Red Pine accuses former CEO of meddling with assay results

Red Pine Exploration accused its former chief executive of manipulating assay results for its Wawa gold project in northern Ontario, Canada.

On May 1, the Canadian explorer announced that it found inconsistencies in assay results from the Wawa project and urged the public not to rely on previously disclosed results until a further investigation could determine the extent of the discrepancies.

The investigation is still ongoing, but based on the findings made to date, Red Pine alleged that the inconsistencies are the results of manipulation by former chief executive Quentin Yarie.

The explorer explained that the assay results were emailed from Activation Laboratories to Red Pine and addressed only to Yarie. Yarie then sent manipulated drill core assay results to staff.

Of around 98,000 drill core assay results since 2014, 532 appear to have been manipulated, according to Red Pine. 

The company added that it is in the process of reporting the inconsistencies to the Ontario Securities Commission and is evaluating its legal options.

Quentin Yarie resigned from his position as chief executive on April 19, after which Michael Michaud was appointed to start in the position on July 19. Paul Martin is acting as chief executive in the interim.

According to Martin, the board was not aware of the assay tampering at the time of Yarie's resignation.

Last year, Franco-Nevada made a significant investment of C$6.7 million in Wawa for a 1.5% net smelter return royalty. 

Red Pine's shares are down over 60% since the beginning of the year. It has a market cap of C$16.2 million.