Barkerville announces appointment of François Vézina as Chief Operating Officer

François Vézina, Chief Operating Officer of Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. — Photo courtesy Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.

TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV:BGM) ("Barkerville" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of François Vézina as Chief Operating Officer of the Company, replacing Luc Lessard, who is stepping down from the role. Mr. Vézina previously served as Vice President, Projects for the Company.

Mr. Vézina is a mining engineer with over 17 years of experience in mining and has extensive experience in open pit and underground operations in Canada, Mexico and Finland. He was the Technical Service Manager for Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited and was responsible for overseeing the completion of the feasibility studies of LaRonde II, Pinos Altos and Kittilä. Mr. Vézina participated in the construction and commissioning of Pinos Altos as Mine Development Manager and Kittilä as Mine Operations Manager before joining Osisko Mining Corporation and participating as Mine Manager in the construction of the Canadian Malartic Mine. He served for over 5 years as Mine Operations Manager at the Canadian Malartic mine. Mr. Vézina is a specialist in mine operation optimization and is recognized for innovative mining techniques and optimization of feasibility studies. Mr. Vézina holds a Bachelor degree in Mining Engineering and a Master in Business Administration (MBA). He is a registered Engineer in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario.

The Company would also like to thank Mr. Lessard for his tireless efforts and service to the Company.

About Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.

The Company is focused on developing its extensive mineral rights package located in the historical Cariboo Mining District of central British Columbia. Barkerville's Cariboo Gold Project mineral tenures cover 1,950 square kilometres; along a strike length of 67 kilometres which includes several past producing placer and hard rock mines, making it one of the most well-endowed land packages in British Columbia. Since the management change in mid-2015, the Company has unlocked the fundamental structural controls of gold mineralization. The Company's Brownfield's exploration team is focused on developing and delineating a mineable resource within the 7 kilometers of principle project area located near the town of Wells, British Columbia. The Company's Greenfield's team is developing quality exploration assets throughout the remaining land package through systematic, scientific, exploration. The operation's team is focused on developing and mining the Bonanza Ledge and BC Vein deposits on Barkerville Mountain. This operation allows the Company to generate near term cash flow, train a local work force, keeps the present mining permit active, and de-risk's the project through staged production growth. Processing of material from these deposits is processed at the QR mill. QR is a fully owned, permitted mill and tailings facility, located approximately 110 kilometres away from Wells, and can be accessed by an all-season road.