TSX-V: LER
PRESS RELEASE
18 January, 2008
Lero Appoints Dr Alexander
Yakubchuk as Consultant & Julian Woodcock as Chief Geologist
______________________________________________________________________________________
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Jan. 18, 2008) - Lero Gold Corp. ("Lero",
or the "Company")(TSX VENTURE:LER) is
pleased to announce that Dr Alexander Yakubchuk has
been appointed as a Consultant to the Company and Julian Woodcock as Chief
Geologist.
Dr Alexander Yakubchuk - Consultant, 43
Dr Yakubchuk joined Lero in
January 2008, bringing more than 14 years experience gained in Russia and the states of the FSU including Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Most recently he held
the position of Exploration Manager for Europe and the CIS for Gold Fields
International Services Ltd. Dr Yakubchuk also held
the position of Chief Geologist for QGX Ltd in Mongolia
and Branch Manager for BHP Minerals International Exploration Inc. and lectured
as an Associate Professor at Lomonosov Moscow
State University
for 5 years. He negotiated the exploration alliance with Lero
Gold Corp., the placement by Gold Fields into EMED Mining and discovered the
+3Moz Degdekan Gold Deposit, Magadan, Russia. Dr Yakubchuk
has previously consulted to companies such as BHP-Billiton,
Norlisk Nickel, Goldcorp,
Rio Tinto, World Bank and Inco.
Incentive stock options (the "Options") to purchase up to 1 million
shares, vesting immediately, were granted to Dr Yakubchuk
on January 18, 2008, subject to TSX-V regulations and approval. The Options are
exercisable for a term of 5 years at the price of CAD$0.53 per share.
Julian Woodcock - Chief Geologist, 29
Julian is a graduate of Camborne School of Mines with over five years
exploration and resource geology experience within the CIS. Experience includes
modeling and resource definition as well as drill
programme and exploration planning. He recently held the position of Production
Geology Manager for Kinross Gold Corporation at the Kupol
Epithermal Gold Project within the Arctic Circle, Russia.
President and CEO of Lero Gold, Mr. Nick Clarke
commented:
"We are pleased to welcome Alexander and Julian to the Lero
team. With their extensive experience of central Asian geology and impeccable
academic backgrounds we are very confident we can drive Lero
forward, with Julian ensuring the outstanding work being achieved in-country is
maintained on what is now a very exciting portfolio of quality projects."
Lero Gold Corp. further announces that on January 18,
2008 it granted Options to purchase up to 50,000 shares, vesting immediately,
to an existing employee of Lero, subject to TSX-V
regulations and approval. The Options are exercisable for a term of 5 years at
the price of CAD$0.53 per share.
Notes to Editors:
1. Lero Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:LER) is a base and precious metal exploration company led
by a senior management team with extensive expertise in mineral exploration and
advanced project management. In July, 2006 Oriel
Resources Plc completed its previously announced transfer and sale of its gold
related assets into Lero Gold Corporation ('Lero') (formerly ELE Capital Corporation - 'ELE'). Lero resumed trading on TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) on
Thursday July 27, 2006 under the trading symbol "LER". Lero Gold is currently seeking and evaluating advanced
exploration stage gold and base metal projects in Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The
Company is currently exploring advanced staged gold deposits in the Tien Shan gold belt in the Kyrgyz
Republic and Kazakhstan.
2. Gold Fields International Services Ltd is an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of Gold Fields Limited.
3. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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For further information please contact:
Investor Relations, Vanguard Shareholder Solutions
Tel: 866.341.4111 or 604.608.0824
Email: ir@vanguardsolutions.ca
www.lerogold.com
Lero Gold
Vanguard Shareholder Solutions
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