CVE:KTN) says it has bolstered its management team with the appointment of Kristian Whitehead as project manager of its Promontorio silver project in Sonora, Mexico.
Whitehead has more than 10 years experience as a project geologist, specializing in the implementation and management of drilling and advance staged programs.
He will report directly to Kootenay’s VP of exploration, Dr. Tom Richards, and will be responsible for overseeing the company’s current 30,000 metre, multi-phase drill and resource expansion program now in progress on the project.
Whitehead is a former senior project geologist for Hawthorne Gold Corp, as well as a senior project geologist for StrataGold Corp and former project and mine geologist for Fire River Gold Corp.
As an independent geological consultant, he has also acted on behalf of several exploration and mining companies including Southbridge Resources, Teslin River Resources, Hunter Dickinson, Taseko Mines, Fortunate Sun Mining and Copper Creek Gold.
Kootenay said Whitehead’s technical, management, and geological experience in all aspects of underground and surface exploration will support the company’s current plans at Promontorio.
“We are very pleased to welcome Kristian Whitehead to the Kootenay team and look forward to his valued contributions going forward,” said Kootenay CEO James McDonald in the statement.
“His geological and technical experience will undoubtedly play a vital role in the continued success of our ongoing resource expansion program at the Promontorio Silver Project.”
Kootenay noted Whitehead’s “extensive experience working in Mexico”, having worked on several regional projects that include, the Santa Lucia in Sonora, Mexico, Golconda in Sonora, and Comacho in Zacatecas.
The junior explorer’s shares were up more than 11% before the news was released, and were lately up over 5% to 90 cents.
Late last month, the company unveiled the results from the first 8 holes of the resource expansion program at Promontorio, which it said showed that potential to the north may be better than previously thought. All holes were drilled outside of the current resource boundaries – at intervals of 50 to 100 metres.
The 30,000 metre drill program is the largest drill campaign conducted on Promontorio so far, and Kootenay said it is designed to substantially increase the overall size of its contained silver resource and to fast track the path to a production decision.
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study is planned for the end of the drilling campaign, and will include an updated resource estimate with results from the latest drilling. The report will then form the basis for the pre-feasibility study at Promontorio.
In August this past year, Kootenay announced it had nearly tripled the resource size at Promontorio. In total, the updated measured and indicated mineral resource contains an estimated 61.679 million ounces of silver equivalent, with another 14.469 million ounces of silver equivalent categorized as inferred.
