East Asia Minerals Announces Management Change
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/26/11 -- East Asia Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE: EAS) announces changes to its management structure, effective immediately. Michael Hawkins has resigned as CEO-President-Director of East Asia, and is replaced by Dr. Darryl Clark and Mr. Alex Granger. The Company also announces the recent acceptance by Edward Rochette as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of East Asia Minerals. These changes come at a time when the Miwah Gold Project is about to move from an exploration stage towards feasibility, and Mr. Hawkins and the BoD of East Asia Minerals have determined that the new management team is the appropriate one to take Miwah to the next level in this evolution. Mr. Hawkins will continue with East Asia Minerals as a consultant during this period of transition, and shall further assist the Company in the identification of new early stage opportunities.
The Company is extremely appreciative of Mr. Hawkins' many contributions to the Company and its success. Having joined East Asia Minerals in 2005, Mr. Hawkins brought in key value through his 30 years of exploration experience in Mongolia, PNG, Indonesia, Australia, North America and Latin America.
Mr. Hawkins is credited with bringing into the Company its successful portfolio of gold and copper projects in Indonesia, and uranium properties in Mongolia. During his tenure at the helm of East Asia Minerals since 2007, Mr. Hawkins validated the value of the uranium assets through the 2007 sale of a select portion of the uranium portfolio to a subsidiary of Areva NC, for a cash payment of CAD$83 million which was in turn distributed as a cash payment of CAD$1.30 per share to registered shareholders of East Asia Minerals.
Following this the Miwah project was successfully demonstrated to have multi-million ounce gold potential and resulted in an initial NI43-101 compliant resource estimate of over three million ounces gold, remaining open for expansion. Other achievements include delivery of nearly a million ounces of NI43-101 resource estimate gold at Sangihe which remains open for expansion, demonstrated potential for significant gold ounces at the Abong project, and demonstrated importance of the prolific Barisan porphyry cluster where East Asia drilling has encountered several important gold-copper intersections over hundreds of metres. In line with its strong corporate social responsibility philosophy, Mr. Hawkins recently engaged an agreement with Carbon Conservation Pty Ltd. having a focus to support the continued maintenance and preservation of the forests, communities and biodiversity in the Aceh conservation area with an emphasis on the conservation areas surrounding the Miwah project. In addition to these value creating accomplishments, Mr. Hawkins has built a strong management and technical team that will continue to focus on building shareholder value through technical excellence and sound business practices.
Dr. Darryl Clark - The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Darryl Clark (FAusIMM) as CEO-Director. Dr. Clark joined East Asia Minerals as VP Exploration August 2010 and has been instrumental in significantly advancing the Company's projects and business plans over the last year, including validating through NI43-101 compliance over 4 million ounces of gold at the Company's projects. Dr. Clark, a graduate of CODES, University of Tasmania, is a geologist whose work has taken him throughout the Australian, Central Asian and South East Asian regions over 17 years. For the 10 years prior to joining East Asia Minerals his work has seen him involved in a diverse range of technological, political and cultural environments with unique challenges. In line with the advancement of the Miwah Gold Project past its early exploration stage, Dr. Clark has had recent direct experience in the design and management of two feasibility studies, and offers abundant high level exposure to the development of major projects in developing countries.
During previous corporate roles with both Vale and BHP Billiton, and with consulting work (SRK), Dr. Clark has been responsible for focusing business development strategies and designing multi-commodity programs. These roles include: Country Manager, Vale Mongolia; General Manager, Vale Minerals Exploration Australasia; Geology Manager - MinEx BHP Billiton.
Mr. Alex Granger - The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alex Granger (B.Com, McGill University) as President. Mr. Granger joined East Asia Minerals as Vice President, Business Development, December 2010 and has since championed the spinout of Barisan Gold Corporation, and is in the process of completing the spinout of Sangihe Gold Corporation. Mr. Granger will bring appropriate high level business skills and enthusiasm to this role. Prior to joining East Asia Minerals, he spent twelve years in the investment banking industry covering the metals and mining sector. The last ten of those years were spent in the Asia Pacific region with CIBC World Markets covering companies based in East Asia and Australia. Mr. Granger has assisted companies in Asia raise in excess of $1 billion on the Toronto Stock Exchange and has advised both large and small Asian companies in cross border transactions.
Mr. Granger brings an extensive knowledge of the global capital markets to East Asia Minerals, having been based in Canada, the U.S., China, Australia and Hong Kong during his career as a metals and mining investment banker. He brings added synergies as the Company pushes forward with its continuing growth plans.
Mr. Edward Rochette - As part of the transition of the Company's Management Team and Board of Directors, the Company is pleased to announce the recent appointment and acceptance by Mr. Edward Rochette as Chairman of the Board of Directors of East Asia Minerals. Mr. Rochette joined the company May 2010 as a Director and has added significant depth to the Board with his extensive and expert international and legal background.
Mr. Rochette is an internationally known lawyer with 30 years of experience in the acquisition of mining rights, international business, land management and natural resource transactions. He has concluded mining transactions involving gold and other precious metals, uranium, iron ore, nickel, coal and oil & gas in Asia, Central Asia, Africa, North America and a number of countries in South America, as well as the Balkan and Scandinavian regions in Europe. Mr. Rochette works as a Partner with IBDA, a premier consulting firm in China conducting business in Beijing and other areas of the world, where his responsibilities include being the transaction specialist in the international mining sector. Previously he was Senior Vice President of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. This responsibility included the negotiation to acquire the world class Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project, Mongolia.
About East Asia Minerals Corporation
East Asia Minerals (TSX VENTURE: EAS) is an Asian-based, Canadian mineral exploration company with gold and copper exploration properties in Indonesia, and uranium exploration properties in Mongolia. In Indonesia the Company has a 70 to 85% interest in six advanced gold and gold-copper properties located in Aceh Province, Sumatra, and Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi. The Company owns seven uranium properties, including the advanced Ingiin-Nars, Ulaan Nuur and Enger uranium projects, and two phosphate properties in Mongolia. East Asia currently has 81,412,372 shares outstanding. Its shares are listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'EAS'.
Forward Looking Statements - This News Release contains forward looking information within the meaning of the British Columbia Securities Act, the Ontario Securities Act and the Alberta Securities Act, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with our expectations, metal recoveries, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters and surface access, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of new or updated feasibility studies, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations (including uranium, fuel, steel and construction items), currency fluctuations, failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and other risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, estimate and expect and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, are intended to identify forward looking statements relating to the business and affairs of the Company. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Contacts:
East Asia Minerals Corporation - Toronto
Nick Kohlmann
Corporate Communications
1-416-792-8734
Kohlmann@EAminerals.com
East Asia Minerals Corporation - Vancouver
Mark Patchett
Investor Relations
1-604-637-8154
patchett@eaminerals.com
www.EAminerals.com