VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 27, 2012) - South American Silver Corp. (News - Market indicators)(PINKSHEETS:SOHAF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Matias Herrero as full-time Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of the Company. Mr. Herrero will be fulfilling an expanded CFO function, while William Filtness, South American Silver's previous part-time CFO will continue on with the Company as a consultant. The appointment of a full-time CFO has been a process that the Company's management, including Mr. Filtness, had been undertaking for several months as a result of the growth of the Company and Mr. Filtness' other professional commitments.
Mr. Herrero brings extensive experience serving in senior finance positions in Canadian publicly-listed mining companies with operations in South America and Africa. He most recently served as the CFO of a gold producer in South America. Mr. Herrero's experience includes international arbitration, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings and overseeing the financial reporting and regulatory compliance of international mining companies. Mr. Herrero holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is a Canadian Chartered Accountant and a U.S. Certified Public Accountant. He articled at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked with several Canadian and U.S. publicly-listed mining companies in the audit practice in Vancouver.
"We wish to welcome Matias to the company, and we are very pleased to have someone with Mr. Herrero's experience as a key member our management team" said Phillip Brodie-Hall, President and CEO. We would also like to thank Mr. Filtness for his past contributions to the Company, as well as those ongoing".
As announced on August 13, 2012, Mr. Brodie-Hall has been appointed interim President and CEO. Mr. Brodie-Hall is a professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the mining and mineral processing industries. He brings extensive mining project development experience to the Company, from a career that has covered every aspect of evaluation, feasibility study, development and operation. He has had first-hand experience with projects in Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle-East, Eurasia, and North and South America.
Mr. Brodie-Hall has been South American Silver's Chief Operating Officer since November 2011, before which he was a key member of the project development team on a consulting basis. Prior to his employment with South American Silver, Mr. Brodie-Hall served as Vice President of Project Development for Polymet Mining Corp. where he was responsible for the development aspects of the North Met poly-metallic project in Minnesota. He served as General Manager of Bateman Minerals & Metals and also held a number of management positions with Bateman, based in Australia and South Africa. As a Risk Management Executive he was responsible for risk assessments, and the development and implementation of appropriate project management plans.
Earlier in his expansive career with the Bateman Group, Phillip served as Project Manager for several mining projects in Australia including projects at the Boddington Gold Mine, Union Reefs Gold Mine and the Argyle Diamond Mine. Mr. Brodie-Hall holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, from Curtin University in Australia, and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Western Australia.
"I look forward to leading the team during this period of transition, said Mr. Brodie-Hall. "We look to expand activities at the Escalones project in Chile, to advance and grow this world class copper-gold deposit, and we are aggressively pursuing all options to maximize the value from the Malku Khota project in Bolivia for our shareholders. In a market that is very challenging for many companies to raise capital, we are in the unique position of pursuing new opportunities to sustain the project pipeline and realize value to shareholders, over the coming months."
Mr. Ralph Fitch, Chairman of the board stated, "We are pleased to welcome Matias to the Company as CFO, joining Phillip in his new position as CEO. Matias' experience makes him a great addition to the team working alongside Phillip who, as Chief Operating Officer, demonstrated great skill in running the Company's operations and I am confident that he has both the skill and insight to be a strong and effective CEO.
About South American Silver Corp.
South American Silver Corp. is a growth focused mineral exploration company creating value through the exploration and development of the large scale Escalones copper-gold project in Chile and the realization of value from the Malku Khota project in Bolivia. The Company's approach to business combines the team's track record of discovery and advancement of large projects, key operational and process expertise, and a focus on community relations and sustainable development. Management has extensive experience in the global exploration and mining industry. The Company's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SAC" and on the US OTC market as "SOHAF". Additional information related to South American Silver Corp. is available at www.soamsilver.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements
Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as "will", "expand", "maximize", " future", "ahead", "creating", "realization" and similar expressions. This release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements as the Company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors affect the Company's business, or if the Company's estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Therefore, the Company cannot provide any assurance that forward-looking statements will materialize. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, the political and economic climate in Bolivia including the attitudes and actions of the Bolivian government related to foreign investment in Bolivia; the international arbitration process; and risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Escalones project, including possible variations in mineral resources or grade; metal prices; availability of sufficient financing to fund further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; timely receipt of required permits; availability of equipment and qualified personnel; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; and other risks more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form filed and publicly available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the ability of the Company to realize value from its investments in Bolivia; the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Escalones project; the timely receipt of required permits for Escalones and execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for Escalones, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs. Subject to applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this release describe the Company's expectations as of August 27, 2012.
