Fidelity Minerals Announces Key Management and Board Changes as a Foundation to Achieving the Next Stage of Corporate Growth and Value Creation.
Fidelity Minerals Announces Key Management and Board
Changes as a Foundation to Achieving the Next Stage of
Corporate Growth and Value Creation.
Vancouver, BC, March 2nd, 2021 – Fidelity Minerals Corp. (TSX -V: FMN | FSE: S5GM | SSE:
MNYC) (“Fidelity Minerals” or the “Company ”) is pleased to announce key board changes as
part of an orderly succession process, to ensure the board is strongly aligned with achieving a
number of important milestones.
The Company advises that experienced resources company director Dean Pekeski has been
appointed Chief Executive Officer and President effective March 1, 2021. Mr. Pekeski is replacing
Fidelity Minerals’ current CEO, Ian Graham , who will remain as an independent member of the
Board. In conjunction with his appointment as CEO, Mr. Pekeski will join the Company's Board of
Directors effective immediately and will work closely with Mr. Graham during a transition period
which will be completed during March 2021.
Concurrently with the appointment of Mr Pekeski, the Chairman of Fidelity, Mr Bahay Ozcakmak,
has resigned from the Board, in order to focus on his executive responsibilities at Parkway Minerals
(ASX:PWN). The Board wishes to thank Mr Ozcakmak for his enormous contribution in steering
the Company through its successful turnaround, including the establishment of a diverse project
portfolio, which forms a strong foundation for future growth of the Company.
The Chairman of Lions Bay Capital (“ LBI”), John Byrne, a strategic shareholder of Fidelity
Minerals (21,229,811 shares for 42.9% of Fidelity Minerals), has accepted an invitation to join the
Fidelity Minerals Board as Chairman. Mr Byrne has extensive experience in building mining
companies and is acquainted with all aspects of the Company’s activities.
Mr. Pekeski is a motivated an d results -driven senior executive with more than 25 years of
international experience in mineral exploration and project development for both major and junior
companies. He has demonstrated multifaceted leadership building teams across cultures and
complex geographies. He has a proven track record of discovery and project development success
through key value hurdles that have unlocked shareholder value. He has successfully navigated
multiple large-scale Projects from concept through exploration, engineering studies, permitting, and
Project finance. From 1996 to 2008, Dean was an exploration geologist and project manager with
Rio Tinto where he explored for base metal and diamond deposits across Canada, Southern Africa,
and India. He led the Rio Tinto exploration team that discovered and evaluated the diamond bearing
Bunder kimberlites in India. After leaving Rio Tinto, Dean joined Western Potash Corp . where, as
Executive Vice President, he successfully managed the Milestone Potash Project in Saskatchewan
from discovery, through pre-feasibility, feasibility, environmental permitting, and project financing.
This Project has been constructed and is currently ramping up production. From January 2016 until
September 2020, Dean was Vice President Project Development for Peak Minerals Inc. (formerly
Crystal Peak Minerals) and was responsible for successfully delivering a Feasibility Study and BLM
permits for the Sevier Playa Potash Project. Since September 2020, Dean has held the position of
President and CEO of Peak Minerals, now a wholly owned subsidiary of EMR Capital. Dean holds
a degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Western Ontario and is a registered Professional
Geologist based in Canada.
John Byrne has 40 years of experience in the natural resource industry as a financial analyst, investor
and mine developer. He formed Cambrian Mining Plc in 2002 with net assets of £1.4 million and
before being acquired in 2008 had net assets of GBP£149 mi llion. John has been Chairman and
CEO of numerous successful resource companies, including Western Coal Corp which was
capitalised at less than C$1 million when he joined, and was sold for C$3.3billion in 2010. He is a
founder of Lions Bay Capital, the Company’s largest shareholder.
Mr. Bahay Ozcakmak, commented: " The changes we announce today are the result of an orderly
succession process that is being implemented to ensure the Board is strongly aligned with ensuring
the continued creation and eventual liberation of value inherent in our existing project portfolio.
Through the appointment of both Dean and John to the Board, two seasoned resource sector
professionals, I am confident the Company will benefit enormously from the experience they will
bring to their new roles.”
Mr. Ozcakmak acknowledged Mr. Graham: " On behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our
sincere appreciation and gratitude to Ian for his hard work and dedication at Fidelity over several
years. I have enjoyed working closely with Ian to successfully guide the Company through an intense
24-month corporate transformation which has now positioned the Company for significant growth
and success. We thank Ian for working with Dean to ensure a smooth transition of the CEO
position."
Mr. Graham commented: "I am thrilled to have Dean join the board of Fidelity Minerals as CEO;
having worked with Dean at Rio Tinto and at Western Potash, I am familiar with the vision, focus
and energy he brings to his business activities. I am pleased that Dean immediately recognised the
compelling value proposition inherent in our projects, and he has already identified key aspects that
will drive better market recognition of our assets. I am confident that Dean and John will co-
ordinate a significant re-rating of our Company. John, Dean, you have my 100% support!”
Mr. Pekeski commented: "I am excited about the opportunity to join Fidelity. The Project portfolio
assembled is compelling and I look forward to working closely with our Board on delineating
substantial copper, gold, and silver resources to fully realize the value potential of Fidelity’s assets
in Peru."
About Fidelity Minerals Corp.
Fidelity Minerals Corp. is assembling and advancing a portfolio of high- quality mining assets in
Peru through the implementation of our Strategic Project Generator (SPG) model. The project
generator model involves the identification and acquisition of appraisal stage opportunities with
near-term valuation catalysts, including potential for high-impact M&A. The company is backed by
an experienced management team with diverse technical, market, and commercial expertise and is
supported by committed and sophisticated investors focused on building long term value.
On behalf of the Board of Fidelity Minerals;
Ian Graham
CEO and Director
Tel: +1.604.671.1353
Email: [email protected]
NEITHER THE 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 NEWS RELEASE.
Disclaimer & Forward -Looking Statements: This news release contains forward- looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future events or future financial performance. In some
cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of terminology such as “may”, “should”, “intend”,
“expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “project”, “predict”, “potential”, or “continue” or the
negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements speak only as of the date of this news
release. This news release may also contain inferences to future oriented financial information (“FOFI”) within
the meaning of applicable securities laws. The information in this news release has been prepared by our
management to provide readers with an outlook for our future activities, and addresses the anticipated key roles
to be filled following certain executive personnel changes.