Peter George was fined and disciplined January 12 by the association for faulty technical reports he authored for Barkerville in 2012, and for two technical reports he authored for Rubicon Minerals Corp. (TSX:RMX) on the company’s Phoenix Gold project in Ontario.
Barkerville was nearly brought to its knees after the BC Securities Commission halted its shares for more than a year over a highly questionable resource estimate.
Callaghan, the company’s former CEO, declared the company’s Cow Mountain deposit in the Cariboo had 10.6 million ounces of indicated gold – claims found not to be backed up by proper technical reporting.
Those claims were based on a technical report that George authored – a report that the APEGBC has called substandard and inconsistent with 43-101 guidelines (a reporting standard that mining companies are required by securities regulators to follow).
Callaghan ended up resigning as CEO and director, and in October 2015, following a BCSC inquiry, he agreed to a $30,000 fine and one-year suspension from being a director or engaging in investor relations in a publicly traded company.
After receiving a notice of inquiry from the APEGBC, George agreed to a consent order in which he agreed to pay a fine of $15,000, plus $20,000 in legal costs, and issue a mea culpa by admitting that he “demonstrated unprofessional conduct, incompetence or negligence.”
As part of the official sanctions, George is barred from conducting mineral resource or reserve estimates, as defined by the 43-101 National Instrument. He also agreed to take a course in 43-101 reporting through EduMine.
