Performance Improvement Program Underway at Bear Creek Mining's Mercedes Gold Mine
Vancouver, September 6, 2022 - Bear Creek Mining Corp. (TSXV: BCM) (OTCQX: BCEKF) (BVL: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged Unison Mining Consulting Pte. Ltd. ("Unison") to design and Renoir Management Corporation ("Renoir") to implement a 32-week performance improvement program at the Company's Mercedes gold mine in Sonora, Mexico. The program will cost US$ 2.15 M and will be completed in January 2023. The planned improvements are to re-open closed mining areas to achieve production rates of over 70,000 Au ozs per year and reduce costs.
The Company has entered into arm's length service agreements with Renoir and Unison. Up to US$ 850,000 of services provided by Unison may, subject to final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V"), be paid in common shares of the Company. The shares are to be issued in tranches upon the Company's receipt of Unison invoices for completed services. The number of shares to be issued for services will be calculated by converting US dollar invoice amounts into Canadian dollars at the then Bank of Canada exchange rate and dividing the result by the closing price of the Company's shares on the TSX-V on the completion date.
As of September 2, 2022 invoices totaling US$ 318,750 have been received under the Unison agreement and Bear Creek (subject to TSX-V approval) will issue 555,083 shares for such work (having deemed prices per share of CAD$0.74 for 186,196 of the shares, CAD$0.89 for 154,409 of the shares and CAD$0.65 for 214,478 of the shares).
Eric Caba, President and COO of Bear Creek states, "I am excited about the participation of Unison and Renoir at Mercedes. Their previous analysis of potential improvements identified several opportunities for productivity improvements and cost reductions at Mercedes. We enthusiastically engaged them for this implementation phase. Their expertise and experience will help improve the long-term performance of the mine."
Krishna Paupamah, CEO of Renoir Group comments, "For over two decades we have successfully completed many mine design and implementation projects throughout the world. After completing an opportunity review for Mercedes and understanding Bear Creek management's vision and commitment, we see the huge potential for improvement in Mercedes. Consequently, we are eager to not only implement the Mercedes optimization program but to participate as shareholders in the growth and the benefits from this project and hopefully others in Bear Creek's future."
Call Options
On July 29, 2022, Bear Creek announced that it issued a one-year US $5 million promissory note (the "Note") to Auramet International LLC ("Auramet"). Concurrently, the Company granted gold call options to Auramet. Each option is for 625 ounces with a $1,975 strike price and may be exercised on April 26, 2023, July 27, 2023, October 27, 2023, and December 27, 2023.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Anthony Hawkshaw
Chief Executive Officer
For further information contact:
Barbara Henderson - VP Corporate Communications
Direct: 604-628-1111
E-mail: barb@bearcreekmining.com
www.bearcreekmining.com
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding: the timing, completion date, scope, potential benefits and potential outcomes of the Mercedes performance improvement program; future annual Mercedes production rates; the potential dollar value of services performed by Unison that may be paid by way of shares for services; the total number of shares for services that will ultimately be issued; the granting of required TSX-V approvals; potential operational performance improvements that may result from the Mercedes performance improvement program; the potential exercise of the Auramet call options; and other statements regarding future plans, expectations, exploration potential, guidance, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts as well as the Company's expectations with respect to such matters. These forward-looking statements are provided as of the date of this news release, or the effective date of the documents referred to in this news release, as applicable, and reflect predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events based on the Company's beliefs at the time the statements were made, as well as various assumptions made by and information currently available to them. In making the forward-looking statements included in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to: the TSX-V approval of the Unison share for services agreement; and that unforeseen factors will not impede the benefits of the Mercedes performance improvement program or the anticipated performance of the Mercedes mine. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions on which they are based do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the expectations expressed in them. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions expressed above do not occur, but specifically include, without limitation, risks relating to general market conditions and the additional risks described in the Company's latest Annual Information Form, and other disclosure documents filed by the Company on its SEDAR page at www.sedar.com. The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. Investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on behalf of the Company, except as required by law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136060