Osisko Draws $75 Million on CPPIB Credit Investments Inc. Credit Facility.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 12/31/10 -- Osisko Mining Corporation ('Osisko' or the 'Company')(TSX: OSK)(FRANKFURT: EWX) is pleased to announce that on December 31, 2010, it has drawn the second tranche of $75 million under the $150 million credit agreement negotiated in September 2009 with CPPIB Credit Investments Inc. ('CPPIB'), a wholly - owned subsidiary of the CPP Investment Board. The funds will be used for the development of the South Barnat deposit and general corporate purposes. Under the terms of the agreement, Osisko issued to CPPIB 5.5 million warrants which are exercisable prior to December 31, 2015. Each warrant allows CPPIB to purchase one common share of Osisko at a price of $19.25, representing a 30% premium to the 15 day volume weighted average price prior to issuance. Osisko may accelerate the exercise of the warrants if the shares of Osisko trade at or above a 50% premium to the exercise price for a period of 15 days.
Sean Roosen, President and CEO noted: 'We greatly appreciate having CPPIB as a financial partner as our Company pursues its goal to become a leading intermediate gold producer'.
About Osisko Mining Corporation
Osisko Mining Corporation is currently developing the Canadian Malartic gold deposit in Quebec and evaluating adjacent areas for a large-scale open pit, bulk-tonnage mining operation. The Canadian Malartic deposit currently represents one the biggest permitted gold reserves in Canada, and is still growing through ongoing drilling on new mineralized zones. Current reserves for the Canadian Malartic property are 9.0 million ounces (see details in Osisko press release dated February 10, 2010). Osisko is also developing the Hammond Reef gold project near Atikokan Ontario through an aggressive definition drilling program of 350,000 metres. Hammond Reef is currently estimated to contain a National Instrument 43-101 compliant inferred resource of 6.70 million ounces of gold (259.4 million tonnes at a grade of 0.8 grams per tonne, using 0.3 grams per tonne cut-off), of which 97% lies within 300 metres of surface.
About CPP Investment Board
The CPP Investment Board is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, the CPP Investment Board invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London and Hong Kong, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At September 30, 2010, the CPP Fund totaled $138.6 billion. For more information about the CPP Investment Board, please visit www.cppib.ca .
Cautionary Notes Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources
This news release uses the terms measured, indicated and inferred resources as a relative measure of the level of confidence in the resource estimate. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources are not economic mineral reserves and that the economic viability of resources that are not mineral reserves has not been demonstrated. In addition, inferred resources are considered too geologically speculative to have any economic considerations applied to them. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies or economic studies except for Preliminary Assessment as defined under NI 43-101. Readers are cautioned not to assume that that further work on the stated resources will lead to mineral reserves that can be mined economically.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed 'forward-looking statements'. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Osisko expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words 'expects', 'plans', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'intends', 'estimates', 'projects', 'potential', 'scheduled' and similar expressions, or that events or conditions 'will', 'would', 'may', 'could' or 'should' occur including, without limitation, the commencement of commercial production. Although Osisko believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, including, without limitation, that all technical, economical and financial conditions will be met in order to warrant further development of the project, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include gold prices, access to skilled consultants, mining development personnel, results of exploration and development activities, Osisko's limited experience with production and development stage mining operations, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals, actual performance of facilities, equipment and processes relative to specifications and expectations, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations market prices, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These factors are discussed in greater detail in Osisko's most recent Annual Information Form and in the most recent Management Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR, which also provide additional general assumptions in connection with these statements. Osisko cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on forward-looking statements should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. Osisko believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
Contacts:
Osisko Mining Corporation
John Burzynski
Vice-President Corporate Development
416-363-8653
www.osisko.com
Sylvie Prud'homme
Investor Relations
514-735-7131
1-888-674-7563