Silver Bear Announces Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer and Power Generation Incentive Program
November 12 2018 - 11:03AM
Silver Bear Resources Plc (“Silver Bear” or the “Company”) (TSX:
SBR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vadim Ilchuk as
President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) to lead the Company
through its next phase as a silver producer. Mr. Ilchuk
succeeds Mr. Graham Hill who has announced his resignation
from the Company to pursue other opportunities. In addition,
Mr. Hill has resigned his seat on the Board of Directors (“Board”)
and Mr. Ilchuk has been appointed to the Board effective November
14, 2018. With the support of the Company’s strong finance team,
Mr. Ilchuk will also act as Interim Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”)
during the search for his replacement.
A Russian and US national and seasoned
international mining executive, Mr. Ilchuk has been with Silver
Bear since July 2017 as the CFO and has been responsible for
implementing many financial and operational controls positioning
the Company to become a successful silver producer. Mr. Ilchuk has
19 years of experience in the mining industry and natural resource
investment business, with an extensive background in mine finance
and accounting, financial reporting and cross-border M&A
process and integration. Mr. Ilchuk joined the Company from
RT-Business Development, Inc. where he was CFO. He also served
several years in managerial roles in Kinross Gold Corporation in
the United States and Russia.
Chris Westdal, Chairman of the Board stated: "On
behalf of Silver Bear and the Board, I thank Graham for his
leadership and major achievement taking our Mangazeisky silver
deposit from a resource to a producing mine and building a team to
run it well. We wish him great success in his future
endeavours.
I congratulate Vadim on his appointment,
confident that he will lead our team to optimize production,
operational costs and technical performance at Mangazeisky and to
enhance its profitability by taking advantage of favourable current
developments, including major cost reductions in corporate
structure and services, in debt interest rates, in reagent
consumption and in fuel costs. Streamlined and strong, Silver Bear
offers shareholders the opportunity of disciplined investment in
Russian mining with able, proven partners and excellent relations
with community and government officials.”
Graham Hill, departing President and CEO,
commented: “After four years as President, CEO and director of
Silver Bear I have decided that it is time for new challenges and
will step down from my position effective November 14, 2018. It has
been my pleasure to have worked with both a very supportive and
active Board and major shareholders, without whom we could not have
achieved all that has been accomplished during my tenure. It has
been a very satisfying and challenging position, and I am proud to
have been able to drive the Company forward from exploration into
production in a very difficult and extreme environment. It was my
privilege to have worked with such a fantastic team of people
within Silver Bear and our subsidiary ZAO Prognoz in Yakutsk, and I
am confident that they now have a strong, professional and
competent team in place to successfully move the Company and the
operations forward.
As I embark on the new challenges that await me,
I hand over to incoming President and CEO, Vadim Ilchuk, our former
CFO, and I wish him and the team great success in taking the
Mangazeisky project into the operational phase, achieving all
planned production targets and managing future exploration and
Company growth.”
Power Generation Incentive
Program
During the third quarter, the Company has taken
advantage of a state-run cost facilitation program which subsidizes
power generation costs for businesses located in the Far North of
Russia. Participation in the program will from November 1, 2018,
allow Silver Bear to radically reduce its power generation costs,
from US$0.40 per KW/h to approximately US$0.13 per kW/h, a 67%
reduction. Terms of the program are subject to government
regulations which can be changed at any time depending on economic
conditions and government requirements.
Mr. Westdal noted that “The energy cost
reductions in prospect are of major significance. Savings of up to
US$3 million a year will radically enhance our project’s
economics.”
About Silver Bear
Silver Bear (TSX: SBR) is focused on the
development of its wholly-owned Mangazeisky Silver Project,
covering a licence area of approximately 570 km2 that includes
the high-grade Vertikalny deposit (amongst the highest- grade
silver deposits in the world), located 400 km north of Yakutsk in
the Republic of Sakha within the Russian Federation. The Company
was granted a 20-year mining licence for the Vertikalny deposit in
September 2013 and filed an updated Feasibility Study in August
2017.With first silver production achieved in 2Q 2018, the Company
reached commercial production at the beginning of Q3 2018. Other
information relating to Silver Bear is available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com as well as on the Company’s website at
www.silverbearresources.com.
Cautionary Notes
This release and subsequent oral statements made
by and on behalf of the Company may contain forward-looking
statements, which reflect management’s expectations. Wherever
possible, words such as “intends”, “expects”, “scheduled”,
“estimates”, “anticipates”, “believes” and similar expressions or
statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”,
“would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, have
been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Although
the forward-looking statements contained in this release reflect
management’s current beliefs based upon information currently
available to management and based upon what management believes to
be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot be certain that
actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. A number of factors could cause events and achievements
to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, but are not
limited, to the risk factors identified by the Company in its
continuous disclosure filings filed from time to time on SEDAR.
These factors should be considered carefully, and prospective
investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve
significant known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties
that may cause the Company’s actual results, events, prospects and
opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has
attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause
actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as
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. Accordingly, prospective investors
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this
release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise
them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless otherwise
required by law.
Contact
Information:
Graham
HillPresident and Chief Executive OfficerT: +7 916 731
5673info@silverbearresources.com |
Judith
WebsterInvestor Relations Manager & Corporate SecretaryT:
+416 453 8818jwebster@silverbearresources.com |
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