Wellgreen Platinum Ltd. (TSX:WG) (OTC-QX:WGPLF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of its previously announced private placement with Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund L.P. for gross proceeds to the Company of $2,800,000.  14,000,000 units were issued to Electrum in the First Tranche. The Units are comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company and one common share purchase warrant. Each Warrant will entitle Electrum to purchase one common share in the capital of Wellgreen Platinum at a price of $0.27 for a period of five years following the closing of the First Tranche.  Pursuant to the unit purchase agreement between the Company and Electrum dated March 9, 2016 the Company may sell up to an additional 1,500,000 Units to other subscribers in connection with the closing of the First Tranche. It is currently expected that the Additional First Tranche Units will be sold on or about April 1, 2016. 

The Company intends to sell up to an additional 55,000,000 Units in a second tranche of the Private Placement.  This is 10,000,000 more Units than previously announced due to strong demand from existing shareholders.  36,000,000 of the Units in the Second Tranche will be sold to Electrum in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement.  Subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in the Purchase Agreement, the Second Tranche is expected to close in May 2016 following the receipt of shareholder and final Toronto Stock Exchange approval.  Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. has indicated that it intends to participate in the Second Tranche, on a pro-rata basis, and will vote in favour of the Private Placement.  The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for the development of the Company’s Wellgreen PGM-nickel project in the Yukon and for general corporate purposes.

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointments of Wayne Kirk and Mark Fields to its board of directors.  Mr. Fields and Mr. Kirk are being appointed to fill the vacancies left by the resignations from the board of Mr. Greg Johnson and Mr. Wes Hall, respectively.  The appointments will be in effect until the next annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company at which point Mr. Fields and Mr. Kirk are expected to stand for election to the board.

Mr. Fields has over 30 years of experience in increasingly senior positions in the mineral exploration and mining industry with major and junior companies and currently operates his consulting practice, MC Fields Ventures Inc. He was involved in the acquisition and development of the Diavik diamond mine for the Rio Tinto Group through the 1990s. Mr. Fields was Vice President of La Teko Resources Ltd when it negotiated a friendly take-over by Kinross Gold Corporation. As Executive Vice President of Pine Valley Mining Corporation, he was a key member of the executive team which brought the Willow Creek metallurgical coal mine into commercial production, for which he received the E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development. Mr. Fields was President and CEO of Geodex Minerals from 2009 through 2014 and negotiated the joint venture and sale of the Sisson tungsten-molybdenum project to Northcliff Resources followed by the re-organization of Geodex.  Mr. Fields holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of British Columbia and a B.Comm. (Honours) from Queen’s University. He is an accredited P.Geo with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC.  Mr. Fields is a nominee of RCF. RCF has the right to nominate one individual to the Wellgreen Platinum board of directors pursuant to the terms of an ancillary rights agreement between RCF and the Company dated November 10, 2015.

Mr. Kirk has over 35 years of experience as a corporate attorney, including nine years’ experience as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Homestake Mining Company, and over 10 years of experience as a board member of publicly held companies. Currently, he serves on boards of several privately and publically held companies involved in mineral exploration and development around the world. Mr. Kirk holds a law degree from Harvard University and has been a member of the California Bar since 1969.  Mr. Kirk is a nominee of Electrum.  Electrum is nominating Mr. Kirk pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement. 

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Wellgreen Platinum

Wellgreen Platinum is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on the active advancement of its 100% owned Wellgreen platinum group metals (PGM) and nickel project. Located in Yukon, Canada, the 2015 Preliminary Economic Assessment demonstrated that the Wellgreen PGM-nickel project has the potential to become a large, low cost, open pit producer of platinum, palladium, gold, nickel, and copper. The Wellgreen property is accessible from the paved Alaska Highway, which leads to year-round deep sea ports in southern Alaska.

The Company is led by a management team with a track record of successful large-scale project discovery, development, financing and operation. Our vision is to create value for our shareholders through development of the Wellgreen deposit into a leading North American PGM and nickel producer.