Great Pacific Gold Corp. is pleased to announce the appointment of seasoned mining executive Mr. Greg McCunn as Chief Executive Officer and director of the Company.
Mr. McCunn, a Professional Engineer, has more than 30 years of experience in the international mining sector and an established track record operationally. Mr. McCunn has worked within large mining organizations such as Placer Dome and Teck but has also led multiple junior mining companies from exploration success through the transition to project development, permitting, financing, construction and operations. As an executive, he has had a leadership role putting mines into production on three different continents.
In addition to Mr. McCunn’s strong operational and technical focus, his financial acumen and capital markets ability is proven, and as an executive he has raised over $600 million in equity and debt financing from US and Canadian capital markets. He has also completed over $ 1 billion in merger and acquisitions transactions and has been the Chief Executive Officer of several NYSE and TSX companies including Alio Gold and Galiano Gold. Mr. McCunn holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and has had more than a decade of experience in the mining sector as a Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. McCunn states, “Over the past two years, Great Pacific Gold has acquired a large and highly prospective land package in PNG ranging from early-stage exploration projects through to more advanced stage brownfield situations. With licenses now issued, field preparation work done and an in-country team built out, GPAC’s success will be largely about execution. Additional to PNG, of course, the Company has assembled excellent projects in Victoria and over the past four years has advanced the understanding of those projects on the ground through exploration. The recent discovery at Comet is an example of the high quality targets being explored and we look forward to advancing these Australian assets in a systematic and disciplined fashion towards additional discovery.
I am pleased the Board of the Company has entrusted me with the responsibility of taking this company to the next level while developing and executing on a strategic business plan that creates shareholder value.”
Mr. McCunn is a member of the Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia Canada, Professional Engineer and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIM).
This appointment will be effective August 1, 2024. Bryan Slusarchuk, current Chief Executive Officer and Director will resign those roles but will remain actively involved in the company as Capital Markets advisor and will be focussed on the capital markets as well as supporting all aspects of the company’s operations in Papua New Guinea. Mr. Slusarchuk states, “Over the past several months, as GPAC has finalized foundational work in PNG such as licensing and ground preparation, we have been searching for an operationally focussed CEO to take the helm. While it has taken some time to find the right person to assume this leadership role, I am confident we have found that person in Greg McCunn. Greg’s track record building serious businesses will benefit all stakeholders involved in GPAC. His success as an operator and builder is well known and with a great foundation in place, this is a natural progression for the company. With Greg at the helm, I will be very active on the capital markets for GPAC and in PNG, which is something I’m excited to do. This is now the second company I’ve been involved with as a founder and executive over the past decade in PNG and I am keen to be very involved in elevating the understanding of not only the GPAC assets specifically, but also PNG as a great destination for international mineral investment.”
In connection with Mr. McCunn’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer and director, the board has approved the grant to Mr. McCunn of 1,000,000 stock options exercisable at $0.70 per share for a period of five years and the grant of 100,000 restricted share units, vesting one year from the date of grant and exercisable for a period of five years.
