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Geovic Mining Corp. (TSX:GMC - News; OTCBB:GVCM - News; "Geovic" or the "Company") today announced
changes in senior management positions and the appointment of new officers.
"Jack Sherborne,
our current President and Chief Executive Officer, recently experienced a
mild stroke. We are pleased to report that he is expected to make a full
recovery, however, due to numerous challenges ahead, Jack has agreed with the
Board to relinquish some of his responsibilities, including the roles of
President and CEO, while at the same time agreeing to take on a new role in
charge of our New Ventures Division," said Wade Nesmith, Chairman of the
Board.
Michael Mason, currently a director of
the Company, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer; Barbara Filas, the Company's Chief Administrative Officer and
Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, will become President; and
Timothy Arnold, most recently General Manager of General Moly,
Inc. in Eureka, Nevada, has joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer.
Throughout his professional career, Mr.
Mason has been involved with metals sales and purchases. For the last few
years he has been leading the efforts of Geovic on
behalf of Geovic Cameroon PLC, (GeoCam)
the Company's 60.5% owned subsidiary that controls the Nkamouna
cobalt-nickel-manganese project in Cameroon, as they move forward to
negotiate offtake agreements for GeoCam's future metals production and to identify and
meet with potential strategic partners for the project. As CEO, Mr. Mason
will primarily be focused on these efforts going forward. Mr. Mason operates a private minerals consulting business and presently also
serves as a director of several other public resource companies.
Barbara Filas,
as President of Geovic, will assume responsibility
for day-to-day activities, including leading the Company's initiative to
advance the Nkamouna project to development. Before
joining the Company in February 2009, Ms. Filas was
President of the U.S. practice of Knight Piesold
and Co., an international civil, geotechnical and environmental engineering
consulting firm. "The Board joins me in welcoming Barb to this new role.
Over the past two years with Geovic, Barb has
demonstrated an ability to execute on initiatives and, together with Jack Sherborne and Greg Hill, our Chief Financial Officer, has
furthered our strong relationship with Societe Nationale D'Investissement du
Cameroon (SNI)," said Mr. Nesmith.
The Company is also pleased to announce
the appointment of Timothy Arnold as Chief Operating Officer, replacing David
Beling, who has retired. Mr. Arnold graduated with
a B.S. in Mining Engineering from the University of Idaho in 1982, and brings
to Geovic a distinguished career in engineering and
management with well-known mining companies such as Coeur D'Alene Mines,
Hecla Mining, and Barrick Gold. Most recently, he
managed the Mt. Hope and Liberty molybdenum projects for General Moly Inc. in Nevada. In addition to his diverse corporate
experience, Mr. Arnold has held a variety of roles and directorships for
numerous mining and trade associations, including the Society for Mining,
Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), the Nevada Mining Association, the Mackay
School of Mines, and the Resource Development Council for Alaska.
"These are important developments for
the Company as it advances the Nkamouna project.
The next year will be critical for us and we are pleased to be moving into
2011 with a realigned and augmented management team. Our key focus is to
finalize the Feasibility Study Update and move forward toward identifying and
executing the best plan to finance and develop the Nkamouna
project," said Mr. Nesmith. "We are encouraged by the strong
support of our partner, SNI and the Government of Cameroon. This project is
of key strategic importance to Cameroon and we are determined to lead this
project to fruition. Mike, Barb, and Tim will play key roles in this
effort."
As noted, Mr. Sherborne
has agreed to take on a new role as President of the Company's New Ventures
Division. In this role he will work closely with William A. Buckovic, the Company's Founder, as they continue to
initiate and review strategic exploration and development assets on behalf of
the Company.
"We recognize the importance to Geovic shareholders of our new ventures asset
portfolio," added Mr. Nesmith. "The identification of Nkamouna and its potential is largely due to the
exploration expertise of Bill Buckovic. Over the
past 2 years, Bill has identified and acquired other strategic exploration
assets and I am pleased that Jack has agreed to lead that important
initiative on behalf of the Company. Current assets in this portfolio include
a chromite-rich mineral sands project in New
Caledonia, a grass-roots gold prospect in Arizona, uranium properties with
in-situ development potential in Colorado and Wyoming and a recently staked
heavy rare earths prospect in New Mexico."
Geovic Mining Background
Geovic is a U.S.-based corporation whose
principal asset is 60.5% ownership of a significant cobalt-nickel-manganese
deposit in the Republic of Cameroon, Africa. Additional Company initiatives
and project information may be found on the websites www.geovicenergy.com,
www.sedar.com,
and www.sec.gov.
For more information, please go to www.geovic.net.
On behalf of the Board
Wade Nesmith, Chairman
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press
release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements (within
the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) that involve risks and
uncertainties. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of words such as "proposes", "expects",
"is expected", "scheduled", "estimated",
"intends", or variations of such words and phrases or statements
that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors
which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the
Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such
risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to exploration
activities and operations; actual results of current exploration activities;
conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans
continue to be refined; future prices of metals; possible variations in ore
reserves, grades, or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes
to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes, other risks of the mining
industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the
completion of development or construction activities and other factors as
described in detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. There can be no
assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in
this press release speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not
undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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