THUNDER BAY, Ontario, Jan. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (“Zenyatta” or “Company”) (TSXV:ZEN) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Keith Morrison to the Board of Directors of Zenyatta where he will also act as Chairman.

Keith Morrison is presently the CEO and Director of North American Nickel Limited. He is an entrepreneur with over 35 years of international experience in the resource sector with an accomplished background in strategy, finance, exploration, technology, global operations, capital markets and corporate development. In 1986, he co-founded Quantec Geoscience Ltd. and served as CEO for the next 20 years overseeing the global expansion and completion of over 2500 projects in more than 30 countries. His commitment to developing opportunities, while managing exploration risk, was a key element in the successful evolution and commercialization of Quantec's industry leading deep exploration (Titan24) technology. Formerly, Mr. Morrison also co-founded another significant Canadian-based success story called QGX, a Canadian-based public exploration company which operated in Mongolia prior to its acquisition. He has previously served on several public company Boards as a Non-Executive Chair and Chair of Audit, Compensation and Governance committees. Keith formerly served as the CEO and Director of Gedex Inc. and is a member of the APGO, PDAC and Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD). He is a graduate in Applied Science and Engineering Geophysics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business ICD program.

Keith Morrison commented, "I am very pleased to join the Board of Zenyatta with people who I’m very familiar with. The Company has a very compelling story on a nanomaterial backed by a global testing program. Zenyatta has created considerable value from this collaboration and development related to the Albany high-purity carbon material for conversion to an exciting material called graphene. I am looking forward to being a member of a team to advance both the Albany graphite deposit to production and activities related to graphene applications under ZEN-tech Materials.”

Aubrey Eveleigh, President and CEO of Zenyatta commented, "We are very pleased to add a highly respected and accomplished mining executive of Keith Morrison’s ability to our Board. Keith is an innovative leader with vision, backed by strong technical knowledge and hands-on experience. He will add considerable strength to our Board as we transition through pre-feasibility and prepare for the upcoming full feasibility study. Mr. Morrison has a considerable network in the industry which will assist management in efforts to organize and meet business objectives for both Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. and ZEN-tech Materials Limited.”

In connection with the appointment of Keith Morrison as Director and Chairman, he has been granted stock options to purchase up to 500,000 common shares in the capital of the Company. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.58 for a five year period. Keith replaces Brett Richards as Chairman, who remains on the Board as a Director.

To find out more on Zenyatta Ventures Ltd., please visit website www.zenyatta.ca or contact the Company at [email protected] or Tel. 807-346-1660.

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. This news release may contain forward looking information and Zenyatta cautions readers that forward looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of Zenyatta included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements”, which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to Zenyatta and Zenyatta provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to Zenyatta’s future plans, objectives or goals, to the effect that Zenyatta or management expects a stated condition or result to occur, including the expected timing for release of sample analyses and a preliminary economic assessment, the expected uses for graphite in the future, and the future uses of the graphite from Zenyatta’s Albany deposit. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, metallurgical processing, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Zenyatta’s mineral properties, and Zenyatta’s financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Zenyatta’s activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Zenyatta’s forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Zenyatta’s forward-looking statements. Zenyatta does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by Zenyatta or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.