TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 20, 2015) -
Silver Bear Resources Inc. ("Silver Bear" or the "Company")
(TSX:SBR) is pleased to announce that shareholders have voted in favour
of all items of business brought before them at the Company's Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders (the "AGM") held in
Toronto, Ontario on July 16, 2015. In accordance with the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange, all of the nominees listed in the management proxy circular dated June 16, 2015 for the AGM were elected as directors of the Company.
Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the AGM are set out below.
|
|
Votes
For
|
%Votes
For
|
Votes Withheld
|
%Votes Withheld
|
| Robin Birchall
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| J. Trevor Eyton
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| Boris Granovsky
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| Paul Dominic Gualtieri
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| Graham Hill
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| Alexey Sotskov
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
| Chris Westdal
|
88,284,851
|
99.95%
|
43,600
|
0.05%
|
Regarding the remaining item of business, the Company's shareholders approved the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,
Licenced Public Accountants as the auditors of the Company for the 2015
fiscal year and authorized the Board of Directors to fix their
remuneration.
Forthcoming Chairman Changes
The Company also announces that Mr. Robin Birchall
will be stepping down as Executive Chairman of the Company at the end
of September, after serving in his position for 3 years. Mr. Birchall
was appointed with the mandate to ensure that the Company had the team
and funding to advance the Mangazeisky silver project through the
development and construction stage. Mr Birchall will continue to provide
his services while the Company secures the final required funding for
the construction of the Mangazeisky project after which he shall step
down due to the requirements of his other business interests. Mr.
Birchall will remain on the Board as a director.
Mr. Birchall commented: "Over the past three
years I have worked tirelessly to ensure the advancement of Silver
Bear. It is with some sadness that I step down due to the pressures of
my other projects. During the next three months I will continue to work
to the best of my abilities to ensure the financial future of the
business. I would like thank the whole Silver Bear team for their hard
work this year, in particular with regards to the advancement of the
project, which is a credit to our new President and CEO,
Graham Hill
and the operating team in Yakutia Russia. Under Graham's leadership,
the Company has made significant progress in a short period of time.
Graham has established control over the operation, which has resulted in
firm cost controls and given new impetus to the development of the
Mangazeisky Silver Project.
The Company is now in a strong operational position to pursue the goal
of mine development and commissioning by the second half of 2016."
It is anticipated that in due course the board will appoint Mr. Chris Westdal
to replace Mr. Birchall in the role of Non-executive Chairman. Mr.
Westdal is a former Canadian diplomat with 22 years of experience in the
field, 16 heading Canadian Embassies, High Commissions and
international delegations, including Ambassador to
Russia from 2003 to 2006. Mr. Westdal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John's College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Manitoba.
Mr. Westdal has served on boards of directors of several private and
public companies. He has been a director of Silver Bear since
October 2007.
Corporate Governance Practices
At the request of the Toronto Stock Exchange,
the Company is also providing the disclosure required by Items 10 to 15
of Form 58-101F1 - Corporate Governance Disclosure (NI 58-101).
Term Limits. The Board has not adopted a
formal policy limiting the terms of the directors sitting on the Board.
It is the Company's view that the inherent knowledge gained from
experience is enormous for a company that is currently in project
development stage. In addition, the Company operates in
Russia,
a jurisdiction where experience plays an even greater part in
successful natural resource project development. As a result, the
Company considers that directors are best permitted to remain with the
Company so that the Company can continue to benefit from the knowledge
gained by such directors during their directorships.
Policies Regarding the Representation of Women in the Company. The
Board has not adopted a written policy regarding the representation,
identification and nomination of women to Board. In addition, at this
time the Company has no specific policy with regards to the
representation of women in senior officer positions. At the Company's
current stage of business and development, Board and senior management
time and effort have been almost exclusively focussed on the Company's
funding and project development.
Representation of Women in Silver Bear.
Despite the absence of the foregoing formal policies the Company, in the
past has had female representation on the Board and in senior executive
officer positions. Currently, of the four senior executive officers,
one is a female, representing 25%. At this time there are no female
Board members.
Targets for Representation of Women. In the
absence of formal policies, the Board has not set any targets with
regards to the representation of women on the Board. The Board considers
numerous factors in identifying Board candidates and executive
officers, including gender, as well as education, industry experience,
and independence. The Board periodically assesses its corporate
governance policies and will assess these policies in the future.
About Silver Bear
Silver Bear (TSX:SBR) is focused on the development of its wholly-owned Mangazeisky Silver Project,
covering a licence area of ~570 sq. km that includes the high grade
Vertikalny deposit (amongst the highest grade silver deposits in the
world) located 400 km north of Yakutsk in the
Republic of Sakha within the Russian Federation. The Company was granted a 20-year mining licence for the Vertikalny deposit in September 2013 and completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment in February 2014. The Feasibility Study, scheduled for completion in H2 2015, is contracted to Tetra Tech in the UK
with SRK and ERM as subcontractors for the mining and environmental
studies respectively. Other information relating to Silver Bear is
available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com as well as on the Company's website at www.silverbearresources.com.
Contact Information:
Silver Bear Resources Inc.
Graham HillPresident and Chief Executive Officer
UK+44 755 2524 982
info@silverbearresources.com
Silver Bear Resources Inc.
Judith WebsterInvestor Relations Manager
+416 453 8818
jwebster@silverbearresources.com
Silver Bear Resources Inc.
Robin BirchallExecutive Chairman
UK+44 771 131 3019
rbirchall@silverbearresources.comwww.silverbearresources.com
