Blue Moon Metals names Kargl-Simard as CEO
Blue Moon Metals Inc. [MOON-TSXV, BMOOF-OTCQB] has announced additional management changes following announcements made at it’s the annual general meeting on October 17, 2024.
Christian Kargl-Simard, who was elected then as an independent director, will replace Patrick McGrath as President and CEO. Kargl-Simard is the founder and former CEO of Adventus Mining, a company that was recently acquired by Silvercorp Metals Inc. [SVM-TSX, NYSE American], a company with operations in China.
Frances Kwong, former Vice-President Finance, CFO and Corporate Secretary at Adventus Mining Corp., will replace Varun Prasad as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Both changes are effective immediately.
Blue Moon shares were unchanged at 35 cents and trade in a 52-week range of 39 cents and $0.025.
Additional management changes are expected in due course as Blue Moon is launching a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its 100%-owned Blue Moon Project in central California. It should be noted that Maryse Belanger and Haytham Hodaly joined the board a few weeks ago, along with Kargl-Simard.
With zinc and copper designated as critical metals by the U.S. Geological Survey, the company is eager to advance the project, which hosts the largest known polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit of its type within the Foothills Massive Sulfide Belt in California.
The project is known to host an indicated resource of 3.51 million tonnes of grade 11.07% zinc equivalent (ZnEq) and an inferred resource of 3.83 million tonnes of grade 10.71% ZnEq using a cut-off grade of 4.05 ZnEq.
The company said the PEA will commence immediately and is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2025, funded by the proceeds of a recent private placement financing.
The company said the PEA is the next key step in advancing the Blue Moon Project, which last had a pre-feasibility study completed in 1989 by Westmin Mines Ltd. “Building on the significant resource improvements in 2023, we plan to leverage the historical work from the 1980s as a foundation, and pending a positive PEA result, we aim to fast-track development of the project,” the company said.
“The Project has several similarities in terms of resource size, grade and potential project scope as Adriatic Metals plc’s Vares deposit and mine located in Bosnia that went into production in 2024 on a fast track.’’
The PEA will explore a preliminary ramp design for underground access, replacing the earlier Westmin shaft concept. The company said it believes that this will allow for accelerated development of a potentially lower cost, and significantly reduce the cost and risk of an infill exploration program to upgrade the resources and reserves in due course.
Trade-off studies will assess the potential for additional saleable byproducts such as barite, gypsum and pyrite concentrate to determine economic viability.