MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Jan. 28, 2013) - Serge Savard, Chairman of the Board of MDN Inc. (News - Market indicators) ("MDN"), is pleased to announce a corporate restructuring of MDN in connection with its exploration activities and the future development of the Crevier project.(CMI)
For 2013, the Company will focus all of its exploration efforts on Tanzania, primarily the Ikungu gold project. The Crevier niobium-tantalum project will be developed through Crevier Minerals Inc. (CMI), a private company 72.5% owned by MDN and 27.5% by Niobec Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iamgold Corporation.
"This reorganization was called for given the extremely difficult market for junior exploration companies that have restricted access to capital for more than two years," Mr. Savard mentioned that this will allow us to better allocate our current human and financial resources while reducing overall administrative expenses significantly. We will very carefully use a portion of our cash to continue exploring in Tanzania, but MDN will no longer provide funding for the Crevier project development, which will now come from other sources. Payroll, including directors' compensation, have been cut by about 40% at the beginning of the third quarter of 2012. As of December 31, 2012, MDN had approximately $3.5 million in cash and no debt."
Appointment of a New President and Chief Executive Officer
The MDN management team will be restructured to support the business plan. Serge Bureau, who currently acts as President and Chief Executive Officer for both MDN and CMI, will relinquish the presidency of MDN February 1, 2013, but retains the presidency of CMI and will focus solely on CMI's development. His goals will be to:
- Structure a private financing for CMI to complete the Crevier Project feasibility study currently underway
- Once the feasibility study is completed, set up the technical team required to develop the project
- Manage and coordinate an initial public offering of MCI, if possible.
Serge Bureau will report to the MCI Board of Directors, which consists of three representatives of MDN and two of IAMGOLD. As the president of MCI, a MDN-controlled subsidiary, Mr. Bureau will remain a director of MDN due to his technical experience and expertise required to follow through with the completion of the feasibility study on the Crevier project.
As of February 1, 2013, Marc Boisvert, Ing currently Vice President, Exploration of MDN, will become the President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of MDN. Marc has over 25 years experience in mineral exploration, 12 of which spent in Tanzania, and he has an excellent understanding of the country's geological and operational setting. Before joining MDN, Marc gained solid experience with major international mining companies like Barrick Gold, Noranda and Inmet. His mandate will be to oversee the general management of MDN and the administration of all our activities in Tanzania. He will also be responsible for finding strategic partners or external funding needed to develop our exploration projects properly. He will focus his efforts on the Ikungu, Ikungu East, Nikonga and Isambara projects, which we consider to be our best gold assets in Tanzania. Marc Boisvert will be supported in his new role by a team of experienced Tanzanian geologists and technicians assigned exclusively to exploration in Tanzania, as well as by Yves Therrien, MDN's Chief Financial Officer."
"I wish to thank Serge Bureau for his unflagging efforts since 2010 in a very difficult economic climate for junior exploration companies," concluded Serge Savard. "We wish Marc and Serge every success in developing our business."
Serge Savard, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MDN Inc.
About MDN
MDN Inc. (News - Market indicators) is a mining exploration and development company with properties in Quebec and Tanzania. MDN has a 30% working interest in the Tulawaka producing gold mine in Tanzania, along with many other promising gold exploration projects. In Quebec, MDN has a 72.5% interest in Crevier Minerals Inc., which owns an NI 43-101 niobium-tantalum resource that is presently the subject of a feasibility study.
Forward-Looking Statements Other than statements of historical fact, all statements in this release that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements are discussed in greater detail in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR, which also provides additional general assumptions in connection with these statements. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's forward-looking statements should carefully consider the factors mentioned in the Annual Information Form, as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. The Company 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 as such, the forward-looking statements 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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