VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA-(Marketwire - Jan. 19, 2012) - Passport Potash Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PPI)(OTCQX:PPRTF) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that R. Dennis Ickes has agreed to join the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Ickes brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in tribal relations, government relations, mining and private capital ventures to the board. At the time of his appointment, Mr. Ickes was serving on Passport’s advisory board where he was integral in obtaining the cooperative agreement with the Hopi tribe in March. Mr. Ickes is an internationally known lawyer, legal scholar, trial attorney and business leader. Mr. Ickes holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Utah. He served in the U.S. Department of Justice where he co-founded the Office of Indian Rights in 1973. Mr. Ickes was also a principal negotiator on behalf of the federal government in the violent standoff with Indian activists at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1973.
In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford and Secretary Thomas Kleppe selected Mr. Ickes to serve as Deputy Under Secretary of the Interior. During his tenure Mr. Ickes was responsible for developing and implementing public policy related to public lands, Indian relations, national parks and monuments, federal reserved water rights, fish and wildlife, and Trust Territories of the Pacific.
While Mr. Ickes was in the US Justice Department he brought the first federal voting rights case on behalf of American Indians when he supported the right of residents of the Navajo Nation to run for county office in Apache County, Arizona. Upon leaving the Federal service in 1977, he represented northern plains and Southwest tribes and organizations until the late 1980s when lawyers who were tribal members began assuming tribal representations.
As a legal consultant, Mr. Ickes has advised state and county governments, Indian tribes, Indian individuals, Indian-owned companies, and non-Indian owned companies, including financial institutions concerning the conduct of business within tribal jurisdictions. Mr. Ickes wrote the first law review article in the Nation that urged tribes to turn from relying upon federal appropriations to seeking private capital to develop their opportunities.
Mr. Ickes previously founded, owned and operated a barite mining and processing facility in Nevada. He is currently a partner in an exploration stage beryllium project in Utah. He has served on the board of a publicly owned independent oil and gas company and a mining exploration company. As a consultant Mr. Ickes advised the President and CEO of Resolution Copper Mining, a Rio Tinto company, on issues related to Indian tribes. He is the founder and President of Native 17, LLC, a company which assists tribes with economic development opportunities both on and off the reservation through a proprietary system developed by him. He is the past chairman of the Federal Bar Association, Indian Law Section, the Utah State Bar Association, Natural Resource Section and the chairman of the Indian Law Section.
Joshua Bleak, President of Passport Potash, commented, “We are very excited that Dennis Ickes has accepted our invitation to join the board. Dennis is a leading expert in the field of Native American negotiations in the United States. His expertise will be essential to what we are doing as a company moving forward.”
About Passport Potash Inc.
Passport Potash Inc. is a publicly traded corporation engaged in the exploration and development of advanced potash properties with its major focus on a previously explored potash property in Arizona. Passport has acquired a strategic position in the Holbrook Basin with land holdings encompassing over 81,315 acres. For more information regarding the Holbrook Basin, please visit http://www.azgs.az.gov/arizona_geology/Summer%2008.pdf.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Passport Potash Inc.
Joshua Bleak, President
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, including the likelihood of commercial mining and possible future financings are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include unsuccessful exploration results, changes in metals prices, changes in the availability of funding for mineral exploration, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining is an inherently risky business. Accordingly the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of its business, investors should review the Company’s annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Source: Marketwire Canada (January 19, 2012 - 8:30 AM EST)
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