APPOINTS CHRIS BRADBROOK TO THE BOARD AND ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF TECHNICAL ADVISORY TEAM
Vancouver, British Columbia, March10, 2022– Ranchero Gold Corp. (“Ranchero” or the “Company”) (TSX.V:RNCH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Bradbrook and Brian Szeto, the Company’s President, to its Board of Directors (“Board”). As part of the Company’s planned transition, Steve Ristorcelli will be stepping down from the Board, but will remain involved with the Company’s exploration programs at Santa Daniela as part of Ranchero’s newly formed Technical Advisory team. The Company is also pleased to announce the addition of Ken Balleweg to its Technical Advisory team.
Gustavo Mazon, Chairman of Ranchero stated: “We are extremely pleased to appoint Chris Bradbrook and Brian Szeto to the Board during a very exciting time in the growth phase of Ranchero. Chris is a seasoned and well-respected mining executive where he has founded and led many successful publicly listed mining companies resulting in significant shareholder value creation over his 35 years in the industry. His significant experience in the matters of strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and corporate governance will be invaluable towards the future success of the Company.”
“The formation of a Technical Advisory team is a confirmation of our commitment to continue to unlock the exciting exploration upside of Santa Daniela and as we continue to demonstrate that it is a world class asset in the making. Ken’s extensive experience in the district and past exploration success – including the delineation of two million ounces of reserves at the neighboring Mulatos Gold Mine – will be instrumental towards unlocking the blue-sky potential of Santa Daniela. Our senior exploration team, consisting of Bill Pincus, Ken Balleweg, and Steve Ristorcelli, now boasts more than 110 years of geological and exploration experience that has led to the discovery of many important gold deposits in the mining space in the past 40 years.”
A grant of incentive stock options to acquire a total of 300,000 common shares of the Company to its new director and advisor will been made pursuant to its stock option plan and subject to any regulatory approval. Each stock option is exercisable at a price of C$0.29 per share for a period of five years from the grant date.
Detailed biographies of the Company’s new Board members and Technical Advisory team are provided below.
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
Chris Bradbrook is a mining professional whose career has spanned more than 35 years, and has generated a unique combination of experience and expertise. His principal roles have encompassed many aspects of the mining industry including financing, strategic planning, exploration, mine development, corporate development work, financial analysis, investor relations and marketing.
Among his most significant roles, he was founder, and former President and CEO, of Superior Gold, founder and board member of Crocodile Gold (now Agnico Eagle Mines), board member for Rubicon Minerals (now Evolution Mining), founder and former President and CEO of New Gold, and former Vice President, Corporate Development of Goldcorp (now Newmont). He was also involved in the discovery and development of the Williams Mine in Hemlo, Ontario. Chris has been personally involved in raising more than C$1 billion in public and private equity markets.
Mr. Bradbrook has both an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Geology.
Brian Szeto is currently the President of Ranchero. He is an accomplished mining executive with more than 20 years of experience in mining and finance gained from a series of progressively senior management roles with a TSX listed gold producer and leading independent brokerages in Canada.
Prior to joining Ranchero, Mr. Szeto was most recently a senior mining executive at a TSX listed producer and oversaw the development and construction of three mining operations in Western Australia. He was previously a Mining Analyst at a leading independent brokerage where Thomson Reuters recognized him as the top ranked Stock Picker in Metals and Mining in Canada in 2015. He was also the third ranked Stock Picker in Metals and Mining in Canada in 2016. Prior to being a top ranked Analyst, he held roles with National Bank Financial, Deloitte & Touché, and the Government of Ontario and was responsible for private and public transactions ranging up to C$1 billion.
Mr. Szeto holds a Joint Honors Degree in Economics and Business, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo, in addition to being a CFA Charterholder.
TECHNICAL ADVISORY TEAM
Ken Balleweg is a seasoned exploration geologist with more than 30 years of exploration and production experience, including 20 years in Mexico. He held the position at Placer Dome as Senior Project Geologist at the Cortez and Getchell Mines (Nevada) where his work at the Cortez/Pipeline complex led to the discovery of the Gold Rush deposit which eventually evolved into a 10 million ounce deposit.
In Mexico, his positions included five years as Placer Dome’s Mexico Mine Exploration Manager for the Mulatos project. Subsequently, he held positions with Alamos Gold over a 14-year period in progressively senior management roles including serving as Alamos Gold’s Vice President, Exploration. His exploration successes while at Mulatos resulted in an addition of over two million ounces of gold reserves (five million ounces of gold resources). His expertise is primarily centered on volcanic-hosted epithermal gold deposits, particularly high and low sulphidation deposits, as well as Carlin-type systems.
He has a B.Sc. in Geological Engineering and M.Sc. in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines, and is a registered professional geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
Steve Ristorcelli has over 40 years of experience in minerals exploration and development. For the last 29 years, he has been a Principal of Mine Development Associates. His primary focus has been in deposit modeling, identifying and correcting sampling problems, conducting geologic evaluations, and directing exploration programs. He is classified as a ‘Qualified Person’ for Canadian Securities Exchanges. He has worked with a wide variety of commodities including but not limited to gold, silver, copper, base metals, cobalt.
ABOUT RANCHERO GOLD
Ranchero is a gold exploration and development company currently focused on its 100%-owned Santa Daniela project located in Sonora, Mexico. The Santa Daniela project consists of a large land package in excess of 22,200 hectares within Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental – a newly emerging goldbelt. The Santa Daniela project is also near a number of major gold mining operations in the region. Maíz Azul is the Company’s most advanced prospect where exploration efforts are underway.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company:
William Pincus
Chief Executive Officer and Director
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
William Pincus
Chief Executive Officer and Director
+1 303 589 3734
info@rancherogold.com
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate” “plans”, “estimates” or “intends” or stating that certain actions, events or results “ may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, the final acceptance of the TSXV to the Transaction.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks related to regulatory approval, including the approval of the TSXV. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statement will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipate in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.