Integra Gold Appoints George Salamis as VP Corporate Development, Mobilizes Fifth Drill Rig
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 3, 2014) - Integra Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ICG) ("Integra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has appointed Mr. George Salamis, P.Geo, as VP Corporate Development to assist the Company as it looks to transition from exploration to development at its Lamaque Gold Project in Val-d'Or, Québec.
Mr. Salamis is a geologist with over 25 years of international experience in the mining industry in gold, base metals, coal and uranium. He spent 12 years working with major mining companies, specifically Placer Dome Inc. and Cameco Corp., in various exploration and corporate roles all over the world. Over the last 14 years, Mr. Salamis has been involved, either as a co-founder or in an executive capacity, in five significant Merger and Acquisition transactions valued at over $1 billion. Over the course of his career, he has developed a network of international mining, investment banking and institutional investment contacts and has participated in capital raisings totaling over $850 million (USD).
More specifically as it relates to Integra's focus on its gold assets in Québec, Mr. Salamis was raised in Québec, is a graduate of the Université de Montréal - École Polytechnique, and spent 6 years living in Val-d'Or, Québec where he worked for the Placer Dome exploration department at the Sigma Gold Mine. The Sigma mine produced over 4.5 million ounces and is located immediately north and adjacent to the Lamaque Project.
"Having worked with our entire senior management team previously in his career, and currently as a valued member of our Board of Directors, Mr. Salamis is an ideal candidate for this role. With his extensive knowledge of mining financial markets, ties to the Quebec mining scene and considerable experience as a mine development professional, Mr. Salamis is set to make a significant contribution to the Integra executive team as the Company continues to grow," noted company President and CEO Stephen de Jong.
Geotechnical Drilling
The Company also announces it has commenced a geotechnical drill program at the Lamaque Project. The Company is fully committed to an accelerated exploration and development schedule and will continue to undertake initiatives that de-risk the project, much like the recently announced drill hole cementation program. Knowledge gained from geotechnical drilling will allow the Company's engineers to begin planning the construction of ramps and other infrastructure necessary for underground exploration that could potentially commence as early as 2015.
A drill rig specializing in this type of drilling has been mobilized to the site, bringing the total number of drills operating at Lamaque to five. Of the four other drill rigs operating on the Lamaque project, three are diamond drills rigs conducting infill drilling and testing for extensions of mineralization in and around the high-grade Triangle Zone. The fourth drill rig is cementing historic drill holes on the property in preparation for underground exploration.
Geotechnical drilling is essential for the safe and efficient design, construction and use of underground access points. The drilling aims to identify existing rock mass characteristics that would help in designing underground access while identifying potential hazards that could compromise the integrity of future ramps and underground workings. Data from this program will be analyzed by the Company's engineers as well as by Golder Associates who are managing the program for Integra. The program will start on the Triangle Zone before moving to the Parallel, No. 4 Plug and Fortune zones.
"This program is yet another example of the Company's commitment to advancing the Lamaque Gold Project rapidly towards production. Our objective is to be Québec's next gold mine and in order to meet that goal it is imperative that the Company initiates certain de-risking initiatives, such as geotechnical drilling and drill hole cementing, to ensure that the project is being advanced in a safe and timely fashion," commented Integra President and CEO Stephen de Jong.
The drilling is being carried out by Orbit Garant Drilling Inc. from Val-d'Or (TSX:OGD) and is expected to take 2 months to complete. Approximately 2,000 meters of drilling will take place in this phase 1 geotechnical program on the Lamaque Project; it is expected that additional phases of geotechnical drilling will be required in the future.
Project and Company Profile
Integra's Lamaque gold project is located in the heart of the Val-d'Or gold camp in the Province of Québec, Canada, approximately 550 km northwest of Montréal. Québec is rated one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Infrastructure, human resources and mining expertise are readily available.
The Company's primary objective is to continue to prove up additional resources while advancing the existing resource towards production. The project is divided into three main clusters of mineralization, the North, South and West Cluster. The North Cluster consists of the Parallel, Fortune, No. 5 Plug, and No. 3 Mine zones and is located approximately 1 km from the South Cluster, which includes the No. 4 Plug, Triangle and Triangle South zones. The Sixteen Zone and No. 6 Vein form the West Cluster.
Qualified Persons
The Lamaque exploration project is under the direct supervision of Hervé Thiboutot, Eng. and Senior Vice-President of the company, and Francois Chabot, Eng. and Operations and Engineering Manager of the Company, both Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and Alain-Jean Beauregard, P.Geo., Daniel Gaudreault, Eng., Geo. of Géologica Inc., both independent QP as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The Company's QPs have reviewed the technical content of this release.
Quality Assurance - Quality Control ("QA/QC")
Thorough QA/QC protocols are followed on the project including insertion of duplicate, blank and standard samples in all drill holes. The core samples are submitted directly to ALS Laboratory Group and Bourlamaque Labs in Val-d'Or for preparation and analysis. Analysis is conducted on 1 assay-ton aliquots. Analysis of Au is performed using fire assay method with atomic absorption finish, with a gravimetric finish completed for samples exceeding 5 g/t Au, or a metallic sieve assay for samples containing visible gold. When available the gravimetric or metallic sieve assay results are used for the reported composite intervals.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stephen de Jong, CEO & President
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements:
No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained on this presentation. This presentation contains "forward-looking information" concerning Integra Gold Corp.'s ("Integra" or the "Company") future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "seeks", "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "continues", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "projects", "predicts", "proposes", "potential", "targets" and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "could", "would", "should" or "might" "be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements included in this presentation include statements regarding potential mineralization and mineral resources, the proposed mining scenario for the South Lamaque Gold Project, including information with respect to the supporting infrastructure, the potential life of mine, rates of employment and the effects of steps taken to mitigate local impacts and the expected completion dates of exploration and drilling, exploration results, estimated and future exploration and administration expenditures, the completion of scoping studies, preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility or feasibility studies, and future plans and objectives of Integra. While all forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties, these statements are based on certain assumptions that management of Integra believes are reasonable, including that it will be able to obtain financing and on reasonable terms, that its current exploration and other objectives can be achieved, that its exploration and other activities will proceed as expected, that its community and environmental impact procedures will work as anticipated, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that Integra will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure or shortage of equipment, and that all necessary government approvals for its planned exploration and potential development activities will be obtained in a timely manner and on acceptable terms.
There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Integra's expectations include, among others, the actual results of current exploration activities being different than those anticipated by Integra, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, changes in estimated mineral resources, future prices of metals, increased costs of labor, equipment or materials, availability of equipment, failure of equipment to operate as anticipated, accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena, risks related to community relations and activities of stakeholders, and delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing. Although Integra has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Integra does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.