Founder’s Group Addresses Alexandria’s Misleading Shareholder Communications

| Source: The Founder’s Group The Founder’s Group

TORONTO, July 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eric Owens and 14 other dissident shareholders (“The Founder’s Group”) of Alexandria Minerals Corporation have striven to treat shareholders with respect and dignity by presenting their vision of the future in a professional manner – conspicuously avoiding the personal attacks favoured by board members Peter Gundy, Walter Henry and Gary O'Connor (“Affected Board”). But it is time the deception and disrespect of shareholders is revealed. All shareholders should vote for the Founder’s Group (YELLOW ballot). Even if you have already voted, VOTE AGAIN! Your last vote is the vote that counts.

  • Eric Owens and his family own vastly more shares in Alexandria Minerals than the combined shareholdings of the rest of the Board of Directors
  • He wants to profit by finding gold, like all shareholders do, just as Alexandria’s former neighbour Integra Gold did, sold last year for $1.21/share up from $0.14 just two years before
  • The No-skin-in-the-game Affected Board instead want to conceal their true interests which is to sell the company for pennies to their outside partners. This truth has been laid bare by independent mining analyst John Kaiser1. All shareholders should view his recent YouTube videos (April 2018 (15 min) ; Is Bay Street Gutting Itself?)
  • That Sprott Inc has been involved in the decisions of the Affected Board is made clear by Alexandria’s press release proclaiming Sprott’s support of current management (June 26, 2018)

“We are deeply concerned with the lack of integrity displayed by the Company Board members, and how it affects Alexandria’s reputation, a company I founded and am (or was) proud of. Under my stewardship, we developed a reputation for integrity in the mining community while discovering gold.” Eric Owens

The Wrongful Dismissal of Eric Owens

Mr. Gundy states that Mr. Owens was dismissed because of an “unauthorized” financing. There never was an unauthorized financing – only a too successful financing that threatened the plan of Mr. Gundy and the Special Committee.

  • The Financing was part of the board-approved April 2017 budget and undertaken with their full knowledge and assent.
  • The funds were collected from a group of international and domestic investors that saw potential in the property, and not “close personal friends”.
  • We believe the Special Committee supported the Financing because they assumed there would be only modest investor support. When the Financing was in fact a tremendous success, we believe it posed a threat to the Special Committee because the Financing was a superior alternative to a cheap sale.
  • Board members were asked to vote on a proposed cheap sale of the Company on January 19.
  • February 9, 2018 Eric Owens announced the intent to requisition a shareholder meeting; four days later Mr. Owens was terminated.

Sprott Conflict of Interest

To fully appreciate what has driven the actions of the Affected Board, consider the growing conflicts of interest they have supported within the company:

  • We ask why, when Sprott is collectively the largest shareholder of Alexandria, would the Gundy-Henry board retain Sprott Capital as financial advisor for the company, which could be worth millions to the advisor. 
  • Sprott already has a hand-picked board member in Peter Gundy and they have officially publicly announced in favour of the company’s side – the side which wishes to sell Alexandria cheaply all to benefit Sprott at the expense of other shareholders.
  • Sprott’s interests are not aligned with those of most shareholders: Here’s what John Kaiser1 has to say on this topic:
    • “If there is any blame to be laid, it should be on the thug culture of Bay Street.”
    • “The Company was basically being served up on a platter … and they just wanted to get rid of their position by folding it into a bigger, stronger company where possibly even the vested interests had a bigger stake than they did in Alexandria Minerals.”
    • “One reason that I am not particularly happy about is how this has all played out is because the minority shareholders seem to be a secondary consideration.”
    • “Eric Sprott is not exactly doing himself any favours by coming out in favour of this.”

Funds in Mr. Owens’ Personal Lawyer Account

Mr. Gundy says that the funds were held in Mr. Owens’ personal lawyers’ account. Rubbish:

  • Legal counsel to the Special Committee advised Alexandria to establish a trust account to hold funds submitted pursuant to the Financing. Within an hour, Gundy and Henry ordered Mr. Owens to cease having any interaction with the Special Committee counsel.
  • Mr. Owens carried out counsel’s advice and a trust account was established in the name of Alexandria Minerals with Norton Rose Fulbright, one of Canada’s premier law firms.

43-101 Shenanigans

Following the release of the Gundy-Henry-led resource estimate, they publically claimed that it was a failure and blamed Mr. Owens. In fact, resources increased by 25% but we wonder what the true increase is:

  • Approximately 25% of the 2017 drill core was withheld from the estimate (10,500 m of core) with no explanation from management – especially given the several-month delay in the report.
  • The model used was inappropriate: instead of a bulk-tonnage model, the Gundy-Henry board used a high-grade vein model. The deposit has always been viewed as a bulk tonnage target, and will likely never be a high grade vein mine.
  • The application of a high grade model to a bulk tonnage deposit necessarily results in reduced estimates of volume, tonnage and ounces – less gold.

Management’s Information Circular

Here’s what John Kaiser1 says about management’s claim that they will fund exploration through the sale of non-core assets:

“they are in essence making a fantasy promise that they cannot keep except by deep sixing the Company and serving it up to be acquired by somebody else”

Advice to Shareholders

Based on their actions and their pronouncements, we believe current management can’t be trusted and that you as a shareholder cannot know what they will do. How does one vote for that? The only proper vote is to vote the YELLOW proxy as we Dissident Shareholders recommend. This is the vote of discovery and wealth creation, a vote of planned exploration drilling. With the YELLOW proxy you will get:

  • A new board that is truly committed to the shareholder, one that is committed to the exploration discovery process;
  • A management that is committed to realistic and responsible re-funding of the company;
  • A proper reassessment of the recent Gundy-Henry-led 43-101 resource estimate at Orenada;
  • A re-started aggressive drilling program, to build on the successful 2017 drill program and the resource estimate, which provide a geologic base from which to grow future resources; and
  • Finally, after these value-added activities, you as shareholders will get our best efforts to sell the company at the highest premium that those discovery activities can produce.

You Can Vote Multiple Times – Only Your Last Vote Counts

Shareholders must cast their vote no later than 5:00 P.M. (EST) on Thursday, July 19, 2018 or at least 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays) prior to the time of any adjournment or postponement of the Meeting.

Please join us in helping to save this company from these self-interested board members by voting with your YELLOW proxy form:

  1. FOR the Board Size Resolution
  2. AGAINST the Former CEO Removal Resolution
  3. FOR the Dissident Director Removal Resolution

Reach out to Mr. Owens directly by email eric.owens@votefoundersgroup.ca, phone (416)-509-5385 or website www.votefoundersgroup.ca. Need help voting? Call Navigator Ltd. by telephone at 1-(844) 846-0441 or email proxy@votefoundersgroup.ca

For more information:

Mike Van Soelen,

Navigator Ltd
mvansoelen@navltd.com
(416) 307-3039

1Kaiser was not engaged directly or indirectly for his comments. Kaiser Research is an unsponsored information and research portal focusing on resource sector companies.

Disclaimers

Eric Owens has not sought or obtained consent from any third party to the use herein of previously published information. Any such information should not be viewed as indicating the support of such third party for the views expressed herein.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters addressed in these materials are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties. You should be aware that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Eric Owens does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information other than as required by law.

Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation

Eric Owens is relying on the exemption under section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations and section 150(1.2) of the Canada Business Corporations Act to make this public broadcast solicitation. The following information is provided in accordance with securities and corporate laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations.

This solicitation is being made by Eric Owens, and not by or on behalf of the management of Alexandria Minerals Corporation (“Alexandria”). The registered and mailing address of Alexandria is 1 Toronto Street, Suite 201 Toronto, Ontario M5C 3B2.

Eric Owens has filed an information circular containing the information required by Form 51- 102F5 – Information Circular in respect of the Founder’s Nominees, which is available under Alexandria’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

A registered holder of shares of Alexandria that gives a proxy may revoke it: (a) by completing and signing a valid proxy bearing a later date and returning it in accordance with the instructions contained in the form of proxy to be provided or as otherwise provided in the proxy circular accompanying such proxy; (b) by depositing an instrument in writing executed by the shareholder or by the shareholder's attorney authorized in writing, as the case may be: (i) at the registered office of Alexandria at any time up to and including the last business day preceding the day the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement of the Meeting is to be held, or (ii) with the chairman of the Meeting prior to its commencement on the day of the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement of the Meeting; or (c) in any other manner permitted by law. A non-registered holder of shares of Alexandria will be entitled to revoke a form of proxy or voting instruction form given to an intermediary at any time by written notice to the intermediary in accordance with the instructions given to the non- registered holder by its intermediary.

Proxies for the Special Meeting may be solicited by mail, telephone, email or other electronic means as well as by newspaper or other media advertising, and in person by associates, agents, representatives and employees of Eric Owens, who will not be specifically remunerated therefor. In addition, Mr. Owens may solicit proxies in reliance upon the public broadcast exemption to the solicitation requirements under applicable Canadian securities laws, conveyed by way of public broadcast, including through press releases, speeches or publications, and by any other manner permitted under applicable Canadian laws. Mr. Owens may engage the services of one or more agents and authorize other persons to assist him in soliciting proxies should he commence a formal solicitation of proxies. In this regard, Mr. Owens has entered into an agreement with Navigator Ltd., which has agreed to act, in addition to other capacities, in a capacity to assist Mr. Owens in the oversight and solicitation of proxies in connection with the Meeting. Pursuant to this agreement, Navigator Ltd. will be paid a fee of $15,000 for this activity. All costs incurred for the solicitation will be borne by Mr. Owens. Dan Palikrousis has contributed funds to Mr. Owens to defray the costs of such solicitation; as a result he may also be deemed to be a “solicitor” within the meaning of applicable securities laws.

To the knowledge of Mr. Owens, neither he nor any of his associates or representatives, nor any of the Founder’s Nominees, or their respective associates or affiliates, has: (i) any material interest, direct or indirect, in any transaction since the beginning of Alexandria' most recently completed financial year or in any proposed transaction that has materially affected or would materially affect Alexandria or any of its subsidiaries; or (ii) any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter currently known to be acted upon at the Meeting, other than the election of directors of Alexandria.