Gatling Exploration Inc (CVE:GTR) (OTCMKTS:GATGF) (FRA:G28) revealed that director Jason Billan will step up to the role of chief executive and president of the company, while Nav Dhaliwal moves to the role of executive chairman.
Billan is a seasoned strategy and corporate development professional with an accelerating career in the mining industry, said Gatling, which is focused on advancing its Larder high-grade gold project in Northern Ontario.
READ: Gatling Exploration says drilling has connected all three high-grade deposits at Larder gold project
"We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Billan as the new CEO of Gatling. His experience in corporate development and the capital markets is extensive, and he is well respected throughout the industry," said outgoing CEO Nav Dhaliwal.
"His leadership will be a great asset to Gatling - helping to advance the Larder project through its next major phase of growth and unlocking value in the company."
Billan was previously part of the equity research team at Salman Partners and RBC Capital Markets, covering small-cap explorers to large-cap, multi-asset producers. In 2012, he joined mid-tier Nevsun Resources, which was acquired by Zijin Mining for C$1.9 billion in 2018, as its sole corporate development professional.
Most recently, he has worked with multinational giant Wheaton Precious Metals Corp (LON:WPM) (NYSE:WPM) (TSE:WPM) to assist its streaming operations and metal sales.
"Gatling has a strong technical team currently operating in Ontario and, moving forward, we aim to continue unlocking value, while further de-risking this remarkable gold project. We also plan to enhance existing shareholder relationships and bring in new shareholders who see Gatling's inherent and intriguing value gap," said Billan in the statement.
Gatling also noted that Peter Damouni had resigned as chairman but will continue to act as a director.
In September this year, Gatling hailed what it called a "tremendous" milestone for the Larder project when it proved, via drilling, that the site was home to a single, very large gold system.
The firm said it had now drilled gold mineralization between Fernland and Cheminis, which means it has now connected all three deposits (Fernland, Cheminis and Bear) and established an impressive 4.5-kilometer (km) strike length.
"Prior explorers believed these were standalone deposits but, thanks to the remarkable success of Gatling's program, we've established continuous 4.5 km strike length and proved the existence of single, very large gold system," the company had said.
Shares in Canada ticked up 1.9% to C$0.26 each.
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Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
