Vancouver, B.C. – Wellgreen Platinum Ltd. (“Wellgreen Platinum” or the “Company”) (TSX: WG; OTC-QX: WGPLF) is very pleased to announce that Diane R. Garrett has joined the Company as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors.
Ms. Garrett has over 20 years of experience in the mining industry and an exceptional track record for developing projects, building companies and creating considerable value for shareholders. Most recently, Ms. Garrett was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Romarco Minerals Inc. (“Romarco”), a Toronto Stock Exchange listed company which was acquired by OceanaGold Corp. (TSX, ASX, NZX: OGC) in 2015 for a final transaction value of over C$550 million. As CEO of Romarco, Ms. Garrett restructured the company and built and led the team that developed a world class mining project from exploration through to final feasibility, permitting and into construction, starting in 2002 with no assets and a market capitalization of less than C$20 million.
Ms. Garrett has extensive experience in executive management and advanced academic credentials in the mining and petroleum industries, including a Masters degree in Mineral Economics and a Ph.D. in Engineering (with her doctoral dissertation focused primarily on Platinum Group Metals) from the University of Texas at Austin. Myron Manternach, Chairman of Wellgreen Platinum, stated, “We are thrilled to have Diane join the Company. She is ideally suited to lead the Company forward and to unlock the tremendous value of our assets for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We look forward to working with Diane and benefiting from her energy and enthusiasm as well as her vast experience, expertise and network.”
Ms. Garrett stated, “I’m very excited to join Wellgreen Platinum, which controls a project that is not only one of the largest undeveloped PGM-Ni deposits in the world but is also located in one of the most attractive jurisdictions globally. The Wellgreen Project is exceptionally attractive in terms of the extraordinary size of the resource, the diversity of base and precious metals, and its being situated in a supportive community. I appreciate the hard work carried out by current management and the Board that has brought Wellgreen Platinum to this point, and I look forward to working with the team to take this project up the value chain.”
The hiring of Ms. Garrett concludes a successful search process conducted by the Executive Search Committee of the Board of Directors led by Board member, Michele Darling. Mr. Manternach stated, “On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I want to extend a special thanks to Michele for her excellent work in managing a thorough, professional and cost-effective search process.”
Mr. Manternach further stated, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I also want to thank John Sagman, Wellgreen Platinum’s Chief Operating Officer, for his excellent leadership as interim President during the last six months.”
Wellgreen Platinum is also pleased to announce that Gillyeard (Gil) Leathley has been appointed as an observer to the Board of Directors, and is expected to stand for election to the Board at the Company’s next Annual General Meeting. Mr. Leathley is being proposed as a director by Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund L.P. (“Electrum”) pursuant to its rights under the terms of a unit purchase agreement between the Company and Electrum dated March 9, 2016. Mr. Leathley has more than 50 years of experience in the mining industry, culminating in the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Homestake Mining where he provided executive leadership in all aspects of mine construction and operations around the world. Myron Manternach stated, “We enthusiastically welcome Mr. Leathley to Wellgreen. With his extensive mine-building expertise, Gil has the very skill sets we need on our Board to help us as we take our project to the next level.”
About Wellgreen Platinum
Wellgreen Platinum is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on the active advancement of its Wellgreen platinum group metals (PGM) and nickel project. Located in the Yukon Territory of Canada, the 2015 PEA demonstrated that the Wellgreen project has the potential to become a large, low cost, open pit producer of nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, and copper. The Wellgreen property is accessible from the paved Alaska Highway, which leads to year-round deep sea ports in southern Alaska.
The Company is led by a management team with a track record of successful large-scale project discovery, development, financing and operation. Our vision is to create value for our shareholders through development of the Wellgreen deposit into a leading North American PGM and nickel producer.