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Former Giant Mine head resigns from top corporate post in U.S.

Terrence McEachern
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, August 4, 2010

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A former mining executive well known to Yellowknifers resigned her position as president and CEO of a U.S. mining company on July 28 for "personal reasons," according to a company press release.

"Peggy (Kent) is looking to move on to spend more time with her family and to continue on other business opportunities," said Peter A. Ball, director of investor relations for Century Mining Corporation in Blaine, Wash., in a telephone interview on July 30.

Peggy Kent, also known as Margaret Kent and formerly known as Peggy Witte, will stay on as a consultant for the next 12 months with Century, a company of which she is credited as "the founder and leader" since the company's beginning in 2003, according to the press release.

Ball said he expects a new president and CEO will be named sometime in the fall. In the meantime, Keith Hulley will replace Kent as president and CEO on an interim basis. Century Mining also promoted Adrian McNutt to chief operating officer.

Ball said investors had "mixed feelings" about Kent's resignation.

"Some investors were sad to see an icon in the mining industry leave the company at the point she did," he said.

Kent was formerly president and CEO of Royal Oak Mines in NWT during the 1990s. She was in charge of the Giant mine during a two-year bitter labour strike in 1992.

The labour dispute made national headlines when a bomb exploded along an underground track and claimed the lives of nine miners. Roger Warren was found guilty by a jury for the explosion. The mine's final downfall came when it went into receivership in 1999. It was later discovered that about 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide was stored underneath the mine.

In a previous interview with Northern News Services, Kent said that arsenic storage underground and labour problems were inherited by Royal Oak from previous owners of the mine since 1948.

"I walked into that situation that already had trouble with a capital T," she said. "When you walk into a situation like that, no matter if you were God ... it takes a long time to turn around an operation."

"The only thing that I can say is that I continue to be very, very sorry for what has happened," she said. "If there was anything I ever could have done differently, I probably should have advised my board that we shouldn't have bought the mine."

Kent was unavailable for an interview July 30 because she is "travelling and on holidays," said Ball.

Kent is still employed by Century Mining's sister company Tamerlane Ventures Inc. as chairman where she continues to take an active role in Tamerlane's lead and zinc operations in the Pine Point project in Hay River.

Both Century Mining and Tamerlane Ventures are based in Blaine, and share the same building.

Century Mining's share price closed on July 30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $0.52. Tamerlane Ventures closed at $0.15.

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