TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – May 30, 2017) – Fura Gems Inc. (“Fura” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:FUR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ashim Roy as Vice President – Operations, Venkatasubramanian (“Venkat”) Meenakshisundaram as Principal Geologist and Tarun Malkani as a Business Advisor to the Company.
Mr. Roy, Vice President – Operations, will be based in Fura’s administrative headquarters in Dubai. Mr. Roy will report directly to the President & CEO of the Company and will be responsible for managing the Company’s operations and evaluating new opportunities for the Company.
Prior to joining Fura, Mr. Roy was the General Manager for the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique and also worked as Head of Geology and Exploration at the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, both operations were owned by Gemfields plc, the world’s leading supplier of colour gemstones. During his tenure at Gemfields, Mr. Roy was responsible for developing the greenfield ruby project in Mozambique, which is believed to be one of the largest ruby deposits in the world. Mr. Roy has also worked for over two decades as a senior scientist in the Department of Atomic Energy, India where he specialised in atomic minerals and rare earth related minerals. Mr. Roy is a Professional Geoscientist and has a Masters in Applied Geology and Masters in Business Administration from India.
Mr. Meenakshisundaram, Principal Geologist, will be based in Colombia and will be responsible for managing the geology for the Company’s Colombian emerald assets.
Prior to joining Fura, Mr. Meenakshisundaram was the Chief Geologist for Rio Tinto. Mr. Meenakshisundaram led and generated projects in India for Rio Tinto for several commodities but focussed mainly on diamond exploration. Mr. Meenakshisundaram was a part of the team that discovered the most significant diamondiferous pipe in the last two decades in Bunder located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Meenakshisundaram has over 30 years of experience in the field of geology having worked in diverse commodities, i.e. base and precious metals, diamonds and industrial minerals. Mr. Meenakshisundaram has a Masters of Science degree in Geology and has also accomplished several benchmarks including establishing and handling community relations in advanced exploration projects in India and Mongolia while working with Rio Tinto.
Mr. Tarun Malkani will join as a Business Advisor for the Company and will work closely with the President & CEO of the Company. Mr. Malkani will be based in India and will advise the Company on new opportunities.
Prior to joining Fura, Mr. Malkani held senior management positions in variety of functional areas with companies like Rio Tinto, Alcan, Eastman Chemicals, Monsanto, Bayer and Exim Bank. Mr. Malkani has almost a decade of experience in metals and mining and was the Chief Operating Officer for Rio Tinto’s Bunder diamond project in India. Mr. Malkani graduated as a chemical engineer from the Institute of Chemical Technology and also completed his Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta.
Dev Shetty, President & CEO of Fura, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ashim, Venkat and Tarun to the senior management team of the Company. Having worked with Ashim, who is rated as one of the best coloured gemstone geologists in the world, I am confident that Ashim along with Venkat and Tarun will add immense value to the Company and its shareholders. We will continue to further strengthen the team by bringing the best talent to the business.“
About Fura Gems Inc.
Fura Gems Inc. is a natural resource company which is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties in Colombia.
Regulatory Statements
This press release may contain “forward looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the appointment of new members to the Company’s managerial team, the impact of the appointment of the managerial appointments on the Company, the Company’s exploration activities and the Company’s performance. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of exploration activities; regulatory risks; risks inherent in foreign operations; and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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.
Dev Shetty
President & Chief Executive Officer
dev.shetty@furagems.com