Eco Oro Minerals Announces Executive Appointment and Establishment of Technical Advisory Committee

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VANCOUVER, July 9, 2014 /CNW/ - Eco Oro Minerals Corp. ("Eco Oro" or the "Company") (TSX: EOM) is pleased to announce that, further to the Company's news release of May 2, 2014 wherein the Company announced the appointment of Anna Stylianides as the Company's Interim President & CEO, the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Ms. Stylianides as President & CEO, removing "Interim" from her title. Ms. Stylianides is also Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. The Company also announces that it has established a Technical Advisory Committee to assist the Company's Board of Directors with geological, engineering and related technical matters and has appointed Stuart Smith and Callum Grant to the Committee.

Ms. Stylianides has 20 years of experience in the global capital markets having spent much of the career in investment banking, private equity, and corporate management and restructuring.  She began her career in corporate law by joining the firm of Webber Wentzel Attorneys in 1990 after graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1992 she joined Investec Merchant Bank Limited where she specialized in risk management and gained extensive experience in the areas of corporate finance and structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, structuring, specialized finance and other banking and financial services transactions. She was also involved in designing and structuring of financial products for financial institutions and corporations. Since 1997, Ms. Stylianides has been a director of and has been engaged in the financial restructuring of certain Nasdaq publicly-traded companies and has extensive knowledge of Canadian and SEC securities regulations. Ms. Stylianides continues to work extensively with private equity investors in structuring transactions in the banking, construction and mining industries. She has worked extensively in structuring and implementing corporate and structured finance transactions in the mining, banking and bio science sectors. Additionally, Ms. Stylianides was previously a director and CEO of Surgical Spaces Inc. Group of Companies and has been instrumental in overseeing its national expansion strategy as Canada's private healthcare consolidator. The group was successfully sold to Centric Health a TSX-listed company in 2011.  Ms. Stylianides has had numerous board appointments, including Callinan Royalties and the Fraser Institute.

Juan Esteban Orduz, Co-Chair and Lead Director of Eco Oro's Board of Directors, commented: "We are very pleased that Anna has accepted the role of President & CEO of Eco Oro. Anna has had years of significant corporate finance and capital markets knowledge and experience and has successfully participated in the industry as a director for numerous mining companies. Anna intimately understands the complexity of the junior mining sector and has successfully chaired the Board of Directors of Eco Oro for the last three years. We look forward to her steady leadership as the Company awaits the final coordinates of the Santurbán Páramo from the Colombian authorities".

Anna Stylianides, President & CEO, commented: "We are extremely pleased to welcome Stuart Smith and Callum Grant to the newly formed Technical Advisory Committee of Eco Oro. Stuart and Callum are very important appointments for Eco Oro as they bring extensive experience and add the necessary technical leadership and depth to our team." Ms. Stylianides also stated: "We have the utmost respect for their years of experience and accomplishments and look forward to leveraging their extensive knowledge and technical assistance in cohesively managing the technical strategy in the future development of Angostura and the Company's other assets. It is the Company' ongoing objective to unlock the value for all its shareholders and stakeholders alike."

Stuart Smith is a metallurgical engineer having spent some 30 years working predominantly in the primary gold processing sector. He has worked in operations, design, commissioning, study management as well as providing consulting services for numerous clients both in his time working for engineering groups and more recently as a freelance consultant.  Mr. Smith has been involved in the development, design, optimisation, review or operation of over different 50 gold projects in some 25 countries. Mr. Smith has held positions with Minproc Engineers (now AMEC) and Ausenco, among other firms. He is currently Technical Director for Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, Technical Manager for Minera IRL, Technical Director for Metifex as well as advisory metallurgist for Sandspring Resources and West African Resources.

Callum Grant, P. Eng., is a professional geologist and mining engineer with a broad technical background in the minerals industry from exploration to production and with significant experience in resource development and mine operations in Latin America. Mr. Grant has held senior positions with several international operating and engineering companies in North and South America and has a particularly relevant background in the design and development of open and underground projects. Mr. Grant is currently an independent consulting engineer focussed on gold projects in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

Company Profile

Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is a publicly-traded precious metals exploration and development company with a portfolio of projects in Colombia. Eco Oro has been focused on its wholly-owned, multi-million ounce Angostura gold-silver deposit, located in northeastern Colombia, for over 18 years during which time it has been a significant employer and stakeholder in the region and in that of the surrounding communities.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release are "forward-looking" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. They include statements about the delineation of the boundaries of the Santurbán Páramo. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, political influence, government regulation as well as other risk factors set out under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Information Form dated March 6, 2014, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

SOURCE Eco Oro Minerals Corp.