|
AXMIN Inc. (TSX Venture: AXM) announce the appointment of Mr. Graham Hill to the position of Chief Operating Officer (“COO”).
The appointment is another major milestone for AXMIN on the road to mine development, and is key to maintaining momentum at Passendro as the Company advances the debt facility negotiations. As AXMIN’s COO, Mr. Hill will lead AXMIN’s current project team. He is responsible for all operational and development activities relating to the construction, commissioning and project operation of the Company’s Passendro Gold Mine in Central African Republic. Mr. Hill, a Mechanical Engineer, has over 25 years of experience in the mining industry building and operating major gold, coal and mineral sands projects in Africa and Central Asia. His expertise includes senior level technical and project development positions, primarily in the gold sector. He has been integral in the technical and financial planning, construction and ongoing mine management for many successful projects. Most recently, Mr. Hill was involved in the development of Oxus Resources Amantaytau Goldfields Project in Uzbekistan and Jerooy Gold Project in Kyrgyzstan. Previously, Graham worked at Anglo American Corporation on various senior operation levels including, Project Manager for the Sadiola and Yatela Gold Mines in Mali, Project Area Manager for Namakwa Minerals Sands Project and Project Engineer for its Coal Division both located in South Africa. President and CEO of AXMIN, Mr. George Roach, comments on the appointment, “We welcome Graham to AXMIN and look forward to his contribution in the development of Central African Republic’s first modern gold mine. Graham’s hands on experience in building large-scale open pit mines in Africa will significantly strengthen and complement AXMIN’s existing project development team. As he assumes responsibility for moving Passendro forward toward production, Graham’s expertise in mine operation and development will be invaluable in meeting our goals of commissioning in 2013. AXMIN is making good progress on the debt facility negotiations. The Company, with the assistance of Endeavour Financial, has been working diligently and extensively with several banking consortiums and export credit insurance agencies for the arrangement of a debt facility, potentially up to 66% of the capital costs required to develop Passendro. We expect the Independent Engineers Report, the lenders technical due diligence, to be completed this quarter. As well, we are hopeful that we will be in a position to make a public announcement on potential debt providers in the near future.” Graham Hill, AXMIN newly appointed COO, comments, “I am excited to be joining AXMIN at this critical juncture in the Company’s growth, and I look forward to working with the project team. Passendro is a strong project, both technically and economically. Throughout my career, I have gained useful and transferable operational expertise on similar projects in the African environment that can assist AXMIN in expediting the development of Passendro. So, I gladly welcome the challenge of building this mine.” Stock options for 3,500,000 common shares of the Company were granted to Mr. Graham Hill in respect of his appointment as COO, exercisable at C$0.10, each expiring on May 7, 2016. These stock options have been granted in accordance with the Company’s Stock Option Plan (2005). Immediately following this award, the Company had on issue and outstanding stock options for 32,050,000 common shares of the Company and there were 30,753,973 common shares of the Company available for future grant |
