for re-election as directors of the Company at the Meeting,” stated Sean Harvey, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Mike, Steve and Letha have each been an integral part of Victoria as the Eagle Gold Mine advanced through construction into operation to become the largest gold mine in Yukon history.”
Kimberly Keating
Ms. Keating is a Professional Engineer with 25 years of broad international experience in the oil and gas, nuclear, hydropower, and mining sectors. Most recently, Ms. Keating was the Chief Operating Officer of the Cahill Group, one of Canada’s largest multi-disciplinary construction companies with operations across the country. Prior to joining the Cahill Group in 2013, Ms. Keating held a variety of progressive leadership roles from engineering design through to construction, commissioning, production operations and offshore field development with Petro-Canada (now Suncor Energy Inc.). Throughout her career, Ms. Keating has made significant leadership contributions to major projects in the Canadian, Norwegian and UK energy sectors, bringing a wealth of strategy, operational execution, and technical expertise to her Board roles. She is currently the chair of the board directors of Major Drilling Group International Inc. and serves as a director at Drax Group plc. Ms. Keating is also a board director of Makwa-Cahill Limited Partnership, a fully nuclear qualified indigenous fabrication company. Ms. Keating graduated from the Rotman-Institute of Corporate Directors Education Program and was awarded her ICD.D designation.
Steve Haggarty
Mr. Haggarty, P.Eng., is the Managing Director of Haggarty Technical Services Corp., a consulting company providing project, process and risk management services to the mining industry. Prior to forming Haggarty Technical Services, Mr. Haggarty had a lengthy 40-year career with companies including Barrick Gold, Homestake Mining, International Corona and Teck Corporation. His metallurgical background and operational experience includes copper, molybdenum, gold, silver and PGM group metals at mining operations involving copper SX-EW, flotation, heap leaching, pressure oxidation, roasting and CIL recovery plants. Mr. Haggarty is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He is a graduate of McGill University with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering.
Ria Fitzgerald
Ms. Fitzgerald has over twenty years of experience in equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, project financing and project development with global and start-up companies in mining, infrastructure, and renewable power sectors. Ms. Fitzgerald has ten years of experience as an investment banker focused on the mining industry, where she was involved in numerous private and public equity financings for global mining companies. Ms. Fitzgerald is currently the Director of Mining at Solvest Inc., a Yukon based renewable energy company specializing in the design, construction, and financing of remote energy generation including solar power and energy storage for industrial, residential and Indigenous clients. Her focus is in providing cost saving power solutions to mines that reduce carbon emissions and enhance capacity building for Indigenous partners. Ms. Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan, where she graduated with High Honours and Great Distinction. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and in 2021 earned the newly established Certificate in ESG Investing, both from the CFA Institute.
About the Dublin Gulch Property
Victoria Gold’s 100%-owned Dublin Gulch gold property (the “Property”) is situated in central Yukon Territory, Canada, approximately 375 kilometers north of the capital city of Whitehorse, and approximately 85 kilometers from the town of Mayo. The Property is accessible by road year round, and is located within Yukon Energy’s electrical grid.
The Property covers an area of approximately 555 square kilometers, and is the site of the Company’s Eagle and Olive Gold Deposits. The Company press released the results of a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine on February 24, 2023 (the “2023 Eagle Technical Report”). The 2023 Eagle Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days from the press release. The Eagle and Olive deposits include Proven and Probable Reserves of 2.6 million ounces of gold from 124 million tonnes of ore with a grade of 0.65 grams of gold per tonne. The Mineral Resource for the Eagle and Olive Gold Deposits has been estimated to host 245 million tonnes averaging 0.59 grams of gold per tonne, containing 4.7 million ounces of gold in the “Measured and Indicated” category, inclusive of Proven and Probable Reserves, and a further 36 million tonnes averaging 0.63 grams of gold per tonne, containing 0.7 million ounces of gold in the “Inferred” category.
Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Except for statements of historical fact relating to Victoria, information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information, including any information related to the intended use of proceeds from the Term Facility and the Revolving Credit Facility, the amended terms and conditions of the Loan Facility, and Victoria’s strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “budget”, “target”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may”, “will”, “could” or “should” occur, and includes any guidance and forecasts set out herein (including, but not limited to, production and operational guidance of the Corporation). In order to give such forward-looking information, the Corporation has made certain assumptions about its business, operations, the economy and the mineral exploration industry in general, in particular in light of the impact of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease (“COVID-19”) on each of the foregoing. In this respect, the Corporation has assumed that production levels will remain consistent with management’s expectations, contracted parties provide goods and services on agreed timeframes, equipment works as anticipated, required regulatory approvals are received, no unusual geological or technical problems occur, no material adverse change in the price of gold occurs and no significant events occur outside of the Corporation’s normal course of business. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in, or implied by, the forward-looking information. These factors include the impact of general business and economic conditions, risks related to COVID-19 on the Company, global liquidity and credit availability on the timing of cash flows and the values of assets and liabilities based on projected future conditions, anticipated metal production, fluctuating metal prices, currency exchange rates, estimated ore grades, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, changes in accounting policies, changes in Victoria’s corporate resources, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, changes in development and production time frames, the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainty of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, higher prices for fuel, steel, power, labour and other consumables contributing to higher costs and general risks of the mining industry, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, final pricing for metal sales, unanticipated results of future studies, seasonality and unanticipated weather changes, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, requirements for additional capital, permitting time lines, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims, limitations on insurance coverage and timing and possible outcomes of pending litigation and labour disputes, risks related to remote operations and the availability of adequate infrastructure, fluctuations in price and availability of energy and other inputs necessary for mining operations. Although Victoria has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in, or implied by, the forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein is presented for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding Victoria’s expected financial and operational performance and Victoria’s plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. All forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof, as the case may be, and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management of the Corporation as at the date hereof. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information contained herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
For Further Information Contact:
John McConnell
President & CEO
Victoria Gold Corp.
Tel: 604-696-6605
ceo@vgcx.com
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