Benchmark Appoints VP and Begins Engineering and Development Work Towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment
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Edmonton, September 29, 2020 - Benchmark Metals Inc. (TSXV: BNCH) (OTCQB: BNCHF) (WKN: A2JM2X) (the "Company" or "Benchmark") is pleased to announce both the appointment of Mr. Ian Harris as Vice-President of Engineering and the engagement of JDS Energy & Mining Inc (JDS) as lead consultant to advance its flagship Lawyers Gold-Silver Project toward a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). In parallel, Benchmark is proceeding with advanced metallurgy, geotechnical, environmental baseline and permitting work. Building on its success in partnering with First Nations (see press release July 30, 2020), Benchmark intends to work closely and proactively with Partner Nations in the PEA and related studies to best prepare and design the project for environmental assessment entry with support from Partner Nations.
John Williamson, CEO, commented, "Benchmark has assembled a heavy-weight development team with a builder mentality to rapidly advance the Lawyers Project with a vision beyond PEA, running multiple ESG and engineering programs in parallel to reduce the critical path to a production decision. The addition of Ian Harris and JDS Engineering has created a formidable team who have developed, built and operated mines of a similar scope and scale. Together, they will coordinate a world-class consulting team including: Knight Piésold Consulting, Halyard Engineering, P&E Mining Consultants, F.Wright Consulting, APEX Geoscience Ltd., and One-eighty Consulting Group."
Mr. Harris is an accomplished senior mining executive with over 20 years' experience in leading worldwide mining projects with companies such as Washington Group, Asarco, and Corriente Resources. Mr. Harris was educated at Virginia Tech, USA as a Mining Engineer and is a member of the Virginia Tech Advisory Board for the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering. He has mining and management experience in over 20 countries with a wide range of surface and underground mining methods, commodities, project phases and sizes, successfully advancing projects in some of the most challenging environments. Mr. Harris has strong experience in project development, construction, restarts and commissioning facilities, including open-pit, underground and processing operations. Previously he was CEO of AMAK Mining the first private mining operation in Saudi Arabia. In addition, he was Senior VP and Country Manager of Corriente Resources in Ecuador where he was responsible for the project advancement and directly involved in the negotiations that led to the sale of the company for $690 million. Corriente's Mirador project went on to become the first large scale mining operation in the history of Ecuador.
The JDS team for Benchmark is comprised of seasoned professionals that have successfully designed, constructed and operated similar projects, enabling them to quickly identify appropriate solutions suited to British Columbia and a vision of future production even in the PEA stage. JDS was founded in 2004 by Jeff Stibbard and has grown to become a diverse set of skilled and highly experienced mining and construction professionals. With a proven record of providing clients with fit-for-purpose solutions and value delivery, JDS has acquired a reputation for delivering and executing project plans on budget, on time, and most importantly, safely. The JDS team prides itself on delivering project concepts from inception to full operations - a process it has executed seamlessly for operations throughout Canada and the world, including the Tulsequah Chief, Silvertip, Kutcho, Red Mountain, Huckleberry, and Gibraltar Mine in British Colombia, the Minto and Eagle Gold Mines in the Yukon, the Gahcho Kue Mine located in the Northwest Territories, and the currently under construction Madsen Mine in Red Lake, Ontario.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc, P.Geol., P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Benchmark Metals
Benchmark Metals Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on proving and developing the substantial resource potential of the Lawyer's Gold-Silver Project, located in the prolific Golden Horseshoe of northern British Columbia, Canada. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the OTCQX Venture Market in the United States, and the Tradegate Exchange in Europe. Benchmark is managed by proven resource sector professionals, who have a track record of advancing exploration projects from grassroots scenarios through to production.
Benchmark is part of the Metals Group of companies, managed by an award-winning team of professionals who stand for technical excellence, painstaking project selection and uncompromising corporate governance, with a proven ability to identify and capitalize on investment opportunities and deliver shareholder returns.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
s/ "John Williamson"
John Williamson, Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Jim Greig
Email: jimg@BNCHmetals.com
Telephone: +1 604 260 6977
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This news release may contain certain "forward looking statements". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
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