Board Changes

RNS Number : 2894Y

Georgian Mining Corporation

02 March 2017

 

2 March 2017

Georgian Mining Corporation

Board Changes and Grant of Options

Georgian Mining Corporation ("GEO") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Anthony (Tony) Frizelle as Non-Executive Chairman and Mr. Laurence (Laurie) Mutch as Non-Executive Director. Tony Frizelle has over 40 years' of experience in natural resources, investment banking, merchant banking and commodity trading, and Laurie Mutch has over 40 years' experience in the natural resources and energy sectors.

These appointments endorse the opportunity that the Kvemo Bolnisi Copper-Gold Project, and the Company's broader Georgian asset base presents the Company, both in terms of the delivery of near term, low cost copper and gold production and to provide considerable exploration and development prospects.  Non-Executive Director Roderick McIllree will be stepping down from the board to focus on his other business interests while Non-Executive Chairman Michael Hutchinson is retiring.  

Tony Frizelle has previously held senior positions at Anglo American Corporation, Phillip Brothers Inc/Salomon Inc - a commodity merchant company focused on physical trading, asset acquisition and development where he was Managing Director, and at  Brascan Group and Rand Mines. Tony was the Founder and is Managing Director of Resource Management & Finance Co Ltd ("RMF"), a boutique resource advisory and management group providing strategic support for junior companies in the acquisition of quality resource projects in emerging markets. Companies supported or co-founded by RMF include Mutual Resources, Golden Knight, Pan African Resources, NiCo, Nautical Petroleum, Jubilee Platinum and Coal Resources Corp.  Tony served as Chairman or Managing Director of several of these companies.

RMF has also acted as strategic advisor to major international resource groups on acquisitions and  strategies to enter emerging markets. RMF initiated and advised on the acquisition of the Tarkwa Gold Mine by Goldfields SA from the Government of Ghana and secured a participating interest for Mutual Resources. This interest was subsequently acquired by Iamgold and sold to Goldfields for US$667 million. Tarkwa produced approximately 700,000 oz/au in 2014.

Laurie Mutch is an international management consultant with over 40 years' experience in the resources and energy sectors. He was formerly with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and on the Board of Shell International Gas & Power, as Executive Director for Business Development.  Laurie was previously  Finance and Planning Director of Shell International Gas and Shell Coal International, and was principal adviser on the coal industry to the International Energy Agency in Paris. Prior to his retirement from Shell he was  Group Chief Information Officer and on the Microsoft and Dell Enterprise Advisory Boards. He is currently a Non-Executive director of Quadrise Fuels International and Chairs the audit committee.

GEO's Managing Director Greg Kuenzel, said, "Both Tony and Laurie bring great industry knowledge and banking experience to GEO which will prove invaluable as we expand our resources at the Kvemo Bolnisi Project, deliver initial production and evaluate new opportunities. We thank Rod and Michael for all their efforts on behalf of GEO over the years and we wish them well for their future endeavours. Kvemo Bolnisi  is shaping up as a significant copper-gold project and we look forward to working with such eminent resource sector figures  at GEO to build shareholder value."

Further information in relation to Anthony David Frizelle and Laurence Ian Mutch is provided below.

Mr Anthony David Frizelle, aged 73, currently holds or has held the following directorships and partnerships in the last five years:

Current Directorships	Past Directorship
Agritech Investments Plc	None
RMF (UK) Limited

Mr Frizelle currently has an existing interest in 1,050,000 ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") of no par value in the Company, which represents 1.31% of the issued share capital. On 30 January the board agreed to issue Mr Frizelle options over 1,000,000 new Ordinary Shares in GEO, exercisable at a price of 12p per share and which expire on 3 March 2022. The exercise price of these options represents a 35% premium to the closing share price of 8.88 pence at the time the issue of these options was agreed.

Mr Laurence Ian Mutch, aged 69, currently holds or has held the following directorships and partnerships in the last five years:

Current Directorships	Past Directorships
Quadrise Fuels International Plc	Quadrise International Limited
Laurie Mutch & Associates Limited	Agritech Investments Plc

Mr Mutch currently holds no Ordinary Shares  in the Company.  On 30 January the board agreed to issue Mr Mutch options over 900, 000 new Ordinary Shares in GEO, exercisable at a price of 12p per share and which expire on 3 March 2022. The exercise price of these options represents a 35% premium to the closing share price of 8.88 pence at the time the issue of these options was agreed.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.georgianmining.com  or contact:

Greg Kuenzel	Georgian Mining Corporation	Company	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat	S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Nomad & Broker	Tel: [phone]
Laura Harrison	S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Nomad & Broker	Tel: [phone]
Damon Heath	Shard Capital Partners LLP	Joint Broker	Tel: [phone]
Elisabeth Cowell	St Brides Partners Ltd	PR	Tel: [phone]

About Georgian Mining Corporation

Georgian Mining Corporation has 50% ownership and operational control of the Bolnisi Copper and Gold Project in Georgia, situated on the prolific Tethyan Belt, a well-known geological region and host to many high grade copper-gold deposits and producing mines.  The Bolnisi licence covers an area of over  860 sq km and has a 30 year mining licence with two advanced exploration projects; Kvemo Bolnisi and Tsitsel Sopeli. These projects are proximal to existing mining operations which are owned by the Company's supportive joint venture partner. Georgia has an established mining code and is a jurisdiction open to direct foreign investment.

 

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