Mining Industry Titans to Award $1 Million in Prizes for Canada's Next Potential Gold Discovery
Integra Gold Announces the Gold Rush Challenge Finalists
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - March 02, 2016) - Integra Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: ICG)(OTCQX: ICGQF) ("Integra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Gold Rush Challenge technical judging panel has selected five finalists to go head-to-head "shark tank style" against industry titans to win their share of the $1 million prize. The sold-out, live finale charity event will take place on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at the Carlu in Toronto during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention.
The Emcee at the Live Finale will be renowned Canadian actor/comedian Shaun Majumder. Shaun is well known to audiences for his role in 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes', humorous stand-up comedy on stages around the world and his roles in several Hollywood comedies.
The Gold Rush Challenge five finalists in alphabetical order are:
- The Data Miners, hailing from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Québec City and The University of British Columbia, are the next generation of explorers who leveraged powerful machine-learning algorithms from artificial intelligence alongside solid geological knowledge to bring a fresh new look to mineral exploration.
- The Goldcrushers are passionate about the art and science of mineral discovery. This team of Australian and Ghanaian geoscientists, with a diversity of backgrounds and expertise, built an "Intelligence Amplified" roadmap to fast-track discovery.
- GoldRX, gold researchers from the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at The University of British Columbia, brought together international gold targeting experience with GIS and spatial analytical skills to identify opportunity hiding in the shadows of headframes.
- Paul Pearson, an Australian 'data hound,' approaches geology like detective work. His 30 years of field and underground mine experience getting his hands dirty offered a strong geological reality check to his 3D data analysis, enabling him to explore and find new mining frontiers.
- SGS Geostat, a Québec-based geological consulting team, used sophisticated geostatistical methods to drive data into an expansive and unbiased block model. A prospectivity scoring system harnessed both geological knowledge and machine learning, a subfield of artificial intelligence, to identify high value targets, which were then vetted through Augmented Reality with Oculus Rift technology.
For more information on team members, please see below.
"The technical judging panel worked through over 100 submissions and were extremely impressed by the technological breakthroughs they saw. We believe these submissions have the ability to unlock the hidden potential at Sigma-Lamaque, and offer a revolutionary approach to exploration and discovery in the mining industry," stated George Salamis, Executive Chairman, Integra Gold. "We congratulate all of the participants and are very impressed by their hard work, innovative thinking and resourcefulness. We look forward to seeing the final five take on the industry titans this Sunday night."
The Government of Canada has congratulated Integra Gold on such a creative approach to finding the next great gold discovery in Val-d'Or, citing the Gold Rush Challenge as a terrific example of the kind of innovative thinking we need in the mining sector.
"Canada has a remarkable story to tell on mineral exploration and mining innovation, environmental stewardship, Indigenous engagement and corporate social responsibility. With initiatives like this challenge -- and the incredible creativity demonstrated by the finalists - I'm more confident than ever in the future of mineral exploration and mining in Canada," stated the Honourable Jim Carr, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources. "Our government wants to ensure that Canada's resource sectors remain a source of jobs, prosperity, and opportunity in a world that increasingly values sustainable practices and low-carbon processes."
Luc Blanchette, Québec's Minister for Mines, the Minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscaminque and Nord-du-Québec regions, will be in attendance at the live finale event.
"The Gold Rush Challenge offers exceptional visibility for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. Above all, it highlights the major mineral potential of the Abitibi belt and demonstrates the importance for the mining sector of acquiring geo-scientific data," stated Luc Blanchette, Québec Minister for Mines, Minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, and Minister responsible for the Nord-du-Québec region "The gold-bearing potential of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region was confirmed many years ago. This is reflected more specifically in the operations of the Sigma and Lamaque mines, which have produced over 9 million ounces of gold in the course of their history."
Deciding the fate of the five finalists will be industry titans Brent Cook, economic geologist and BNN commentator; Chantal Gosselin, director of Silver Wheaton Corp., mining engineer, former resource fund Manager and Val-d'Or local; Rob McEwen, founder of Goldcorp Inc. and McEwen Mining Inc.; Sean Roosen, Chairman & CEO of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.; and Randy Smallwood, CEO of Silver Wheaton Corp. The finalists will have 7 minutes to pitch and defend their idea on how to make the next major gold discovery in Val-d'Or, Québec.
The prize of CAD $1,000,000, will be divided among the top five finalists and 20 semi-finalists. The winner will receive $500,000, second place $150,000, third place $80,000, while fourth and fifth will receive $50,000 each. Prizes will be awarded based on the highest probability location for a major gold discovery as determined by the technical judge panel and in addition to presentation skill and overall merit as determined by the industry titans.
Proceeds from the evening will go to a variety of Val-d'Or based charities.
Meet the finalists
- The Data Miners. Vincent Dubé-Bourgeois (team captain), Antoine Caté, William Oswald, Fabien Rabayrol, Nathalie Schnitzler and Sarane Sterckx are geology students who are currently working on either their masters or PhDs in various fields. All members have experience in exploration from a variety of Canadian companies or Canadian/Provincial geological surveys, serving as either a junior geologist or consultant.
- The Goldcrushers. Affiliated with Corporate Geoscience Group (CGSG), Kwesi Appiah, Amanda Buckingham, Oliver Kreuzer (team captain), John Mortimer, Greg Walker, and Andy Wilde bring field experience from around the globe with different companies, leading mining, metal and hydrocarbon exploration and structural, generative and corporate geology efforts. With over 130 years of collective experience, they have a proven track record of delivering successful outcomes to clients, including involvement in many significant discoveries.
- GoldRX. Craig Hart, Director of the MRDRU since 2009, has more than 25 years of experience mapping and evaluating the regional geological settings of mineral districts in the Cordillera, mostly with the Yukon Geological Survey. Sara Jenkins, GIS Specialist at the MDRU, has been involved with the cartographic and data management aspects of mineral deposit research for the past 5 years, focusing primarily on projects throughout the Yukon, British Columbia, the Tethyan metallogenic belts, and South America.
- Paul Pearson. Paul boasts diverse practical structural geology experience throughout the Americas and Australasia with expertise in design and leadership of successful exploration programs for mineral and hydrocarbons in a wide range of geological environments. Paul is currently running an Australian-based global geology consultancy, Latin Global Structural Geology, integrating 3D structural geology with mineral resource models to provide shortcuts to discovery.
- SGS Geostat. Team captain Guy Desharnais and Jean-Philippe Paiement are exploration geologists and resource estimation experts. Doug Hatfield is a chemical engineer and geometallurgist with experience solving problems through machine learning techniques. Team members also included: Nicolas Babin, Claude Bisaillon, Yann Camus, Maxime Dupéré, Amanda Landriault, Lyne Maître, Patrick Perez and Nicolas Poupart.
About the Integra Gold Rush Challenge
The Integra Gold Rush Challenge is an incentive prize challenge powered by the popular HeroX (www.herox.com) crowdsourcing platform. HeroX is a spin-off of XPRIZE, the leading organization solving the world's 'Grand Challenges' by creating and managing large-scale, high profile, incentivized prize competitions. After registering for the Challenge, challengers from any background or country were given access to an unprecedented database built from six terabytes and 75 years of historic mining and exploration data from Integra Gold's formerly producing Sigma/Lamaque mines in Val-d'Or, Québec. The individual or group whose submission represents the best prospect for the next big gold discovery on the Sigma/Lamaque properties, based on a weighted set of criteria as outlined in the Challenge rules (www.herox.com/IntegraGoldRush), wins their share of the C$1 million prize and a shot at notoriety. For more information: www.integragold.com/goldrush.
About Integra Gold
Integra Gold is a junior gold exploration company advancing projects in Val-d'Or, Québec, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world. The Company's primary focus is its high-grade Lamaque South project. In 2014, Integra completed the accretive acquisition of the Sigma Mill and Mine Complex, a fully permitted 2,200 ton per day mill and tailings facility. With major federal and provincial permits in place, existing infrastructure and exploration potential, this acquisition removed major costs and shortened timelines typically associated with mine projects. With a current market capitalization of $160 million, Integra has raised over $75 million since 2013 despite depressed gold prices. In February 2016, Eldorado Gold Corp. completed a strategic investment in Integra, acquiring 15% of the outstanding common shares. Integra's stock is up 18% year-to-date and 34% over the last twelve months, outpacing the price of gold, the benchmark S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index and the Dow Jones junior gold index. Integra was recently named to the TSX Venture top 50 performers in 2015 and the OTCQX Best 50 award for 2015.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stephen de Jong
CEO & President
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking statements, including timing of completion of an updated resource estimate, timing of completion of an updated PEA and completion of the Sigma-Lamaque transaction. In making the forward-looking statements in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company, including that the Company is able to obtain any government or other regulatory approvals, that the Company is able to procure personnel, equipment and supplies required for its exploration and development activities in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis and that actual results are consistent with management's expectations. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, among others, those matters identified in its continuous disclosure filings, including its most recently filed MD&A. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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#2270 -1055 West Georgia Street
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Email: chris@integragold.com
www.integragold.com
Contact
Gold Rush Contact
Mark Stockton
Integra Gold Corp.
604-629-0891
mark@integragold.com
Media Contact
Morgan Murphy
Smithcom Ltd.
(416)-629-2143
morgan.murphy@smithcom.ca
Corporate Inquiries:
Chris Gordon
Integra Gold Corp.
604-629-0891
chris@integragold.com
