Canadian junior Gold X Mining, which is developing the Toroparu gold project in Guyana, on Monday announced the appointment of mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland as its nonexecutive chairperson.

Gold X’s current chairperson and CEO Paul Matysek will relinquish the chairperson role, but will remain a director and its CEO.

“The great Michael Jordan once said, ‘Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen’, Robert Friedland has crafted a life of success after success and I’m thrilled that he has joined our board as chairman to keep making it happen for Gold X and our valued shareholders,” commented Matysek in a statement.

Friedland and Matysek worked together at Potash One, Friedland was chairperson and Matysek was CEO. At the time, the company was sold to Germany’s K+S for $434-million in a friendly transaction.

“Paul’s team is now developing an important gold project in Guyana, a beautiful country of which I am very fond and with which I have had a long experience. Given the state of the financial markets, and the large existing and open-ended geological potential of this project, I am happy to join Paul and his team at Gold X to lend a hand.”

Gold X has spent more than $150-million on the project to date to both classify 7.35-million ounces of measured and indicated and 3.15-million ounces of inferred gold resources, develop engineering studies for use in a feasibility study, and define a number of exploration targets around Toroparu on its 53 844 ha Upper Puruni Concession.

Shares in Gold X leapt to a 52-week high of C$3.48 a share on Monday, before closing at C$3.20 a share, giving the junior a market capitalisation of C$122.14-million.

Friedland is the founder and currently executive co-chairperson of Ivanhoe Mines, which is developing three mines in Southern Africa - Kamoa-Kakula, Platreef and Kipushi. He also is chairperson and cofounder of I-Pulse, a private technology company, the chairperson and CEO of private explorer Power Exploration, and cochairperson of ASX-listed Clean TeQ developing the Sunrise nickel/cobalt/scandium deposit in Australia, among others.

Gold X has also granted two-million stock options to Friedland with an exercise price of $2.50 for a period until June 22, 2025, and 1.4-million stock options to management and consultants with an exercise price of $2.83 a share until June 22, 2025. The options vest in equal quarterly amounts and are not exercisable pending shareholder approval, which will be sought at Gold X’s annual general meeting of shareholders later this year. The top 3 shareholders representing 34% of the issued and outstanding shares have agreed to vote in favour of the resolution.

Gold X has 38-million issued and outstanding common shares with more than 40% of the shares closely held by insiders and the company’s executive management team.