TORONTO and NEW YORK, May 6,
2019 /PRNewswire/ --
(TSX: MPVD) (NASDAQ: MPVD)
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPVD)
(NASDAQ: MPVD) today announces upcoming changes to its Board of
Directors ("Board").
At the Company's 2019 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of
Shareholders, Tom Peregoodoff,
William Lamb, and Brett
Desmond will be joining the Board pursuant to election. To
accommodate these additions, Bruce
Dresner, Carl Verley, and
Peeyush Varshney will step down from
the Board following the Company's AGM of Shareholders and will not
stand for re-election.
Jonathan Comerford, the Company's
Chairman commented: "We are very pleased to welcome Tom,
William, and Brett to the Board and look forward to their
contributions as we execute our strategy to deliver long-term value
to our shareholders. These changes demonstrate
the Board's commitment to the long term success of the Company and
the experience and expertise of the new board members in various
aspects of our business will ensure that we continue to maximize
the value of our quality assets. They join the Company at an
exciting time as the company continues with its transition to a
mature mid-tier mining company with a portfolio of high quality
assets in a great jurisdiction."
Mr. Comerford added: "On behalf of us all, I would like to
thank Bruce, Carl, and Peeyush for their long and dedicated service
to Mountain Province Diamonds. Under their leadership and support
the Company has successfully transitioned from a diamond explorer
into a significant diamond producer."
About the New Nominees
Mr. Tom Peregoodoff is currently
President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaizen Discovery
Incorporated, a gold/copper exploration company with assets in
Peru. Prior to that he joined
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. as Executive Vice President of business
development in 2012 before taking over as President and Chief
Executive Officer in early 2015. Tom has over 25 years of mining
and petroleum industry experience, including 18 years with BHP
Billiton with extensive knowledge in global exploration, operations
and business development. He served as Vice President, Exploration,
BHP Billiton and was accountable for global early-stage exploration
activities across all commodities from 2008 to 2011. Tom has held
several senior roles in BHP Billiton's exploration division in
commercial, operational and technical capacities. He is a Director
of Computational Geoscience Inc. and also served as Director of
Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc from February of 2014 until February 2015. Tom also holds a BSc. in
Geophysics from the University of
Calgary.
Mr. William Lamb brings over 25
years of experience in mining operations and project development to
Mountain Province Diamonds. In his most recent role, William served
as Chief Executive Officer of Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara") from
May 2011 to February 2018 before retiring from
Lucara. During that time, he played an integral role in taking
Lucara's flagship Karowe mine from feasibility through to a steady
state, world class, operating diamond mine. Under Lamb's
leadership, the Karowe mine evolved into one of the world's highest
margin diamond mines and the foremost producer of large, Type IIA
diamonds in excess of 10.8 carats, including the historic 1,109
carat Lesedi La Rona (second largest
gem diamond ever recovered) and the 813 carat Constellation (sold
for a record USD$63.1 million).
William has a NHD in Extraction Metallurgy for the Technicon of the
Witwatersrand, and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School.
Mr. Brett Desmond is a seasoned
investment professional with 20 years of experience in banking,
corporate finance, and asset management and his extensive
experience in capital markets and private investments adds a unique
skill set to the Company's board. In his most recent role, Brett
served as SVP of Corporate Development for Daon, a software
assurance company, whose clients include the US Government and
major US and global banks. Furthermore, he has been involved with a
number of successful private and public investments since returning
to Europe in 2014. Brett is also
the son of the Company's major shareholder, Dermot Desmond. Mr. Desmond has been a long time
supporter of Mountain Province Diamonds and over the past few
months, he has increased his position in the Company to just under
30%, and as a result, he has requested 2 nominees to the Board in
the upcoming election at the AGM; Mr. Jonathan Comerford, the Company's chairman, and
Brett. The Company views this as a sign of continued support and
assurance from the largest shareholder and strongly welcomes
Brett's addition to the Board. Brett holds a Bachelor of Commerce
from University College in Dublin.
2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
The Company invites shareholders to attend the AGM being held at
11:00AM EDT on Thursday, June
13th, 2019 at the offices of Bennett Jones on the 34th floor
of 1 First Canadian Place, Toronto,
Ontario, M5X 1A4. Shareholders of record as of the close of
business on May 3rd, 2019,
being the record date, will be eligible to vote at the meeting.
Complete details of the AGM are contained in the Company's 2019
Management Information Circular, which will be available on the
Company's website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on May 8th, 2019.
Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De
Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine located in Canada's Northwest Territories. Gahcho
Kué is the world's largest new diamond mine, consisting of a
cluster of various diamondiferous kimberlites, four of which are
being developed and mined under the current mine plan. The Company
also controls 67,164 hectares of highly prospective mineral claims
and leases immediately adjacent to the Gahcho Kué Mine that include
an indicated mineral resource at the Kelvin kimberlite and inferred
mineral resources for the Faraday kimberlites.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements"
and "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian and
United States securities laws
concerning the business, operations and financial performance and
condition of Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Forward-looking
statements and forward-looking information include, but are not
limited to, statements with respect to estimated production and
mine life of the project of Mountain
Province; the realization of mineral reserve estimates; the
timing and amount of estimated future production; costs of
production; the future price of diamonds; the estimation of mineral
reserves and resources; the ability to manage debt; capital
expenditures; the ability to obtain permits for operations;
liquidity; tax rates; and currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Except for statements of historical fact relating to
Mountain Province, certain
information contained herein constitutes forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently
characterized by words such as "anticipates," "may," "can,"
"plans," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects,"
"targets," "intends," "likely," "will," "should," "to be",
"potential" and other similar words, or statements that certain
events or conditions "may", "should" or "will" occur.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and
estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and
are based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of
risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. Many of these assumptions are
based on factors and events that are not within the control of
Mountain Province and there is no
assurance they will prove to be correct.
Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially
from results anticipated by such forward-looking statements include
variations in ore grade or recovery rates, changes in market
conditions, changes in project parameters, mine sequencing;
production rates; cash flow; risks relating to the availability and
timeliness of permitting and governmental approvals; supply of, and
demand for, diamonds; fluctuating commodity prices and currency
exchange rates, the possibility of project cost overruns or
unanticipated costs and expenses, labour disputes and other risks
of the mining industry, failure of plant, equipment or processes to
operate as anticipated.
These factors are discussed in greater detail in Mountain Province's most recent Annual
Information Form and in the most recent MD&A filed on SEDAR,
which also provide additional general assumptions in connection
with these statements. Mountain Province cautions that the foregoing
list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and
others who base themselves on forward-looking statements should
carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties
they represent and the risk they entail. Mountain Province 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 news release should not be unduly relied upon.
These statements speak only as of the date of this news
release.
Although Mountain Province
has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
actions, events or results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated,
estimated or intended. 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. Mountain Province undertakes no obligation to
update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's
estimates or opinions should change except as required by
applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may
also be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements to the
extent they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be
encountered as the property is developed.
Further, Mountain Province
may make changes to its business plans that could affect its
results. The principal assets of Mountain Province are administered pursuant to
a joint venture under which Mountain
Province is not the operator. Mountain Province is exposed to actions taken
or omissions made by the operator within its prerogative and/or
determinations made by the joint venture under its terms.
Such actions or omissions may impact the future performance of
Mountain Province. Under
its current note and revolving credit facilities Mountain Province is subject to certain
limitations on its ability to pay dividends on common stock.
The declaration of dividends is at the discretion of
Mountain Province's Board of
Directors, subject to the limitations under the Company's debt
facilities, and will depend on Mountain
Province's financial results, cash requirements, future
prospects, and other factors deemed relevant by the
Board.
For further information, please contact:
Stuart Brown, President and CEO
161 Bay Street, Suite 1410
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1
Phone: (416)361-3562
E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com
Keyvan Salehi, Investor
Relations
161 Bay Street, Suite 1410
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1
Phone: (416)361-3562
E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com