May 22 set for Goldfields’ meeting on Board performance

Jan 23, 2019 News

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Canadian-owned Guyana Goldfields Inc. has set May 22nd for a special meeting in which a number of shareholders will be asking for the current board to be sacked.
The company had been written to by the shareholders, among them Patrick Sheridan, a founder and former chief who was let go last year.
Sheridan and a number of shareholders are accusing the current board of mismanagement and misrepresentations of the true performance of the company which led to Canadian $1B in value to be wiped off the company within the past year.
Yesterday, Guyana Goldfields, which is the country’s largest private producer of gold, described the shareholders as the “Sheridan Dissidents”, and announced the special meeting, which is likely to see a vote for new directors, will be held on May 22, 2019.
A special committee of independent directors has also been formed to ensure that actions taken regarding the “Sheridan Dissidents” are in the best interests of the company, Guyana Goldfields said.
Government and Guyana will be paying close attention to the company, as gold is the biggest foreign currency earner.
Guyana Goldfields’ production declined by 10,000 ounces for 2018.
The company said that the actions of “The Sheridan Dissidents” initiated a costly and unnecessary proxy fight without any notice to or engagement with the company.
“The board has instituted a series of fundamental operational and governance improvements at the company since Mr. Sheridan’s termination. Alan Ferry has decided to resign as a director to allow for Board refreshment.”
Guyana Goldfields said that it will set the record straight on inaccurate statements by the “Sheridan Dissidents” in its Management Information Circular.
“It is unfortunate that the Sheridan Dissidents provided no prior notice or opportunity for constructive engagement before rushing into what will surely be a costly proxy contest,” said René Marion, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.
“We welcome the views of all shareholders and would certainly have been willing to speak with Mr. Sheridan, who after all was a board member until he resigned less than three months ago, on October 30, 2018.”
The Board said it has instituted a series of fundamental operational and governance improvements at the Company since Sheridan’s termination
“It is disappointing that Mr. Sheridan refuses to accept any responsibility for the Company’s operational, governance and governmental relations challenges which arose over his 20 plus years as the company’s top executive,” said Mr. Marion. “Fortunately the Board has instituted a series of fundamental operational and governance improvements at the Company since his termination.”
“As the proxy contest progresses, I want to assure shareholders that the Company’s management, many of whom joined after the Board terminated Mr. Sheridan, will remain focused on implementing these positive operational and governance changes.”
As part of this commitment, in October 2018 the Company appointed Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. (“RPA”), an independent firm of engineers and geologists, to assist in the review of the geologic controls and grade variability at the Aurora Gold Mine. The RPA review will be incorporated into the updated resource and reserves estimates expected to be released in late March.
The Company also said that it strengthened management accountability following the termination of Mr. Sheridan.
“Prior to his termination, the Company was saddled with an ineffective dual reporting structure under which Mr. Sheridan was responsible for exploration, government relations and the Company’s North Road office in Georgetown, Guyana, where those activities were managed.
As Executive Chairman, Mr. Sheridan resisted the implementation of a more efficient single-channel structure.”
After “terminating” Sheridan, the Goldfields statement said yesterday, the Board implemented the single channel reporting to the President and CEO, a best practice for management accountability.
“Following Mr. Sheridan’s termination the Board also appointed an independent, non-executive Chairman, a best practice for corporate governance.”
The company also noted that in an effort to improve relations with the government of Guyana, it recently appointed Perry Holloway as Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Affairs.
“Mr. Holloway reports to Mr. Caldwell and initially is focusing on government affairs.” Holloway was the United States Ambassador to Guyana and the Caribbean Community.
“The Company will set the record straight on inaccurate statements by the “Sheridan Dissidents” in its Management Information Circular. Shareholders of the Company are warned that the Sheridan Dissidents have made a number of misleading, irresponsible and unnecessarily inflammatory statements that could undermine the Company’s share price, even going so far as to allege “serious doubt Guyana Goldfields will remain a going concern.”
The company warned its shareholders to disregard such “wildly inaccurate allegations”.
“The Company maintains a strong balance sheet with an unaudited cash balance of US$82 million at December 31, 2018 and total debt balance of just US$40 million.”

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