by Greg Klein | May 23, 2017
Management changes should help Aurvista Gold TSXV:AVA move to the next level as Matthew Hornor takes charge of financial and business development while Jean Lafleur leads exploration at the company’s Douay project in Abitibi.
Hornor’s background includes 10 years as VP and executive VP for Ivanhoe Mines, where he negotiated deals with international banking syndicates, strategic alliances and equity financings totalling more than $450 million. He also spent 10 years as managing director for Ivanhoe Capital and four years as chairperson for Ivanplats Holding SARL, owner of the Platreef platinum-palladium mine in South Africa.
As president/CEO of Kaizen Discovery TSXV:KZD from 2013 to 2016, Hornor arranged project acquisitions, equity financings and a collaboration agreement with ITOCHU Corp, a prominent Japanese trading and investment house. Fluent in Japanese, he began his mining career in Japan 27 years ago. He visits the country frequently, maintaining relationships with major corporations, mining companies, investment firms and trading houses.
The appointment also allows Jean Lafleur to move from president/CEO to VP of exploration on the Douay project in Abitibi’s Casa Berardi deformation zone. Hornor’s experience “speaks for itself,” Lafleur said, “and having his corporate, capital markets and project financing leadership will help us accelerate the company’s growth and true value. I look forward to leading our exploration team in Quebec and working with our group to define the ultimate extent of Gold mineralization at Douay.”
Well underway is a 43-hole, 30,000-metre campaign with an update planned later this year for a resource that currently shows an inferred 83.3 million tonnes averaging 1.05 g/t for 2.81 million gold ounces. Among results released so far, the company announced stepout intercepts earlier this month despite an assay lab backlog caused by the pace of drilling. In March Aurvista announced initial metallurgical test results in line with comparable Abitibi projects.
Last month the company more than doubled its Douay land position, which now stands at 30,500 hectares. Aurvista holds a 100% interest in about 29,300 hectares and a 75% interest in the 1,190-hectare North West zone, with the remainder held by JV partner SOQUEM, the mineral exploration branch of the provincial government’s Investissement Québec.
Read more about Aurvista Gold.
