Kerr Mines Appoints Bonifacio as CEO and Announces Closing of Private Placement
April 15 2019 - 6:30AM
Kerr Mines Inc. (TSX:
KER, OTC: KERMF, FRA: 7AZ1) (“Kerr” or the
“Company”) is very pleased to announce that Mr. Giulio T.
Bonifacio has assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer in
addition to his current role as Director. As part of this
transition, Mr. Claudio Ciavarella will assume the role of
Executive Vice Chairman and will work closely with Mr. Bonifacio to
advance the Company’s Copperstone Mine project to production.
Mr. Bonifacio was the Founder, President and
Director of Nevada Copper since its inception in 2005 until his
retirement in 2018. Over this 13-year period, he led and
directed efforts at every stage of Nevada Copper’s development
which included resource expansion, feasibility studies, successful
permitting of both the underground and open pit deposits and the
initial construction phase at the Pumpkin Hollow project located in
Nevada. Pumpkin Hollow is currently targeted to commence production
in Q4 2019.
Over his 30 years of experience in senior
executive roles in the mining industry, Mr. Bonifacio has raised
directly over US$500 million in capital through equity and project
debt financings for projects of merit as well as being involved in
corporate transactions aggregating in excess of US$1 billion. Mr.
Bonifacio is a Chartered Professional Accountant with extensive
experience and knowledge of operations, project finance, capital
markets and mergers and acquisitions.
Giulio T. Bonifacio, Chief Executive Officer
stated: “I look forward to working with the Board and Management to
advance Copperstone to commercial production in the near term.
Copperstone is well advanced with permits, 14,000 feet of
underground development, an existing 600 ton/day mill and
infrastructure, all of which will lead to very manageable capital
requirements while also allowing for a shortened construction
period. I am also very excited about the multi-million ounce
exploration potential of the project which has not been fully
tested and explored.”
Fahad al Tamimi, Chairman stated “I would like
to welcome the appointment of Mr. Bonifacio as our Chief Executive
Officer. Giulio has the knowledge, experience and belief in
this project to lead us forward and take the next important steps
to achieving our strategic objectives.”
“I would like to thank Mr. Ciavarella for his
dedication to advancing the Company over the past two years, the
Company has taken great strides during this time. We look
forward to Claudio’s continued involvement as a Board member and
major shareholder of the Company.”
Private PlacementThe Company
has completed a non-brokered private placement offering of
3,350,000 units of the Company (“Units”) at a
price of CDN$0.14 per Unit for gross proceeds of CDN$469,000 (the
“Offering”). Mr. Bonifacio subscribed for
3,000,000 Units of the Offering and Peter Damouni, a director of
the Company, subscribed for 350,000 Units of the Offering.
Each Unit consists of one common share of the
Company (a “Common Share”) and one Common Share
purchase warrant (a “Warrant”). Each Warrant
entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price
of CDN$0.21 per Common Share until April 15, 2021 provided that if,
at any time the Common Shares trade on a stock exchange at a volume
weighted average trading price of CDN$0.30, or greater, per Common
Share for a period of 20 consecutive trading days, the Company may
accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the
holders thereof and in such case the Warrants will expire on the
30th day after the date on which such notice is given by the
Company.
The securities issued and issuable pursuant to
the Offering will be subject to a four month and one day statutory
hold period. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the
Offering for continued mineral exploration and development and for
general working capital purposes.
The securities offered have not been registered
under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S.
Securities Act”), or applicable state securities laws, and may not
be offered or sold to persons in the United States absent
registration or an exemption from such registration requirements.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the
securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or
sale would be unlawful.
The issuance and sale of Units under the
Offering to Mr. Bonifacio and Mr. Damouni, as insiders of the
Company, constituted related party transactions within the meaning
of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security
Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”). The
Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and
minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained
in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market
value of the participation in the Offering by each insider will not
exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as
determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a
material change report in respect of the related party transaction
at least 21 days before the closing of the Offering, which the
Company deems reasonable in the circumstances so as to be able to
avail itself of the proceeds of the Offering in an expeditious
manner.
About Kerr Mines Inc.Kerr Mines
is an Emerging American Gold Producer currently advancing the 100%
owned, fully permitted past-producing Copperstone Mine project to
production. Copperstone is a high-grade gold project located along
a detachment fault mineral belt in mining-friendly Arizona. This
gold project in Arizona demonstrates tremendous exploration
potential targeting multi-million ounce targets within a 50 square
kilometer (12,260 acres) land package.
For further information
contact:Claudio Ciavarella Executive Vice
Chairmancciavarella@kerrmines.com 416-855-9305
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward
Looking StatementsThis news release contains
forward-looking statements, including current expectations of the
commencement of production and the rate of production, if commenced
and exploration potential. 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.