SolGold PLC Announces Corporate Governance Update
Board Committee Update and Senior Independent Director Change
BISHOPSGATE, LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2020 / The Board of SolGold Plc (LSE:SOLG)(TSX:SOLG) is pleased to advise of the following initiatives undertaken as part of the Company's continued Corporate Governance enhancement programme towards compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, and following the recent appointment of independent Non-Executive Directors Kevin O'Kane, Maria Amparo Alban and Keith Marshall.
Board Committee Memberships
With the appointment of the abovementioned Directors in October, the July 2020 appointment of Elodie Grant Goodey, and the pending retirement of Robert Weinberg at the upcoming 2020 AGM, the Board has determined to reconstitute its Committee memberships as follows:
Audit & Risk Management Committee
- Elodie Grant Goodey (Chair)
- Keith Marshall
- Maria Amparo Alban
Remuneration Committee
- Keith Marshall (Chair)
- Liam Twigger
- Elodie Grant Goodey
Nominations Committee
- Kevin O'Kane (Chair)
- Brian Moller
- Nicholas Mather
- Liam Twigger
Alpala Project Committee (Members from Board)
- Keith Marshall (Chair)
- Kevin O'Kane
- Nicholas Mather
- Jason Ward
Formation of Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) Committee
The functions and responsibilities of the HSEC Committee have to date been undertaken by the full Board of the Company. However, the Board has now determined that a separate Committee be formed in order to focus more clearly on strategic goals and projects. . The membership of the HSEC Committee is as follows:
- Elodie Grant Goodey (Chair)
- Jason Ward
- Maria Amparo Alban
- Kevin O'Kane
The responsibilities of this Committee include, among others:
- being familiar with and shaping the Company's policies, objectives, and guidelines on environmental, health, safety, and community relations matters,
- analysing and reporting to the Board of Directors on the expectations of the Company's various stakeholders, and
- supervising the relations with them.
Moreover, it proposes to the Board of Directors the approval of HSEC policies and reviews and evaluates the management and control systems for non-financial risks.
The full Charter for the HSEC Committee is available on the Company's website, as part of its Corporate Governance disclosures.
Senior Independent Director
With the pending retirement of Robert Weinberg at the Company's upcoming 2020 AGM, Elodie Grant Goodey has agreed to become the Company's Senior Independent Director with effect from 18 December 2020. Mrs Grant Goodey is an independent UK-based Non-Executive Director with extensive experience in social risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, social performance, tax transparency and human rights in diverse environments often related to emerging markets.
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SolGold continues to consult with institutional investors and stakeholders as part of its ongoing Corporate Governance Roadshow to provide feedback and updates on changes and developments still to come. The Company is continuing on its journey toward compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code and is adjusting and implementing new internal policies and principles to its remuneration function. These changes are currently in progress and will better align Executive remuneration to organisational performance.
The Company is also re-evaluating the structure and membership composition of the Audit and Risk Committee to further align with best practice as part of the Corporate Governance enhancement programme and will update the market on this in due course.
By order of the Board
Karl Schlobohm
Company Secretary
CONTACTS
Nicholas Mather SolGold Plc (Chief Executive Officer) nmather@solgold.com.au | Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0665 |
Karl Schlobohm SolGold Plc (Company Secretary) | Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0661 |
Ingo Hofmaier SolGold Plc (GM - Project & Corporate Finance) ihofmaier@solgold.com.au | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3823 2131 |
Eliza Michael / Fawzi Hanano SolGold Plc (PR / IR) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3823 2131 |
Follow us on twitter @SolGold_plc
ABOUT SOLGOLD
SolGold is a leading resources company focussed on the discovery, definition and development of world-class copper and gold deposits. In 2018, SolGold's management team was recognised by the "Mines and Money" Forum as an example of excellence in the industry and continues to strive to deliver objectives efficiently and in the interests of shareholders. SolGold is the largest and most active concession holder in Ecuador and is aggressively exploring the length and breadth of this highly prospective and gold-rich section of the Andean Copper Belt.
The Company operates with transparency and in accordance with international best practices. SolGold is committed to delivering value to its shareholders, while simultaneously providing economic and social benefits to impacted communities, fostering a healthy and safe workplace and minimizing the environmental impact.
Dedicated stakeholders
SolGold employs a staff of over 700 employees of whom
About Cascabel and Alpala
The Alpala deposit is the main target in the Cascabel concession, located on the northern section of the heavily endowed Andean Copper Belt, the entirety of which is renowned as the base for nearly half of the world's copper production. The project area hosts mineralisation of Eocene age, the same age as numerous Tier 1 deposits along the Andean Copper Belt in Chile and Peru to the south. The project base is located at Rocafuerte within the Cascabel concession in northern Ecuador, an approximately three-hour drive on sealed highway north of the capital Quito, close to water, power supply and Pacific ports.
Having fulfilled its earn-in requirements, SolGold is a registered shareholder with an unencumbered legal and beneficial
Advancing Alpala towards development
The resource at the Alpala deposit contains a high-grade core which will be targeted to facilitate early cashflows and an accelerated payback of initial capital. SolGold is currently progressing its Pre-Feasibility Study and is fully funded through to development decision following the Net Smelter Royalty Financing with Franco-Nevada Corporation for US
SolGold is currently assessing financing options available to the Company for the development of the Alpala mine following completion of the Definitive Feasibility Study.
SolGold's Regional Exploration Drive
SolGold is using its successful and cost-efficient blueprint established at Alpala, and Cascabel generally, to explore for additional world class copper and gold projects across Ecuador. SolGold is the largest and most active concessionaire in Ecuador.
The Company wholly owns four other subsidiaries active throughout the country that are now focussed on thirteen high priority gold and copper resource targets, several of which the Company believes have the potential, subject to resource definition and feasibility, to be developed in close succession or even on a more accelerated basis compared to Alpala.
SolGold is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange (LSE/TSX: SOLG). The Company has on issue a total of 2,084,113,494 fully-paid ordinary shares and 112,275,000 share options.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control on Sample Collection, Security and Assaying
SolGold operates according to its rigorous Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocol, which is consistent with industry best practices.
Primary sample collection involves secure transport from SolGold's concessions in Ecuador, to the ALS certified sample preparation facility in Quito, Ecuador. Samples are then air freighted from Quito to the ALS certified laboratory in Lima, Peru where the assaying of drill core, channel samples, rock chips and soil samples is undertaken. SolGold utilises ALS certified laboratories in Canada and Australia for the analysis of metallurgical samples.
Samples are prepared and analysed using 100g 4-Acid digest ICP with MS finish for 48 elements on a 0.25g aliquot (ME-MS61). Laboratory performance is routinely monitored using umpire assays, check batches and inter-laboratory comparisons between ALS certified laboratory in Lima and the ACME certified laboratory in Cuenca, Ecuador.
In order to monitor the ongoing quality of its analytical database, SolGold's QA/QC protocol encompasses standard sampling methodologies, including the insertion of certified powder blanks, coarse chip blanks, standards, pulp duplicates and field duplicates. The blanks and standards are Certified Reference Materials supplied by Ore Research and Exploration, Australia.
SolGold's QA/QC protocol also monitors the ongoing quality of its analytical database. The Company's protocol involves Independent data validation of the digital analytical database including search for sample overlaps, duplicate or absent samples as well as anomalous assay and survey results. These are routinely performed ahead of Mineral Resource Estimates and Feasibility Studies. No material QA/QC issues have been identified with respect to sample collection, security and assaying.
Reviews of the sample preparation, chain of custody, data security procedures and assaying methods used by SolGold confirm that they are consistent with industry best practices and all results stated in this announcement have passed SolGold's QA/QC protocol.
The data aggregation method for calculating Copper Equivalent (CuEq) for down-hole drilling intercepts and rock-saw channel sampling intervals are reported using copper equivalent (CuEq) cut-off grades with up to 10m internal dilution, excluding bridging to a single sample and with minimum intersection length of 50m.
Copper Equivalent is currently calculated (assuming
True widths of downhole intersections are not well constrained. Drill hole one was inclined -55degrees towards the east, and the interpreted trend of the Cacharposa Intrusive Complex and its associated porphyry copper-gold mineralisation is subvertical, dipping approximately 85-90 degrees to the west. The true width of down-hole intersections reported are therefore expected to be approximately 55
See www.solgold.com.au for more information. Follow us on twitter @SolGold plc
CAUTIONARY NOTICE
News releases, presentations and public commentary made by SolGold plc (the "Company") and its Officers may contain certain statements and expressions of belief, expectation or opinion which are forward looking statements, and which relate, inter alia, to interpretations of exploration results to date and the Company's proposed strategy, plans and objectives or to the expectations or intentions of the Company's Directors. Such forward-looking and interpretative statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the control of the Company that could cause the actual performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from such interpretations and forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, the reader should not rely on any interpretations or forward-looking statements; and save as required by the exchange rules of the TSX and LSE or by applicable laws, the Company does not accept any obligation to disseminate any updates or revisions to such interpretations or forward-looking statements. The Company may reinterpret results to date as the status of its assets and projects changes with time expenditure, metals prices and other affecting circumstances.
This release may contain "forward‑looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward‑looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans for developing its properties. Generally, forward‑looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".
Forward‑looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward‑looking information, including but not limited to: transaction risks; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the ability of exploration activities (including assay results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management's geological modelling; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; the preliminary nature of visual assessments; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other required approvals; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets; inflation; the global economic climate; fluctuations in commodity prices; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities, including drilling; delays in the development of projects; environmental risks; community and non-governmental actions; other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; the ability of the Company to retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; and those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward‑looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
The Company and its officers do not endorse, or reject or otherwise comment on the conclusions, interpretations or views expressed in press articles or third-party analysis, and where possible aims to circulate all available material on its website.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
SOURCE: SolGold PLC
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