Highland Copper Announces Management Changes

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV: HI; OTCQB: HDRSF) (“Highland” or the “Company”) today announces that Denis Miville-Deschenes, President and Chief Executive Officer, will depart the Company. Barry O’Shea, Highland’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed by Highland’s Board as Interim CEO, effective immediately, while the Board seeks a full-time replacement.

Steve Hicks, Chair of the Board of Highland, stated, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Denis for his contributions as Highland CEO over the past seven years.”

Mr. O’Shea has considerable operating, capital markets and finance experience across diverse industries and countries. Prior to Highland, he was the CFO of Fiore Gold Ltd., who successfully restarted the Pan Mine in Nevada and was subsequently acquired by Calibre Mining Corp. Prior to Fiore, Mr. O’Shea spent eight years with New Gold Inc., initially as Vice President of Finance where he oversaw operational analytics, financial planning and capital project controls, particularly new mine construction. He then served as Vice President, Business Development, responsible for corporate development, investor relations, and strategic capital allocation. Mr. O'Shea is a Chartered Professional Accountant and has an Honours Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School.

“The Highland Board is confident that Barry has the right balance of skills to execute our business plan during this transition period“, Steve Hicks further stated. “His broad background across operations, business development and finance will best position the Company for future success. As well, the addition of Mike Foley continues to add to our regional Michigan team and our capacity for project execution. We look forward to progressing Copperwood to financing and development.”

Highland is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Foley, of Ironwood, Michigan, to the position of Copperwood Site Manager. Mike has 32 years of experience as a Civil Engineer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. He was most recently the Director of Environment & Infrastructure at the Back Forty Mine. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Project Manager for Coleman Engineering Company (“Coleman”), where he had been the lead contact for a number of mining, industrial, utility and municipal clients. With Coleman, Mike was instrumental in working with the mining consulting team on the Copperwood Project to obtain a variety of regulatory permits. Mike earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering, with an Environmental emphasis, from Michigan Technological University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in both Michigan and Wisconsin.