Prophecy Appoints Ron Espell as VP, Environmental and Sustainability to Lead Gibellini Vanadium Project’s Permitting
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 Corp orate 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 wor k 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. H is 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 ha s 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
www.prophecydev.com
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain
words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, or similar
expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historica l facts, are forward -
looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward -looking
statements, which reflect management’s expectations regarding Prophecy’s future growth,
results of operations, performance, business prospects a nd opportunities, are based on
certain factors and assumptions and 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 achievemen ts 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 intend ed. Prophecy undertakes no
obligation to release publicly any future 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 law.