Northern Freegold Announces Senior Management Appointments
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/18/11 -- Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: NFR)(OTCBB: NFRGF)(FRANKFURT: 8NG) (the 'Company' or 'NFR') is pleased to announce the appointment to the Board of Directors of John G. Burges who will concurrently assume the roles of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective November 1st, 2011, (subject to regulatory approval).
Mr. Burges has joined us from Knight Capital Group, a New Jersey based global financial services firm that is one of the largest securities trading institutions in North America and the largest trader of junior miners. Mr. Burges was a Managing Director at Knight, responsible for resources capital markets activities focused on North American small cap public companies. He previously worked in London and New York for thirteen years for Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch as a Director in their investment banking practices where he was responsible for advising and financing public corporations in the resource and power sector. He subsequently was Chairman and an Officer of Newmarket Power, a private equity backed independent power generation company, which acquired and operated approximately 450 MW of gas fired power generation in the North-East of the US. He worked in the Middle East with a private equity investment group which made investments in the energy and resource sectors. Through his more than 20 year career, he brings substantial corporate finance, investment and management experience. He has an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA (Hons) from Bristol University, England.
'I am delighted to be joining Northern Freegold at such a pivotal stage for the company, and look forward to working with the current management team to grow the scale of what is already one of the largest gold and copper porphyry deposits in the Yukon into a world class resource. In the next few months we will be looking to establish development milestones for the project reflecting the increasing size of the resource and the success the company has had with the current drilling program. In tandem with this we will work aggressively to communicate the inherent value of the company to the markets and begin an extensive program of outreach to investors, both retail and institutional.'
Northern Freegold also announces the appointment of Alan Armitage, Ph.D., P.Geo to the position of Vice President, Exploration, effective immediately. Mr. Armitage has overseen exploration of the Freegold Mountain Project through GeoVector Management Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario (http://www.geovector.ca) for the past two years, and brings to the Company extensive experience in mineral exploration and resource modeling for a variety of commodities and mineral deposit types throughout Canada, as well as in the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, Rwanda and Uganda.
Dr. Armitage is a geologist with over 25 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry. As VP of Exploration, he brings a vast amount of geological expertise to the Company as they grow their Freegold Mountain Project in the Yukon. Dr. Armitage has previously served as vice president of exploration for both Uranium North Resources and Triex Minerals Corp., and has held senior positions for a number of mineral exploration companies with properties in North and South America.
Dr. Armitage has a PhD in geology from the University of Western Ontario and is an active member APEGGA and is hereby identified as a 'Qualified Person', as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Tim J. Termuende, P.Geo., Interim President and CEO, will step down as an Officer of Northern Freegold, effective November 1st, but will continue to serve on the Board and hold a position as a Lead Director, working with Mr. Burges during the transition period and into the foreseeable future. Mr. Termuende recently commented on the appointment of Mr. Burges, stating, 'I am pleased that Northern Freegold has attracted the talents of accomplished Officers such as Messrs. Burges and Armitage. I am excited about the prospects for the Company as we move forward to increase the recognition of the Freegold Mountain project as an undervalued asset, with a focus to advance the project and to improve investor's perception of both the project and the Company itself.'
Former President and CEO, Susan P. Craig, P. Geo., comments on the appointment of Mr. Burges: 'As co-founders of Northern Freegold, former Chairman, Bill Harris and I believe Mr. Burges will advance the Freegold Mountain Project and look forward to supporting him in his role as President & CEO.'
In conjunction with the new appointments, the Company will offer a limited private placement of up to 350,000 units priced at $.30 for net proceeds of up to $105,000. Each unit will consist of a common share and a share purchase warrant, each warrant being exercisable to acquire an additional share at $0.45 for 18 months following the date of closing. No finder's fees or commissions will be paid in relation to the financing.
The Company also announces that subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, it has granted 1,990,000 incentive stock options at a price of $0.35 to officers, directors, employees and consultants of the Company. Some of the options were granted to replace options that had expired and the remainder are new grants. The options are set for a period of 5 years for directors and officers and 3 years for all other optionees, expiring on October 18, 2016 and October 18, 2014 respectively and are subject to vesting provisions according to Company policies. Any shares issued on the exercise of these stock options will be subject to a four-month hold period from date of grant.
About Northern Freegold
Northern Freegold is a well-financed rapidly advancing Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company. NFR brings local expertise and strong management to focus on the development of economic mineral resources on the district-scale Freegold Mountain gold and copper project in the Yukon and the Burro Creek gold and silver property in Arizona.
Management believes the Revenue target deposit, the Nucleus deposit and the Stoddart Zone are all part of a large scale gold rich porphyry system, which extends in an east-west direction for more than 6 km. The system has the potential to host multi-million ounce gold resources with multi-billion pound copper resources similar to other porphyry deposits in the region.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Tim Termuende, P. Geo., Interim CEO and President
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this press release includes certain 'forward-looking statements'. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, plans for and intentions with respect to the company's properties, statements regarding intentions with respect to obligations due for various projects, strategic alternatives, quantity of resources or reserves, timing of permitting, construction and production and other milestones, are forward looking statements. Statements concerning Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are also forward-looking statements in that they reflect an assessment, based on certain assumptions, of the mineralization that would be encountered and mining results if the project were developed and mined in the manner described. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NFR's expectations include the uncertainties involving the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for cooperation of government agencies and First Nation groups in the exploration, and development of properties; and the need to obtain permits and governmental approval. NFR's forward looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of management on the date the statements are made. NFR assumes no obligation to update the forward looking statements if management's beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors should they change.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Northern Freegold Resources Ltd.
Julie Hajduk
Investor Relations Manager
604.893.8757 or Toll Free: 877.893.8757
604.893.8758 (FAX)
www.northernfreegold.com