VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX-V:EQX) (“Equinox Gold” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that Mr. Ross Beaty, Chairman of the Company, has acquired 22.5 million common shares of Equinox Gold, bringing his total holdings in the Company to 41.4 million common shares.
As previously announced on October 25, 2017, pursuant to a share and debenture purchase agreement between Equinox Gold, Mr. Beaty and Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (“Sandstorm”), Sandstorm has sold to Mr. Beaty 4.0 million common shares of Equinox Gold and US$15.0 million principal of the debenture payable by Equinox Gold to Sandstorm at a combined purchase price of approximately US$18.2 million. The debenture has been converted to 18,518,518 common shares that have been issued to Mr. Beaty.
Sandstorm now holds a total of 24.0 million common shares and common share purchase warrants exercisable into 9.1 million common shares at an average exercise price of C$2.92, bringing Sandstorm’s total holdings in Equinox Gold to 5.7% on a basic basis and 7.7% on a partially diluted basis. The sale of the Equinox Gold securities was planned as part of the business combination to form Equinox Gold that was completed on December 22, 2017. Sandstorm may from time to time acquire additional securities of Equinox Gold, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position. Accordingly, since Sandstorm’s holdings in Equinox Gold have decreased to less than 10%, as required pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, Sandstorm will be filing an early warning report containing additional information on Equinox Gold’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
When combined with shares that Mr. Beaty purchased in the open market during November and December 2017, Mr. Beaty now holds a total of 9.8% of Equinox Gold (on a basic basis) and is the Company’s largest shareholder.
On Behalf of the Board of Equinox Gold Corp.
“Christian Milau”
CEO & Director
About Equinox Gold
Equinox Gold is a Canadian mining company with a multi-million-ounce gold resource base, near-term and growing gold production from two past-producing mines in Brazil and California, and a long-term growth platform with a diverse portfolio of gold and copper assets in North and South America. Early works construction is underway at the Company’s Aurizona project in Brazil with the objective of pouring gold by year-end 2018, and a prefeasibility study is underway at the Company’s Castle Mountain project in California with the objective of restarting production. Further information about Equinox Gold’s current portfolio of assets and long-term growth strategy is available at www.equinoxgold.com or by email at ir@equinoxgold.com.
Equinox Gold Contacts
Christian Milau, CEO
Rhylin Bailie, Vice President Investor Relations
Tel: +1 604-558-0560
Email: ir@equinoxgold.com
Cautionary Notes and Forward-Looking Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This document contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively “forward-looking statements”). The use of the words “will”, “objective”, “underway”, “from time to time”, “continue” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding construction activities at the Aurizona Gold Mine (“Aurizona”), anticipated production from Aurizona and the Castle Mountain Gold Mine (“Castle Mountain”), the Castle Mountain prefeasibility study, the potential for other assets of the Company, the long-term growth potential of the Company, and the potential that Sandstorm may acquire or dispose of additional securities of Equinox Gold. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Company’s periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to the anticipated Board of Directors approval to commence full-scale construction at Aurizona, the Company’s ability to complete construction at Aurizona and achieve production; the timing to achieve production at Aurizona; the Company’s ability to complete the Castle Mountain prefeasibility study and the results of the study; and the Company’s ability to achieve its expected growth and production potential. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.