Arianne Phosphate appoints Mr. Jean Fontaine to its Board of Directors and provides corporate update DAN: TSX-V ( Canada ) JE9N: FSE ( Germany ) DRRSF: OTC ( USA )
Arianne Phosphate appoints Mr. Jean Fontaine
to its Board of Directors and provides
corporate update
DAN: TSX-V (
Canada
)
JE9N: FSE (
Germany
)
DRRSF: OTC (
USA
)
SAGUENAY, QC,
Feb. 19, 2019
/CNW Telbec/ -
Arianne Phosphate (the "Company" or
"Arianne")
(TSXV: DAN) (OTC: DRRSF) (FRANKFURT: JE9N)
, a development-stage phosphate
mining company, advancing the Lac à Paul project in
Quebec's
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, is
pleased to announce the appointment of Mr.
Jean Fontaine
to the Company's Board of Directors.
Mr. Fontaine is the Founder and President of JEFO Nutrition Inc., a global leader in high-
performance non-medicated nutritional solutions for animals. Founded in 1982, JEFO has
successfully grown its business and its products are now marketed in 80 countries. Mr. Fontaine
brings with an extremely successful and distinguished career.
"I understand what it takes to build a successful international company," commented
Jean Fontaine
.
"I am fully aware of the challenges that smaller companies face and believe, from what I have seen,
that Arianne has the ingredients in place to become a success story. I look forward to bringing my
expertise to the Board and working with management to influence this success. I also believe that
my strong agricultural background and international network will help this happen."
"Mr. Fontaine's appointment has come at a very significant time for Arianne," said
Dominique
Bouchard
, Arianne Phosphate's Executive Chairman. "Mr. Fontaine has a proven record of growing
business through innovation, entrepreneurship and global market penetration. These skills will be a
strong addition to the Board and overall direction of Arianne."
In conjunction with Mr. Fontaine's appointment to the Board, he has been granted 200,000 stock
options. Each Option entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company until
February 18, 2029
at a price of
$0.40
per share, this being the closing price of the Company's
shares on the trading day preceding the date of grant. The Options are subject to a three-year
vesting period under the Plan and the Policy and are also subject to regulatory approval.
CORPORATE UPDATE:
The fourth quarter of 2018 was very significant for Arianne Phosphate as the Company successfully
executed on significant milestones necessary to bring its Lac à Paul project into development.
During the quarter, Arianne executed two commercial offtake agreements (see press releases dated
September 25, 2018
and
December 13, 2018
) demonstrating strong commercial interest in its
phosphate concentrate. These agreements provide for premium pricing, acknowledging the superior
quality of Arianne's high-end, low-contaminant concentrate. These agreements are a significant step
towards satisfying the financing requirements put forth by project lenders and, these discussions
have progressed with significant interest. Arianne is also continuing negotiations with several other
parties to reach similar offtake agreements so that it may satisfy the borrowing requirements put
forth by the project finance banks. In parallel, Arianne is also engaged in discussions focusing on
bringing in strategic partners and 2018 has seen an increase in both interest and activity on this
front.
In October of 2018, the Port of Saguenay received approval for the construction of a maritime
terminal on the north shore of the Saguenay River (see press release dated
October 23, 2018
) from
which, ships will be loaded with Arianne's phosphate concentrate for delivery to international
markets. This associated with Arianne's receipt of its Ministerial Decree [permit] for the mine and, a
collaboration agreement with the Innu First Nations, have addressed major environmental and social
acceptability requirements that pave the way forward for the development of the Company's Lac à
Paul project.
The year also saw Arianne reach an agreement with the Province of
New Brunswick
to explore the
possibility of a phosphoric acid facility (see press release dated
August 9, 2018
) that would use the
Company's phosphate concentrate to produce downstream products. With grants in place, Arianne
can move forward on a preliminary feasibility study surrounding the opportunity and make
commercial decisions based on the report. If favorable, this opportunity could represent a
substantial end-use of the Company's product and allow for Arianne to become vertically integrated.
Lastly, the appointment of Mr. Fontaine to our board continues the trend of upgrading Arianne's
Board and Management. Mr. Fontaine's appointment follows the appointment of
Claude Lafleur
to
the Company's board (see press release dated
August 30, 2018
) and the addition of
Andrew
Malashewsky
as Arianne's new CFO (see press release dated
January 24, 2019
). These additions
continue to enhance the skills necessary for Arianne to proceed to construction.
"I am doubtful that most investors have closely followed Arianne's progress or, are fully aware of
what the Company has accomplished," said
Brian Ostroff
, CEO of Arianne Phosphate. "As we
know, early-stage mineral exploration is a very risky proposition and most companies outright fail to
find economically viable deposits. Beyond this, even if a viable deposit is found, a project still
requires favorable economics including demand for the underlying commodity, access to
infrastructure, or the possibility of building it economically, a supportive population and, of course, all
the necessary regulatory and permitting approvals. Over the years Arianne has done just that, taking
it's Lac à Paul project successfully through all these steps, de-risking it along the way. Today, the
Company sits on one of the world's most significant phosphate assets; permitted, economically
viable and shovel-ready. How many people recognize this, I am not sure. The last step for Arianne
is to continue to work with potential funders and partners and bring the asset into development;
unlocking the tremendous social and economic benefit that comes with it."
Aside from Arianne's corporate developments, the macro environment improved through 2018. After
a very difficult period (2012-2017) in which phosphate prices, and overall fertilizer prices declined
substantially, we have seen a definite improvement. Despite lower prices for five years, demand for
phosphate continued to grow annually and this continually improving demand has provided a strong
foundation for the increase in prices that has been seen in 2018. For the year, phosphate prices
have increased roughly 25% as the industry now looks to secure supply going forward and, many
industry analysts believe that prices should continue to increase.
Qualified
Person
Jean-Sébastien David, P.Geo., Qualified Person by NI 43-101, has approved this release. Mr. David
is also the Company's Chief Operating Officer.
About Arianne Phosphate
Arianne Phosphate ("Arianne Phosphate Inc.") (
www.arianne-inc.com
) is developing the Lac à Paul
phosphate deposits located approximately 200 km north of the Saguenay/Lac St. Jean area
of Quebec,
Canada
. These deposits will produce a high quality igneous apatite concentrate grading
39% P
2
O
5
with little or no contaminants (Feasibility Study released in 2013). The Company has
105,803,943 million shares outstanding.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Follow Arianne on:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ariannephosphate
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/arianne_dan
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ArianneResources
Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arianneresources
Resource Investing News:
http://resourceinvestingnews.com/?s=Arianne
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities regulations in
Canada
and
the United States
(collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is
not limited to, anticipated quality and production of the apatite concentrate at the Lac à Paul
project. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of
words such as "plans", "expects, "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or the negatives thereof or variations of
such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is
subject to be 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: volatile stock price; risks related to changes in commodity
prices; sources and cost of power facilities; the estimation of initial and sustaining capital
requirements; the estimation of labour and operating costs; the general global markets and
economic conditions; the risk associated with exploration, development and operations of
mineral deposits; the estimation of mineral reserves and resources; the risks associated with
uninsurable risks arising during the course of exploration, development and production;
risks associated with currency fluctuations; environmental risks; competition faced in
securing experienced personnel; access to adequate infrastructure to support mining,
processing, development and exploration activities; the risks associated with changes in the
mining regulatory regime governing the Company; completion of the environmental
assessment process; risks related to regulatory and permitting delays; risks related to
potential conflicts of interest; the reliance on key personnel; financing, capitalization and
liquidity risks including the risk that the financing necessary to fund continued exploration
and development activities at Lac à Paul project may not be available on satisfactory terms,
or at all; the risk of potential dilution through the issue of common shares; the risk of
litigation. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management believes to be
reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to, continued
exploration activities, no material adverse change in commodity prices, exploration and
development plans proceeding in accordance with plans and such plans achieving their
stated expected outcomes, receipt of required regulatory approval, and such other
assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
the 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 forward-looking
information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking
information is made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not
undertake to update such forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
SOURCE
Arianne Phosphate Inc.
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%SEDAR: 00003556E
For further information:
Source: Jean-Sébastien David, C.O.O., Tel. : 418-549-7316,
[email protected]; Info: Brian Ostroff, C.E.O., Tel. : 514-908-4202, brian.ostroff@arianne-
inc.com
CO: Arianne Phosphate Inc.
CNW 07:30e 19-FEB-19