Osisko Donates Shares to McGill University
MONTREAL, QC, December 22, 2009 - Osisko Mining
Corporation ("Osisko") (TSX:OSK)(FRANKFURT:EWX) and Robert Wares, Executive Vice
President, Chief Operating Officer and Founder of Osisko, are pleased to
announce a joint gift of common shares of the company to McGill
University in Montreal. The gift consists of 250,000 personal shares from
Mr. Wares and 250,000 treasury shares from Osisko, worth approximately
$4.1 million. Proceeds from these shares will go to the Department of
Earth and Planetary Sciences and will finance two new tenure-track
positions in economic geology (faculty scholars), as well as a permanent
program of fellowships, scholarships and field trip funding for students
enrolled in geological sciences. A portion of the gift will be matched by
McGi ll's McConnell Challenge Fund, created in 2008 by the J.W. McConnell
Family Foundation
"During the last mineral exploration boom, we had a
hard time finding geologists," explained Wares. "Earth sciences
departments across the country have been chronically underfunded for the
last fifteen years, some departments have even closed, and this has seriously
hindered student enrollment. I am interested in backing dynamic young
talent and encouraging students to enroll in earth sciences. New mineral
discoveries and the future of the Canadian mining industry depend on a
steady supply of qualified geologists, and I encourage the industry
leaders in this country to get more involved in supporting our
educational institutions."
Sean Roosen, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Osisko, stated "Geologists are key to the discovery of new mineral
deposits and are the backbone of the Canadian exploration industry.
Budget cut-backs and dwindling enrollments in earth science programs over
the past number of years have lead to a shortage of qualified exploration
geologists. If that trend continues it can only lead to the long-term
demise of the Canadian mining exploration business. The successful
discovery of Osisko's Canadian Malartic gold deposit is attributable to
Bob's expertise, which largely grew out of his training and association
with the earth sciences department at McGill University. To make such
world-class mineral discoveries and to ensure the future of our industry,
we need to encourage the tr aining of dynamic, creative geologists. We
hope that this gift of shares, which any public mining company can issue,
will motivate our peers in the industry to take up the challenge and get
involved in supporting the earth sciences departments at Canada's
educational institutions."
About Osisko
Osisko Mining Corporation is currently developing the
Canadian Malartic gold deposit and adjacent mineralized zones into a
large-scale open pit, bulk-tonnage mining operation. The Company is
well-funded with $825 M in cash resources and is carrying out an
aggressive mine development, reserve definition and exploration campaign.
The Canadian Malartic deposit currently represents one the biggest gold
reserves in Canada for a single deposit, and is still growing through
ongoing drilling on new mineralized zones. Current reserves for the
Canadian Malartic property are 6.28 million ounces with 183.3 Mt @ 1.07
g/t Au (proven reserves: 5.16 Mt @ 1.14 g/t Au, probable reserves: 178.2
Mt @ 1.06 g/t).
Forward Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this press release
may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in
this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address
events or developments that the Corporation expects to occur, are
forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements
that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always,
identified by the words "expects", "plans",
"anticipates", "believes", "intends",
"estimates", "projects", "potential",
"scheduled" and similar expressions, or that events or
conditions "will", "would", "may",
"could" or "should" occur. Although the Corporation
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, including, without limitation that
all technical, economical and financial conditions will be met in order
to put the Canadian Malartic Project into comm ercial production, such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results
may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors
that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include gold prices, access to skilled
consultants, mining development and mill production personnel, results
of exploration and development activities, the Corporation's limited
experience with production and development stage mining operations,
uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of
personnel, materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals,
actual performance of facilities, equipment and processes relative to
specifications and expectations, unanticipated environmental impacts on
operations market prices, continued availability of capital and
financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These
factors are discussed in greater detail in the Corporation' s most
recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR, which also provides
additional general assumptions in connection with these statements. The
Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is
not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on the
Corporation's forward-looking statements should carefully consider the
above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk
they entail. The Corporation believes that the expectations reflected
in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance
can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such
forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be
unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this
press release.
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