VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Prime Mining Corp. (“Prime” or “PRYM” or the “Company“) (TSX.V: PRYM) (OTCQB: PRMNF) (Frankfurt:A2PRDW) is pleased to announce that Mr. Daniel Kunz has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, replacing Mr. Andrew Bowering who has been appointed Executive Vice-President. Both Mr. Kunz and Mr. Bowering remain members of the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”). In making this transition, Mr. Kunz is relinquishing his role as Executive Chairman.  

Mr. Murray John has been appointed Chairman of the Board and two new Board members have been appointed, with Mr. Paul Sweeney and Mr. Marc Prefontaine replacing Mr. Gregory Liller and Mr. Jorge Ramiro Monroy. Mr. Liller will continue in his current role as Prime’s Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Sweeney is an experienced finance and mining executive and company director with international experience in both the mining and renewable energy sectors. An independent business consultant since May 2011, Mr. Sweeney is a non-executive director of OceanaGold Corporation, a TSX-listed international gold producer and Adventus Mining Corporation, a TSX.V-listed development and exploration company, where he chairs the audit committee for both companies. Previously he has served on the board of directors of Tahoe Resources Inc. before its sale to Pan American Silver Corp. and as Chief Financial Officer for both Canico Resource Corp. (acquired by Vale S.A.) and Sutton Resources Ltd (acquired by Barrick Gold Corporation) and a senior executive for Plutonic Power Corporation. Mr. Sweeney will act as Chairman of the Company’s Audit Committee.

Mr. Prefontaine is a professional geologist with over 30 years of experience, having worked for companies such as Teck Resources Limited and Hunter Dickinson Inc. As Chief Executive Officer of Grayd Resources Corporation from 2003 to 2012, he led the company through the discovery and initial evaluation of the La India gold deposit in Sonora, Mexico. Grayd was acquired by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited for $275 million. La India has been in commercial production since 2013. More recently, Mr. Prefontaine co-founded Orla Mining Ltd. (“Orla”) and served as Orla’s Chief Executive Officer from 2015 until 2019, acquiring core gold development projects in Panama and Mexico. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer, Orla’s market capitalization increased from $5 million to $280 million. He is currently a principal of the Marshall Precious Metal Fund, a recently formed resource investment fund that focuses on investing in exploration–stage junior mining companies. 

Additionally, the Company announces the engagement of Mr. Kerry Sparkes, President of Sparrowhawk Consulting Ltd., as a technical advisor. Mr. Sparkes is a registered professional geologist and has over 30 years of experience in the mineral exploration business as both an exploration geologist and a mining executive. Mr. Sparkes recently retired after 7 years as Vice President Geology for Franco-Nevada Corporation and was responsible for evaluating the geological and resource potential of numerous mineral deposits worldwide. Mr. Sparkes was a founder and director of Orla. Previous positions include Vice President Exploration with Rainy River Resources Ltd., Vice President Exploration with Messina Minerals Inc., and Senior Geologist with Voisey’s Bay Nickel Co. Ltd.  Mr. Sparkes currently serves as a director of Aurion Resources Ltd. and an advisor to Canstar Resources Inc. Mr. Sparkes holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Daniel Kunz, Chief Executive Officer of Prime commented: “We are delighted to welcome Paul Sweeney and Marc Prefontaine to our Board. Paul is an immensely experienced finance and mining executive and company director and Marc brings extensive experience in building shareholder value specifically from projects in Mexico. We also are pleased that Murray has agreed to serve as Chairman of the Board and look forward to his leadership and advice. Also, we are fortunate to have Kerry Sparkes join our technical team to help with the exploration at Los Reyes. We extend our thanks to Mr. Jorge Ramiro Monroy for his time and contributions to the Company.”   

The Prime Board now comprises Murray John, Daniel Kunz, Andrew Bowering, Paul Larkin, Marc Prefontaine and Paul Sweeney.

Prime also announces that, pursuant to its Stock Option Plan, it has granted stock options to certain directors, management and consultants to purchase an aggregate of 3,100,000 common shares of the Company at the price of $0.95 per share for a period of 5 years from the grant date. The options will vest 1/3 immediately as of the date of grant; 1/3 six months after the date of the grant; and 1/3 twelve months after the date of the grant. This stock option grant is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.