TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2018 /CNW/ - Detour Gold
Corporation (TSX: DGC) ("Detour Gold" or the "Company")
announces that Alan Edwards,
James Gowans and Judy Kirk have joined the Board of Directors
(the "Board").
"As part of Detour Gold's ongoing board refreshment and
enhancement process, we are very pleased to welcome Alan, Jim, and
Judy to the Board and look forward to their contributions as we
execute on our 2018 Life of Mine
Plan to deliver long-term value to all shareholders,"
said Alex Morrison, Chairman.
"These latest changes demonstrate that our Board shares the
objective of our shareholders -- to ensure the 2018 Life of
Mine Plan succeeds in maximizing the
value of our unique asset. Not only is Detour Lake the largest gold
mining operation in Canada, it has
one of the largest gold reserve endowments in the world, providing
tremendous optionality to a rising gold price over at least the
next two decades. Our new directors augment the Board's
experience and expertise in large-scale open pit mining and
corporate social responsibility, including First Nations
engagement. These changes to the Board, coupled with
the initiatives of Frazer Bourchier as Chief Operating Officer and
additional talent upgrades at the mine site, further enhance our
ability to ensure that the Detour Lake mine becomes a
consistently performing operation."
Pierre Lassonde, Chairman of
Franco-Nevada Corporation, stated: "From the very beginning,
Franco-Nevada has been a
stakeholder in Detour Gold through a royalty
interest. Today, Detour Lake is
one of the largest gold deposits in Canada with a long mine life. We
are pleased to see the progress Detour Gold is making in
strengthening its Board and management team so that it can
achieve its full potential for the benefit of all
stakeholders."
About the New Directors
Alan Edwards is a highly
experienced mining executive and director with a career spanning 35
years. He started his career with Phelps Dodge Corporation, having
served as Mine Operations Superintendent for the Morenci copper mine (at the time a
~680,000 tonne per day operation) and with Cyprus Amax Minerals
Company as Vice President and General Manager for the Sierrita
copper-molybdenum mine (at the time a ~245,000 tonne per day
operation), both in Arizona,
United States. He then worked for
PT Freeport Indonesia as Senior Vice President Operations for the
Grasberg open pit and underground mining complex (the world's
second largest copper and gold mine) overseeing 6,300 employees.
Mr. Edwards also served as Vice President Operations for Kinross
Gold Corp., initiating the expansion of the Fort Knox gold mine in
Alaska and completing the
expansion at the Kubaka gold mine in eastern Russia. Mr. Edwards has significant board
experience, serving as Chairman of AuRico Gold Inc. ("AuRico") from
July 2013 to November 2015, during which time he oversaw
several M&A transactions to grow AuRico, culminating in the
merger of AuRico with Alamos Gold Inc. in 2015. Mr. Edwards'
current directorships include Entrée Resources Ltd. where he is
also the Chairman of the Technical Committee. Mr. Edwards obtained
his Bachelor in Mining Engineering and MBA degrees from the
University of Arizona.
James Gowans has more than
30 years of experience in mineral exploration, mine feasibility
studies, mine construction and commissioning, and the development
of best practices in mine safety, operations and economic
performance improvements. He has extensive mining knowledge and
perspective on the importance of corporate social responsibility
and brings human resources experience. Until its recently closed
US$1.3 billion acquisition by South32
Limited, Mr. Gowans served as President and Chief Executive Officer
of Arizona Mining Inc. He was with Barrick Gold Corporation as
Senior Advisor to the Chairman from August to December 2015, Co-President from July 2014 to August
2015, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer from January to July 2014.
From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Gowans was the Managing Director of Debswana
Diamond Company (Pty) Ltd., and prior to that he held executive
positions at various companies, including De Beers SA, De Beers
Canada Inc., PT Inco in Indonesia
and Placer Dome Inc. He spent nearly 19 years with Cominco
Ltd./Teck Cominco Ltd. involved in the construction of the Polaris
and Red Dog zinc mines, as well as the Con gold mine and
Vanscoy potash mine. Mr.
Gowans previously served as the President of the Canadian Institute
of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, the Chair of the Board of the
Mining Association of Canada, and
a director of the Conference Board of Canada. He currently serves on the boards of
directors of Cameco Ltd. and New Gold Inc., as well as Gedex
Technologies Inc., an innovative geophysics systems company. Mr.
Gowans is a Professional Engineer holding a Bachelor of Applied
Science degree in Mineral Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and attended the
Banff School of Advanced Management.
For 30 years, Judy Kirk
has been at the forefront of strategic communications, public
consultation and engagement specialization for policy, planning and
infrastructure projects. Ms. Kirk provides executive advisor
services for significant projects from initial planning to
completion by navigating the regulatory and environmental review
processes through project development and construction. She has
advised and led community engagement and environmental review teams
for such diverse groups as CN, Teck Resources Ltd., Vancouver
Fraser Port Authority, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and
Infrastructure, Metlakatla First Nations and Woodfibre LNG. Ms.
Kirk has focussed on delivering economic, social and environmental
benefits to communities and project proponents through the
tailoring of environmental and regulatory processes and timelines,
while also ensuring that the necessary programs meet budgets and
corporate goals. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and
English) from Simon Fraser
University.
To accommodate these additions, Ingrid
Hibbard and Robert Doyle have
stepped down from the Board. "We thank Ingrid and Robert for
their long and important years of service to Detour Gold and the
many positive strides the Company has taken during their
tenure," said Morrison. "For Ms. Hibbard, this dates
back to Detour Gold's 2007 purchase of the project from Pelangio
Mines Inc., of which Ms. Hibbard was President and CEO."
Appointment of Vice President, Mine General Manager
As Detour Gold moves forward with the implementation of the 2018
Life of Mine Plan under the
leadership of Frazer Bourchier, COO, the Company has been expanding
the skills and expertise at the mine site. In that regard, Detour
Gold is pleased to announce the appointment of Dale Ekmark as Vice President, Mine General
Manager. Mr. Ekmark brings over 22 years of domestic and
international experience in the mining industry. He has spent over
two-thirds of his career working in large open pit operations, in
both operational and corporate leadership capacities. He is a
highly successful leader who brings to Detour Gold a combination of
strong technical expertise, focus on employee-centric mine safety
and operational optimization, and extensive site management.
A common theme throughout his career has been the strong and
lasting culture transition to a highly engaged workforce resulting
in top-tier safety and operational results.
Mr. Ekmark served as CEO and Chairman of OKD in the Czech Republic where he oversaw the operation
of four coal mines with over 12,000 employees. Prior to OKD, Mr.
Ekmark served as the Founder and Principal of EMMORA, a risk-based
management consulting firm providing services to heavy industry
with an emphasis on mining; and as COO of AMG Mining of the
Advanced Metallurgical Group, a global critical materials company
producing highly engineered specialty metals and mineral products.
Additionally, Mr. Ekmark has held numerous management roles with
NORAMCO Engineering Corp., Placer Dome Inc., Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.,
and The De Beers Group of Companies. At De Beers, Mr. Ekmark served
as General Manager of the Jwaneng diamond mine in Africa (a ~360,000 tonne per day operation).
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering from University of
Minnesota, a Master's degree in Engineering Management from
the University of Alaska, and completed
post graduate studies in Systems Science/Business Administration
from Portland State University.
Advisors
The Company has retained Kingsdale Advisors as its strategic
shareholder and communications advisor, BMO Capital Markets as its
financial advisor, and McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Norton Rose
Fulbright LLP as its legal advisors.
About Detour Gold
Detour Gold is an intermediate gold producer in Canada that holds a 100% interest in the
Detour Lake mine, a long life large-scale open pit operation.
Detour Gold's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
trading symbol DGC.
Media Contact:
Ian Robertson
Executive Vice President, Communication Strategy
Kingsdale Advisors
Direct: 416-867-2333
Cell: 647-621-2646
Email: irobertson@kingsdaleadvisors.com
Shareholder and Investor Contact:
Laurie Gaborit, VP Investor
Relations
Detour Gold Corporation
Tel: 416-304-0581
Email: lgaborit@detourgold.com
SOURCE Detour Gold