Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. September 22, 2008. The Directors of Columbus Silver Corporation (CSC-TSX-V) (the "Company" or "Columbus Silver") are pleased to announce the completion of the Company's Initial Public Offering ("IPO") and expected commencement of trading of the Company's shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") under the symbol CSC on Tuesday September 23, 2008.
Columbus Silver Corporation has a multi-disciplined management team with a strong background in resource company development, years of experience in the mining industry and an exceptional record of discovery and successful mine development. Exploration and project generative activities are carried out exclusively for Columbus Silver by Cordilleran Exploration Company (Cordex ). Cordex is owned by John Livermore and Andy Wallace, perhaps the two most recognized and successful geologists in Nevada and arguably all of the United States. Columbus Silver controls a 100% interest in 5 silver properties in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, including the Silver Dome Property located in Utah where sampling has yielded grades up to 2,700 grams per tonne (79.8 opt) silver in outcrop and where a phase I drilling program is planned to commence in October 2008. The Company's Silver District Property in Arizona hosts a historical resource of 17,500,000 ounces of silver. Three major vein systems, with collective strike lengths of more than 12 kilometers (8 miles), provide good potential for resource expansion. The historic resource is not NI 43-101 compliant and a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as a current mineral resource. They should not be relied upon and Columbus Silver does not treat them as current mineral resources.
The IPO has resulted in the Company issuing 7,209,000 units at a price of $0.25 per unit for gross proceeds of $1,802,250. Each unit consists of one common share and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant entitling the holder to acquire an additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.70 for a period of 18 months from completion of the IPO.
Completion of the IPO follows the filing and acceptance of the Company's Amended and Restated Prospectus (the "Prospectus") by the Exchange and by the British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario Securities Commissions. The Prospectus is dated August 22, 2008 and may be viewed on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com/) under the Company's profile.
Union Securities Ltd. acted as the agent (the "Agent ") for the offering, and in connection with the offering the Agent and certain selling agents received a cash commission of $153,191.25, agent's warrants to purchase 720,900 common shares at a price of $0.25 per share exercisable for a period of 18 months from completion of the IPO and a corporate finance fee of $25,000. The Company's Transfer Agent is Computershare Investor Services Inc.
The net proceeds of the offering will in part be used for exploration on the Company's Silver Dome Project and to provide working capital for ongoing operations, which include mineral rights acquisitions, exploration and general working capital expenses.
Following completion of the IPO there are 11,209,000 common shares issued and outstanding, of which 4,000,000 shares are held in escrow in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Effective September 23, 2008, the Company has also granted incentive stock options to directors, officers, consultants and employees to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,240,000 common shares at a price of $0.25 per common share expiring five years from completion of the IPO.
The current directors and officers of the Company are: Robert F. Giustra, President & CEO and Director; Kenneth P. Judge, Chairman and Director; Gil Atzmon, Director; Don Gustafson, Director; Sean McGrath, CFO; and Jacqueline Collins, Corporate Secretary.
Andy Wallace is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) with the American Institute of Professional Geologists and is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. Mr. Wallace is a partner of Cordilleran Exploration Company (Cordex), which is conducting exploration and project generation activities for Columbus Silver.
For further information, please refer to the Company's Prospectus or visit the Company's website at http://www.columbussilvercorp.com/.