– CANADA, ON – Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:WDO), today announced upcoming changes to the Board of Directors.
At the Company’s upcoming 2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Charles Page will retire as Chairman and director and will not stand for re-election. In addition, Rowland Uloth will also be retiring from the Board and will not stand for re-election at the AGM.
Pursuant to the Board’s succession plan, following the AGM and pending his re-election to the Board, Warwick Morley-Jepson will be appointed as the new independent Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Morley-Jepson has more than 35 years experience in the mining industry within operations, project and business development in the precious metal sector. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Kinross Gold Corporation from October 2014 to December 2016, and as Senior Vice President, Operations, and Vice President and Regional Vice President – Russia, between October 2009 and October 2014. Prior to joining Kinross, Mr. Morley-Jepson served as Chief Executive Officer of SUN Gold, a privately-held gold mining company with interests in Russia and Kazakhstan. Prior to that he was Managing Director of Barrick Africa, Barrick Platinum South Africa and three Russian-based companies in the Barrick group, and spent several years with Placer Dome leading their South African project and business development efforts. Mr. Morley-Jepson graduated in the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technicon Witwatersrand, now part of the University of Johannesburg. Mr. Morley-Jepson has been an independent director of the Board since June 2017.
Mr. Page commented, “During my tenure as a director and then Chair of Wesdome in 2015, the Company has seen steady production growth at the Eagle River Mine as a result of operational improvements and exploration success from the aggressive programs launched. Since 2016, the cash flow this asset generates has financed all exploration and development at the Kiena Complex, which has uncovered a new high-grade gold system that is being considered for a mine re-start. As the Company transitions from a junior to intermediate gold producer, the time has come to hand the reins over to Warwick Morley-Jepson. His extensive knowledge, skills and experience as a mine operator positions him well to assume the Chair role as the Company enters this new stage. I am tremendously proud of the achievements of Wesdome to date. The Company has established solid operational performance, exploration successes, and delivered excellent shareholder returns along the way. With this progress, there remains much upside, and I look forward to continuing with the Company as a technical advisor. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our shareholders for their confidence and trust during my tenure as Chair.”
Mr. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO, added, “On behalf of the Board and management, I would like to thank both Charlie and Rolly for their many years of service and valuable contributions to the Company. Their knowledge, commitment, and guidance have contributed greatly to the success of Wesdome and our vision of becoming Canada’s next mid-tier gold producer.”
In connection with the AGM, the Company announced that the Governance and Nominating Committee has recommended, and the Board of Directors has approved, six director nominees, including new independent director nominee Brian Skanderbeg.
About Brian Skanderbeg
Mr. Skanderbeg has been the founding President and CEO of GFG Resources Inc. since July 2016. Previously, he was President and CEO of Claude Resources Inc. which was acquired by SSRM Inc. for $337 million in June of 2016. He joined CRJ in March 2007 as Exploration Manager, before assuming the roles of Vice-President of Exploration and Chief Operating Officer. He also worked for Goldcorp Inc., Inco Ltd. and Helio Resources Corp., holding positions in both exploration and operations. Mr. Skanderbeg holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Manitoba and an M.Sc. in Exploration Geology from Rhodes University, South Africa. He brings extensive experience in the exploration and evaluation of gold systems, operational management, cost and asset optimization and strategic analysis. He has been a licensed professional geologist in the Province of Saskatchewan since 2007.
In addition to Mr. Skanderbeg who will stand for election at the AGM, Charles Main, Duncan Middlemiss, Nadine Miller, Warwick Morley-Jepson and Bill Washington will stand for re-election.
About Wesdome Gold Mines
Wesdome Gold Mines has had over 30 years of continuous gold mining operations in Canada. The Company is 100% Canadian focused with a pipeline of projects in various stages of development. The Eagle River Complex in Wawa, Ontario is currently producing gold from two mines, the Eagle River Underground Mine and the Mishi Open pit, from a central mill. Wesdome is actively exploring its brownfields asset, the Kiena Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec. The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930-metre shaft and 2,000 tonne-per-day mill. The Company has further upside at its Moss Lake gold deposit, located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Company has approximately 135.8 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “WDO”.
For more information : https://www.wesdome.com
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