TORONTO, April 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Kerr Mines Inc.
("Kerr" or the "Company") (TSX: KER) is pleased to
announce the appointment of Claudio
Ciavarella as Chief Executive Officer and Martin Kostuik as President and Director
effective immediately. The appointments are consistent with the
Company's strategy to strengthen its leadership team through the
addition of experienced executives who bring business, mining,
operational and technical expertise.
"The additions of Claudio and Martin to Kerr's management team
will provide invaluable business and technical leadership as we
advance our flagship Copperstone gold mine." said Mr. Fahad Al Tamimi, Chairman of Kerr. "Their
experience and expertise will be especially valuable as we begin to
execute exploration and development programs, designed to better
define our resource and optimize Copperstone's economics."
Mr. Ciavarella (CPA) earned his Bachelor of Business
Administration from Wilfrid Laurier
University's School of Business and Economics, where he
graduated Honours with Distinction. Mr. Ciavarella is a
successful private business owner with more than 25 years of
experience in the construction, real estate and manufacturing
industries. He is currently President of the Forte Group of
Companies, a custom manufacturer, and is also Chief Financial
Officer of the Aqua Tech Group, a dewatering and construction
company. He is a Certified Professional Accountant receiving his
designation in 1994, and has served on the Board of Kerr for over
seven years where he has recently taken an active role in the
restructuring of the Company. Mr. Ciavarella is Kerr's second
largest shareholder, owning approximately 13% of the Company's
issued and outstanding shares.
Mr. Ciavarella stated, "I'm pleased to be joining Martin on
Kerr's management team and I am very committed to unlocking
shareholder value through our plan to bring the Copperstone to its
full potential."
Mr. Kostuik (B.Sc., MBA) is a mining engineer and senior
executive with 25 years of diversified experience in the mining
industry. Mr. Kostuik joins Kerr from Luna Gold Corporation where
he was Senior Vice President of Operations and Development,
responsible for operations, development, capital projects,
environmental, government and community relations. Mr. Kostuik was
also President, CEO and Director of Rupert Resources Limited where
he focused on implementing exploration programs for existing assets
and on developing the company through evaluations of investment
opportunities for near term corporate growth. He has obtained a
broad base of experience in operations, engineering, exploration
and capital projects with various companies including Barrick Gold
Corporation, Taseko Mines Limited, DMC Mining Services and The
Rogers Group.
"This is a great time to be joining Kerr," said Mr. Kostuik,
President of Kerr. "The Company's Copperstone mine represents
a unique and exciting opportunity within the gold sector, and I am
looking forward to leading the advancement of this promising
project in a measured and sustainable manner."
With the appointments of Mr. Ciavarella as CEO and Mr. Kostuik
as President, Chris Hopkins will
relinquish his interim President and CEO roles and resume his role
as Chief Financial Officer and assume corporate secretary
responsibilities for the Company on a full-time basis. Kerr's Board
would like to thank Mr. Hopkins for his contributions to help the
Company successfully complete its restructuring, develop a new
strategy to bring Copperstone back in production and begin to
re-build its profile with the investment community.
Kerr also announces the resignation of Gregory Gibson as a director of the Company
effective immediately. The board of directors and management of the
Company would like to thank Mr. Gibson for his contributions to
Kerr and wishes him continued success.
About Kerr
Kerr is a North American gold exploration
and development company based in Toronto,
Canada. Kerr's core focus is to commence surface and
underground exploration to support a decision on the restart of
operations at the fully permitted Copperstone Mine in Arizona. The Copperstone
Mine produced nearly 500,000 ounces of gold through open pit
mining. Existing infrastructure which remains from this time,
or which has been subsequently installed by the Company's
predecessor and wholly owned subsidiary, American Bonanza Gold
Corp., is considerable and serves to reduce the current capital
requirements for the mine. Existing infrastructure includes a
power line and substation, and three water wells, all sufficient
for the proposed operations at Copperstone. Additional
infrastructure on site includes offices, maintenance shops and a
laboratory building permitted tailings facility, processing
facility and mill.
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including
current expectations on the timing of the commencement of
production and the rate of production, if commenced. These
forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are
based on current expectations, are subject to a number of
uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially
from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and
risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the Canadian
economy; the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity
risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are
reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which
factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are
present; the risks and hazards associated with underground
operations. Risks and uncertainties about Kerr Mines' business are more fully discussed in
the Company's disclosure materials, including its annual
information form and MD&A, filed with the securities regulatory
authorities in Canada and
available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these
materials. Kerr Mines assumes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the
reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless
required by law.
Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release and no stock exchange,
securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained herein.
SOURCE Kerr Mines Inc.