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TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2014 /CNW/ - Almonty Industries Inc.
("Almonty" or the "Company") (TSX-V: AII) today announced that it
has entered into Investor Relations Consulting Agreements with each
of Mr. Richard Schaeffer, Mr.
Samuel Gaer and Mr. Thomas Ross. Each Consulting Agreement is
extendable on a month to month basis by mutual consent of the
parties, and calls for the provision to the Company of investor
relations and corporate communications services.
Pursuant to the Consulting Agreements, Almonty will grant stock
options to each of the consultants, with Mr. Schaeffer receiving
300,000 options, and Mr. Gaer and Mr. Ross each receiving 200,000
options. The options are being granted pursuant to the stock
option plan of Almonty (as amended) with each option permitting the
holder to purchase one common share of Almonty at a price of
$0.67 for the period in which the
investor relations services are being provided and for a period of
one year from the date the applicable Consulting Agreement
terminates. The options will vest evenly over the next 12
months.
In order to accommodate the option grants, the board of
directors have approved an amendment to the stock option plan of
Almonty to allow for options to be granted to persons conducting
investor relations activities, subject to certain limitations.
The Consulting Agreements, grant of options and stock option
plan amendment are all subject to approval by the TSX Venture
Exchange. In addition, the grant of options and stock option
plan amendment are subject to approval at the next annual meeting
of shareholders of Almonty. Mr. Schaeffer is the owner of
8,000 common shares of Almonty and he will not be eligible to vote
on such matters.
Lewis Black, Chief Executive
Officer of Almonty commented, "We are extremely pleased that we
have been able to attract tier one candidates to drive our IR
forward. Richie, Sam and Tom share Almonty's vision of
consolidation and very much want to be part of the momentum that we
are achieving. We now feel that we have a team that permits the
company to complete its target of consolidation."
Details regarding the investor relations consultants follow.
Richard M. Schaeffer
Mr. Schaeffer served as the Executive Chairman of NYMEX
Holdings, Inc. from 2006 until its sale to the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange (CME) in 2008. Mr. Schaeffer's tenure on the NYMEX board
of directors began in 1990. He served as its Treasurer from 1993 to
2004 and Vice Chairman from 2004 to 2006, at which time he was
elected Executive Chairman. Among his achievements as Chairman, Mr.
Schaeffer orchestrated the exchange's shift to electronic trading,
its listing and IPO on the New Stock Exchange (NYSE), and its sale
in 2008 to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Mr. Schaeffer has served on the board of directors of IMAREX
(the leading Norwegian financial derivatives exchange), the
Montreal Stock Exchange, and the University of
Maryland's Robert H Smith School of Business. Mr. Schaeffer
also co-founded Liquid Holdings Group, LLC, where he served as
Chairman until 2013.
Presently, Mr. Schaeffer serves on the Board of directors of
Sacred Heart University, is the
Chairman of Armada Water and the Chairman of Move Systems. He is a
former special advisor to General Atlantic and serves on the board
of the Museum of American Finance.
Mr. Schaeffer has been deeply involved with children's
charitable causes for many years. He was Chairman of the NYMEX
charitable Foundation's board of directors from 2006 to 2008.
He served as member of the Board since its founding in
1989.
In 2008 Mr. Schaeffer was honored by the Foundation Fighting
Blindness during their NYC Dining in the Dark event. He was awarded
Cahi Lifeline's Man of the Year in 2005 and again in 2008. He
received the We Are Family Foundation Visionary Award in 2007, the
United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County,
NY Distinguished Leader Award in 2006, and Futures and
Options for Kids granted him their Community Service Award in
2007.
Mr. Schaeffer graduated from the Robert H Smith School of
Business at the University of Maryland
in 1974, and he delivered the school's commencement address in
2006.
Samuel H. Gaer
Sam Gaer has over 30 years of
experience in the financial services and technology sectors and has
held numerous business leadership positions and appointments. Mr.
Gaer has a proven track record of dramatically increasing
enterprise value, actualizing financial efficiencies, and
innovative technology solutions.
Mr. Gaer is the CEO and largest shareholder of Redify Group,
Inc., a New York-based technology
firm (OTCBB:RDFY) specializing in mobile applications, online lead
generation, and payment system technology. He is also the
founder and Principal of Locust Walk Trading LLC, an algorithmic
market making and arbitrage proprietary trading firm. He was
formerly CEO at Liquid Holdings Group, LLC, a New York-based provider of hedge fund
technology. Prior to his role at Liquid, from 2010-2012, he served
as the Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of
the Financial Industry Regulatory Association ("FINRA") where he
was responsible for all aspects of the regulator's technology
strategy and execution including its Transparency Services
division, its first multi-year technology roadmap, and its nearly
2,000 technology-related employees. From 2003-2008, Mr. Gaer served
as the Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of
the New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX"), as well as CEO of NYMEX
Europe (2005-2007), where he was instrumental in architecting its
global technology strategy, its IPO, and eventual acquisition by
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Mr. Gaer is the founder and
former Chairman of TradinGear.com, a trading software development
company whose assets were purchased by the New York Mercantile
Exchange in 2003.
Mr. Gaer has won several technology awards and accolades,
including a two-time selection as a CIO 100 Award Winner (2005,
2007), Best IT Team (2008), and has served on the CFTC Technology
Advisory Committee, the CFTC Data Advisory Committee, and is the
former Global Co-Chairman of the FIX Protocol Limited Derivatives
Committee. In addition, he holds two patents in the field of
electronic trading.
Mr. Gaer is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the
University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas R. Ross
Mr. Ross is an energy trading professional and the former head
of trading at BP North America. With over 30 years of experience in
trading and risk management, his career spans London, New
York and Chicago.
From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Ross oversaw BP's North American crude
and product trading operations, including offices in Calgary, Long
Beach, Houston and
Chicago with activities in
exploration and production, refining and entrepreneurial trading in
North and South America. He has served as a member of the ICE
Board of Directors, an active member of the NYMEX advisory
committee and a former director of Liquid Holding Group.
Mr. Ross currently serves on the board of directors of Armada
Water.
Mr. Ross graduated from Strathclyde
University in Scotland in
1978 with a Bachelors degree in Geography.
About Almonty
The principal business of Toronto,
Canada based Almonty Industries Inc. (TSX-V: AII) is the
mining, processing and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its
Los Santos Mine in western Spain
and its Wolfram Camp Mine in north Queensland, Australia. The Los Santos Mine was
acquired by Almonty in September 2011
and is located approximately 50 kilometres from Salamanca in western Spain and produces tungsten concentrate. The
Wolfram Camp Mine was acquired by Almonty in September 2014 and is located approximately 110
km west of Cairns in northern Queensland,
Australia and produces tungsten and molybdenum concentrate.
Almonty also has an option to acquire a 100% ownership interest in
the Valtreixal tin-tungsten project in north western Spain. Management and certain members of
Almonty's Board of Directors led the turnaround and eventual sale
of Primary Metals Inc., the operator of the Panasqueira Tungsten
Mine in Portugal from 2003 to
2007. Further information about the company's activities may be
found at www.almonty.com and under the Company's profile at
www.sedar.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements and
information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect
Almonty's current expectations. When used in this press release,
the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend",
"expect", "plan", "predict", "target", "may" or "should" and the
negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable
terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and
information.
The forward-looking statements and information in this press
release include information relating to the intentions of
management. Such statements and information reflect the current
view of Almonty with respect to risks and uncertainties that may
cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated
in those forward-looking statements and information.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
actual results, performance or achievements, or other future
events, to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are made based on management's
beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are
made and Almonty undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other
circumstances should change.
Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to
forward-looking statements. Almonty cautions that the foregoing
list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on
Almonty's forward-looking statements and information to make
decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the
foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
Almonty has also assumed that material factors will not cause
any forward-looking statements and information to differ materially
from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors
is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no
assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of
such items or factors.
THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS
RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALMONTY AS OF THE DATE OF
THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER
SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS
INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE ALMONTY MAY ELECT TO, IT
DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR
TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.
SOURCE Almonty Industries Inc.