Stornoway Diamond Corporation
(TSX:SWY)
(the “Corporation” or “Stornoway”)
is pleased to announce the results of the vote at its annual
general meeting of shareholders held on May 9, 2017 in Montréal,
Québec.
Each of the director nominees proposed by
management for election was elected to the Board of Directors,
without a vote by ballot being conducted. Stornoway received
proxies with regard to voting on the nine directors nominated for
election as set forth below:
NOMINEE |
VOTES FOR |
% VOTES FOR |
VOTES WITHHELD |
% VOTES WITHHELD |
Godin, Patrick |
388,477,976 |
99.29 |
2,787,672 |
0.71 |
Kyle, Hume |
390,258,712 |
99.74 |
1,006,936 |
0.26 |
LeBoutillier, John |
382,955,275 |
97.88 |
8,310,373 |
2.12 |
Manson, Matthew |
388,389,569 |
99.26 |
2,876,079 |
0.74 |
Morin, Gaston |
389,149,286 |
99.46 |
2,116,362 |
0.54 |
Nixon, Peter |
388,865,170 |
99.39 |
2,402,478 |
0.61 |
Scherkus, Ebe |
390,685,141 |
99.85 |
582,507 |
0.15 |
Silver, Douglas B. |
387,369,293 |
99.00 |
3,898,355 |
1.00 |
Tawil, Marie-Anne |
387,282,441 |
98.98 |
3,985,207 |
1.02 |
Mr. Ebe Scherkus has been re-appointed as
Chairman of the Board, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has been
re-appointed as auditor for the ensuing year.
Final voting results on all matters voted on at
the annual general meeting of shareholders will be published
shortly on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and
Retrieval ("SEDAR") website at www.sedar.com.
About the Renard Diamond
Mine
The Renard Diamond Mine is Quebec’s first
producing diamond mine and Canada’s sixth. It is located
approximately 250 km north of the Cree community of Mistissini and
350 km north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of
north-central Québec. Construction on the project commenced on July
10, 2014, and commercial production was declared on January 1,
2017. Average annual diamond production is forecast at 1.8 million
carats per annum over the first 10 years of mining. Readers are
referred to the technical report dated January 11, 2016, in respect
of the September 2015 Mineral Resource estimate, and the technical
report dated March 30, 2016, in respect of the March 2016 Updated
Mine Plan and Mineral Reserve Estimate for further details and
assumptions relating to the project.
About Stornoway Diamond
Corporation
Stornoway is a leading Canadian diamond
exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol SWY and headquartered in Montreal. Our
flagship asset is the 100% owned Renard Diamond Project, Québec’s
first diamond mine. Stornoway is a growth oriented company with a
world-class asset, in one of the world’s best mining jurisdictions,
in one of the world’s great mining businesses.
On behalf of the BoardSTORNOWAY DIAMOND
CORPORATION/s/ “Matt Manson”Matt MansonPresident and Chief
Executive
For more information, please contact Matt Manson
(President and CEO) at 416-304-1026 x2101or Orin Baranowsky
(Interim CFO, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate
Development) at 416-304-1026 x2103 or toll free at
1-877-331-2232
Pour plus d’information, veuillez contacter M.
Ghislain Poirier, Vice-président Affaires publiques de
Stornoway au 418-254-6550, gpoirier@stornowaydiamonds.com
** Website: www.stornowaydiamonds.com Email:
info@stornowaydiamonds.com **
This press release contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation.
This information and these statements, referred to herein as
“forward-looking statements”, are made as of the date of this press
release and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume
any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except
as required by law.
These forward-looking statements relate to
future events or future performance and include, among others,
statements with respect to Stornoway’s objectives for the ensuing
year, our medium and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve
those objectives and goals, as well as statements with respect to
our management’s beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations,
estimates, intentions and future outlook and anticipated events or
results. Although management considers these
assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently
available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
Forward-looking statements made in this press
release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect
to: (i) the amount of Mineral Reserves, Mineral Resources and
exploration targets; (ii) the amount of future production over
any period; (iii) net present value and internal rates of
return of the mining operation; (iv) assumptions relating to
recovered grade, size distribution and quality of diamonds, average
ore recovery, internal dilution, mining dilution and other mining
parameters set out in the 2016 Technical Report as well as levels
of diamond breakage; (v) assumptions relating to gross
revenues, cost of sales, cash cost of production, gross margins
estimates, planned and projected capital expenditure, liquidity and
working capital requirements; (vi) mine expansion potential
and expected mine life; (vii) expected time frames for
completion of permitting and regulatory approvals related to
ongoing construction activities at the Renard Diamond Mine;
(viii) the expected time frames for the completion of the
open pit and underground mine at the Renard Diamond Mine; (ix) the
expected time frames for the ramp-up and achievement of plant
nameplate capacity of the Renard Diamond Mine (x) the
expected financial obligations or costs incurred by Stornoway
in connection with the ongoing development of the Renard Diamond
Mine; (xi) future exploration plans; (xii) future market
prices for rough diamonds; (xiii) the economic benefits of
using liquefied natural gas rather than diesel for power
generation; (xiv) sources of and anticipated financing
requirements; (xv) the effectiveness, funding or availability,
as the case may require, of the Senior Secured Loan and the
remaining Equipment Facility and the use of proceeds therefrom;
(xvi) the Corporation’s ability to meet its Subject Diamonds
Interest delivery obligations under the Purchase and Sale
Agreement; (xvii) the impact of the Financing Transactions on
the Corporation’s operations, infrastructure, opportunities,
financial condition, access to capital and overall strategy;
(xviii) the foreign exchange rate between the US dollar and the
Canadian dollar; and (xix) the availability of excess funding for
the operation of the Renard Diamond Mine. 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”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “projects”,
“estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategy”, “goals”,
“objectives”, “schedule” or variations thereof or stating that
certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”
or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of
these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are made based upon
certain assumptions by Stornoway or its consultants and other
important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results,
performances or achievements of Stornoway to be materially
different from future results, performances or achievements
expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and
information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and
future business prospects and strategies and the environment in
which Stornoway will operate in the future, including the recovered
grade, size distribution and quality of diamonds, average ore
recovery, internal dilution, and levels of diamond breakage, the
price of diamonds, anticipated costs and Stornoway’s ability to
achieve its goals, anticipated financial performance, regulatory
developments, development plans, exploration, development and
mining activities and commitments, and the foreign exchange rate
between the US and Canadian dollars. Although management considers
its assumptions on such matters to be reasonable based on
information currently available to it, they may prove to be
incorrect. Certain important assumptions by Stornoway or its
consultants in making forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to: (i) required capital investment and estimated
workforce requirements; (ii) estimates of net present value
and internal rates of return; (iii) recovered grade, size
distribution and quality of diamonds, average ore recovery,
internal dilution, mining dilution and other mining parameters set
out in the 2016 Technical Report as well as levels of diamond
breakage, (iv) receipt of regulatory approvals on acceptable terms
within commonly experienced time frames; (v) anticipated
timelines for ramp-up and achievement of nameplate capacity at the
Renard Diamond Mine, (vi) anticipated timelines for the development
of an open pit and underground mine at the Renard Diamond Mine;
(vii) anticipated geological formations; (viii) market prices
for rough diamonds and their potential impact on the Renard Diamond
Mine; (ix) the satisfaction or waiver of all conditions under the
Senior Secured Loan and the remaining Equipment Facility to allow
the Corporation to draw on the funding available under those
financing elements; (x) Stornoway’s interpretation of the
geological drill data collected and its potential impact on stated
Mineral Resources and mine life; (xi) future exploration plans and
objectives; (xii) the Corporation’s ability to meet its
Subject Diamonds Interest delivery obligations under the Purchase
and Sale Agreement; and (xiii) the continued strength of the US
dollar against the Canadian dollar.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and
specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections
and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that
assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers
not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements as
a number of important risk factors could cause the actual outcomes
to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors
may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and
estimates expressed above do not occur, including the assumption in
many forward-looking statements that other forward-looking
statements will be correct, but specifically include, without
limitation: (i) risks relating to variations in the grade,
size distribution and quality of diamonds, kimberlite lithologies
and country rock content within the material identified as Mineral
Resources from that predicted; (ii) variations in rates of
recovery and levels of diamond breakage; (iii) the uncertainty
as to whether further exploration of exploration targets will
result in the targets being delineated as Mineral Resources;
(iv) developments in world diamond markets; (v) slower
increases in diamond valuations than assumed; (vi) risks
relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other
currencies relative to the US dollar; (vii) increases in the
costs of proposed capital, operating and sustainable capital
expenditures; (viii) increases in financing costs or adverse
changes to the terms of available financing, if any; (ix) tax
rates or royalties being greater than assumed; (x) uncertainty
of results of exploration in areas of potential expansion of
resources; (xi) changes in development or mining plans due to
changes in other factors or exploration results; (xii) risks
relating to the receipt of regulatory approvals or the
implementation of the existing Impact and Benefits Agreement with
aboriginal communities; (xiii) the effects of competition in
the markets in which Stornoway operates; (xiv) operational and
infrastructure risks; (xv) execution risk relating to the
development of an operating mine at the Renard Diamond Mine;
(xvi) failure to satisfy the conditions to the funding or
availability, as the case may require, of the Senior Secured Loan
and the Equipment Facility; (xvii) changes in the terms of the
Forward Sale of Diamonds, the Senior Secured Loan or the Equipment
Facility; (xviii) the funds of the Senior Secured Loan or the
Equipment Facility not being available to the Corporation;
(xix) the Corporation being unable to meet its Subject
Diamonds Interest delivery obligations under the Purchase and Sale
Agreement; (xx) future sales or issuances of Common Shares
lowering the Common Share price and diluting the interest of
existing shareholders; and (xxi) the additional risk factors
described herein and in Stornoway’s annual and interim MD&A’s,
most recently filed AIF, its other disclosure documents and
Stornoway’s anticipation of and success in managing the foregoing
risks. Stornoway cautions that the foregoing list of factors that
may affect future results is not exhaustive and new, unforeseeable
risks may arise from time to time.
Contact:
Matt Manson (President and CEO)
416-304-1026 x2101
Orin Baranowsky (Interim CFO, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development)
416-304-1026 x2103
toll free 1-877-331-2232
Website: www.stornowaydiamonds.com
Email: info@stornowaydiamonds.com