VIOR INC. ("Vior" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:VIO)(OTCQB:VIORF)(FRA:VL51) is pleased to announce several significant changes to its leadership team, as the Corporation looks to execute on its ambitious growth plans.
Mathieu Savard, former President of Osisko Mining Inc. ("Osisko Mining"), will join Vior as it's new President and CEO, effective January 15, 2025, and has been appointed to the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Pascal Simard, former Vice-President Exploration of Osisko Mining, has been appointed as Vice-President Exploration for Vior, effective January 15, 2025. Other immediate changes to Vior's Board of Directors include the appointments of Don Njegovan, President of Osisko Metals Incorporated and former Chief Operating Officer of Osisko Mining, and André Le Bel, Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.
Mark Fedosiewich, President and CEO of Vior since 2017, and Board member, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board, effective immediately, following the retirement of Vior's founder, Claude St-Jacques. Additionally, Éric Desaulniers and Pascal Simard will step down from the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Claude St-Jacques and Mr. Desaulniers will assume roles as strategic advisors to the Corporation.
Vior's President and CEO, Mark Fedosiewich, stated, "We are very excited to welcome this exceptional group of top-calibre mining executives to Vior's executive team and Board, along with the recent addition of Marian Moroney, former Vice-President Exploration, Asia Pacific with Barrick Gold Corp. This proven team has extensive industry experience, a strong track record of exploration success, project development, and creating shareholder value. Individually, each will bring special expertise and, collectively, they will make significant contributions to Vior that will aim to benefit all stakeholders, as the Corporation executes on its ambitious growth plans. On behalf of the Board and employees of the Corporation, I wish to thank Claude St-Jacques and Eric Desaulniers for their dedication and many contributions to the Vior Board over the years. We wish them well in their future endeavours. While we also thank Pascal Simard for his tenure on the Board, we are excited with his decision to join our executive team, as we set out to achieve our corporate objectives."
Mathieu Savard, incoming President, CEO and Board member, commented, "I am very excited to join Vior's team alongside my former colleagues from Osisko Mining as we begin this new journey. Our team has a significant track record of value creation through several discoveries and the development of two world-class gold deposits in Québec - first with Éléonore, and more recently with Windfall. We are eager to generate significant value for shareholders and stakeholders. We are convinced that Belleterre has the potential to become the next great mining story in Canada, as it shares several similarities with the early Windfall district project. It has been overlooked for years and exhibits high-grade gold mineralization at a district scale. We will be focusing our effort on advancing Belleterre to create momentum as we accelerate the growth plan of the Corporation. I want to thank Mark, Claude, and the Board of Directors for this opportunity to lead Vior."
Key Leadership Team Additions
Mathieu Savard - President & CEO and Board Member
Mathieu Savard served as President of Osisko Mining until its acquisition by Gold Fields Limited in October 2024, and prior to that, served as Senior Vice President Exploration at Osisko Mining Before joining Osisko Miningin 2016, Mr. Savard was a senior member of the Osisko James Bay Exploration, Virginia Mines Inc., and Virginia Gold Mines Inc. teams. Mr. Savard was a key member of the Virginia Gold Mines Inc. team that won the prestigious 2006 PDAC Bill Dennis Award for the discovery of the Éléonore gold deposit. Under his leadership, and together with Osisko Mining's management and exploration teams, he was again part of the team that won the 2024 PDAC Bill Dennis Award for the discovery of the Lynx Zone at Windfall. Mr. Savard is a professional geologist and member of the Ordre des Géologues du Québec and served as a director of the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association for 15 years, where he chaired the Board of Directors from 2019 to 2022. He has more than 25 years of experience in mineral exploration and holds a Bachelor's degree in Earth Sciences from Université du Québec à Montréal. He is also a director of Brunswick Exploration Inc. since December 2017.
Pascal Simard - Vice-President Exploration
Pascal Simard previously served as Vice-President, Exploration of Osisko Mining until its acquisition by Gold Fields Limited in October 2024, and prior to that served as Exploration Manager for 8 years. Before joining Osisko Mining, he worked with Virginia Mines Inc. and Cambior Inc. on projects in the Abitibi, James Bay, and Northern Quebec. Mr. Simard along with Osisko Mining's management and exploration teams, was part of the team that won the prestigious 2024 PDAC Bill Dennis Award for the discovery of the Lynx Zone at Windfall. Mr. Simard is a professional engineer with over 17 years of experience in Canadian mining exploration projects and graduated from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi with a Bachelor's degree in Geological Engineering, and is a member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec. He currently serves on the Board of the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (QMEA) and was a director of Vior until December 2024.
Don Njegovan - Board Member
Donald Njegovan is the current President of Osisko Metals Incorporated since December 2024, and has served as a director of Cornish Metals Inc. since October 2018. Formerly, he was Chief Operating Officer at Osisko Mining, until its acquisition by Gold Fields Limited in October 2024. Prior to that, he was a director of St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd., until it was acquired by Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (now Agnico Eagle Mines Limited) in 2016. He was a Managing Director of Investment Banking at Scotiabank Global Mining and Markets from August 2010 to June 2014. Prior to that, he was an investment banker at Toll Cross Securities Inc. from June 2005 to July 2010. Mr. Njegovan has over 25 years of experience in the mining industry, beginning his career in 1989, working underground for Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd (now HudBay Minerals Inc.). Mr. Njegovan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba.
André Le Bel - Board Member
André Le Bel is Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd since February 2015. Mr. Le Bel is also a director and a member of the Audit Committee of Brunswick Exploration Inc., a Montreal-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. From November 2007 to June 2014, Mr. Le Bel was Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary of Osisko Mining Corporation. He held similar positions with NioGold Mining Corp. from March 2015 to March 2016. From November 2015 to June 2022, he was Corporate Secretary of Falco Resources Ltd. and then Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary. He was also Corporate Secretary of Osisko Development Corp. from February 2021 to June 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Le Bel was Vice President Legal Affairs with IAMGOLD Corporation from November 2006 to October 2007 and before November 2006, Mr. Le Bel was Senior Legal Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary of Cambior Inc. He was also a director of RedQuest Capital Corp. until June 2017. Mr. Le Bel obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science from Université Laval and a Bachelor of Law from Sherbrooke University. He is a member of the Québec Bar and has obtained the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors in December 2017.
About Vior Inc.
Vior is a junior mineral exploration corporation based in the province of Quebec, Canada, whose corporate strategy is to generate, explore, and develop high-quality mineral projects in the proven and favourable mining jurisdiction of Quebec. Through the years, Vior's management and technical teams have demonstrated their ability to discover several gold deposits and many high-quality mineral projects.
Vior is rapidly advancing its flagship Belleterre Gold Project with the strategic support of Osisko Mining (now Windfall Mining Group Inc.). The Belleterre Gold Project is a promising district-scale project that includes Quebec's past-producing high-grade Belleterre gold mine. Vior has conducted extensive surface and compilation exploration at Belleterre and is currently executing on a +60,000-metre drill program. Vior is also actively developing its promising Skyfall Project in partnership with SOQUEM Inc., and has several other projects with multi-mineral potential.
For further information, please contact:
Mark Fedosiewich
President and CEO
613-898-5052
mfedosiewich@vior.ca
www.vior.ca
SEDAR+: Vior Inc.
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Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that the Corporation believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation, the planned exploration program on the Belleterre project, the expected positive exploration results, the timing of the exploration results, the ability of the Corporation to continue with the exploration program, the availability of the required funds to continue with the exploration program, and the approval from the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts ("MRNF") for the request for abandonment of the two mining concessions originally filed by 9293-0122 Québec Inc. (the previous owner of the two mining concessions). Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "to earn", "to have', "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to meet expected, estimated or planned exploration expenditures, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Corporation's expectations, general business and economic conditions, changes in world gold markets, sufficient labour and equipment being available, changes in laws and permitting requirements, unanticipated weather changes, title disputes and claims, environmental risks, the refusal by the MRNF to approve the request for abandonment of the two mining concessions held by the Corporation, as well as those risks identified in the Corporation's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and those risks set out in the Corporation's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.
SOURCE: Vior, Inc.
