Blueprint
Exhibit
99.1
Prophecy Appoints Ron Espell
as VP, Environmental and Sustainability to Lead Gibellini
Vanadium Project’s Permitting
Vancouver, British Columbia, October 29, 2018 – Prophecy
Development Corp. (“Prophecy” or
the “Company”)
(TSX:PCY,
OTCQX:PRPCF,
Frankfurt:1P2N) is
pleased to announce the appointment of Ron Espell as the
Company’s Vice-President, Environmental and Sustainability,
effective November 14, 2018, to lead the environmental permitting
efforts for the
Gibellini vanadium project (“Gibellini”).
Mr. Espell will report to Gerald Panneton, the Company’s
President and CEO.
Mr. Espell is a highly-regarded specialist in US federal and Nevada
state mine permitting, with over 30 years of experience in
corporate environmental management, permitting in conformance with
applicable regulatory and performance standards, mine waste
management, reclamation and closure planning.
Prior to joining Prophecy, Mr. Espell was the Corporate
Environmental Director of McEwen Mining Inc.
(“McEwen
Mining”). Within 18
months from the time he joined McEwen Mining, Mr. Espell led his
team to successfully obtain the Gold Bar project’s
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) approval from the Bureau of
Land Management (“BLM”)
Battle Mountain District office in November 2017. Mr Espell was
the chief liaison
with federal and Nevada state regulatory agencies for permitting,
compliance, and regulatory program development.
Mr. Espell comments: “I am very pleased to join this dynamic
Prophecy team to work on the exciting Gibellini vanadium project. I
am confident of the project’s merits and Prophecy has already
established very good project permit ground work which I will
continue on and collaborate closely with federal and state
permitting agencies, local communities and all stake holders to
make Gibellini the first primary vanadium mine in the
US.”
Gerald Panneton, Prophecy’s President and CEO comments:
“Ron has demonstrated his ability to deliver EIS in Nevada on
time and under budget. He is an outstanding team leader with
creative problem solving skills and he pays meticulous attention to
detail. His deep knowledge of environmental assessments and
permitting, and his well-liked persona makes him a great pleasure
to work with. Ron is an excellent
addition to our Prophecy team.”
The Gold Bar project is in Eureka County, Nevada, approximately 40
miles northwest from the Company’s Gibellini vanadium
project. Both projects are overseen by the BLM Battle Mountain
District office and share many similarities in terms of mining and
recovery method, capital expenditure and throughput.
Project
|
|
Gold Bar
|
|
Gibellini Vanadium
|
Owner
|
|
MUX.t
|
|
PCY.t
|
Recovery method
|
|
Heap Leach
|
|
Heap Leach
|
Strip Ratio waste tons / ore tons
|
|
3:1
|
|
0.17:1
|
Throughput tons per day
|
|
8,000
|
|
8,220
|
Capex US$
|
|
$81 million
|
|
$121 million
(includes 25% contingency)
|
EIS permit date
|
|
Nov-17
|
|
TBD
|
Commodity
|
|
Gold
|
|
Vanadium
|
Overseen by
|
|
BLM Battle Mountain
|
|
BLM Battle Mountain
|
Table
1. Table comparing mining attributes of Gold Bar and Gibellini
projects. Both projects are located in Nevada, USA. The Gibellini
project attributes are taken from it’s May 29, 2018 PEA which
includes inferred resources that are considered too
speculative geologically to have the economic considerations
applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral
reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have
demonstrated economic viability.
Prior to his time with McEwen Mining, Mr. Espell was a Principal
Consultant at SRK Consulting and Vice President Environment for
Gibellini’s prior operator, where he lead efforts in the
preparation of Gibellini’s baseline studies and Plan of
Operation.
Ron Espell’s wealth of experience includes being an
Environmental Management Specialist at the Nevada Division of
Environmental Protection, as well as working for 17 years in
positions of increasing responsibility at Barrick Gold Corporation,
from being Environmental Superintendent, Environmental Manager of
Barrick Goldstrike, Regional Environmental Director - Australia
Pacific, and Corporate Environmental Director, where he led the
development and implementation of environmental policies and
programs having oversight of all mine site environmental and
hydrology permitting, reporting and monitoring activities, and
compliance with all federal, state and local environmental laws and
regulations in the US, Africa, South America and
Australia.
Mr. Espell earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental
Geology from California State University in 1984, and throughout
his career, has actively participated in the development of natural
resource education programs.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been prepared under
the supervision of Danniel Oosterman, VP, Exploration. Mr.
Oosterman is not independent of the Company in that he is employed
as a consultant to the Company and most of his income is derived
from the Company. Mr. Oosterman is a Qualified Person as defined in
NI 43-101.
About Prophecy
Prophecy is developing the
Gibellini project – the only large-scale, open-pit,
heap-leach vanadium project of its kind in North America. Located
in Nevada, Gibellini has the largest NI 43-101 compliant measured
and indicated primary vanadium resource known in the USA and is
currently undergoing EPCM and EIS preparation. Further information
on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com.
PROPHECY
DEVELOPMENT CORP.
ON
BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Gerald
Panneton”
President
and CEO
For
more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor
Relations:
+1.888.513.6286
ir@prophecydev.com
www.prophecydev.com
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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statements which may contain words such as “expects”,
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forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
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management’s expectations regarding Prophecy’s future
growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and
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involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause
the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially
different from future results, performance, or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements.
These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should
not place undue reliance on the Prophecy’s forward-looking
statements. Prophecy believes that the expectations reflected in
the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and
the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but
no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be
correct. In addition, although Prophecy has attempted to identify
important factors that could cause actual actions, events or
results to differ materially from those described in forward
looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions,
events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
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revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by
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