Latest news with #Pino
Associated Press
30-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Silver Spruce Signs Amended Option Agreement, Provides Exploration Update on Pino de Plata Project, Chihuahua, Mexico
BEDFORD, NS / ACCESS Newswire / May 30, 2025 / (TSXV:SSE) Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. ('Silver Spruce' or the 'Company') is pleased to report the following update on the Pino de Plata project ('Pino' or the 'Property'), Chihuahua, Mexico. 'We are very excited to report the conclusion of successful negotiations with the claim holder of the four Pino de Plata concessions. The amended Option Agreement ('Option') greatly simplifies the deal structure culminating in mutually beneficial payment terms to earn 100% interest in the Property', said Greg Davison, Silver Spruce Vice-President Exploration and Director. 'The revised terms include a USD$10,000 cash payment on signing and a future sales participation right set at 10% (ten percent) for the Option period of three years. The participation right is calculated as a percentage of the gross proceeds from any transaction wherein Silver Spruce Resources sells an interest, either in whole or in part, in the project.' Mr. Davison added, 'There are no exploration spending commitments, future cash or share payments or royalties payable. This revised agreement eliminates all outstanding cash and share payments (US$625,000), advance royalties (US$120,000 annually) and 3% gross production royalty (capped at US$4,000,000). The 36-month Option window will execute only upon signing of a landowner access agreement and we look forward to re-engaging discussions in Hermosillo. It is our intention to put forth a new offer modelled after the claimholder deal described herein.' 'We remain confident that a mutually beneficial solution to long-term right of access to Pino de Plata will be achieved,' said Mr. Davison. 'We appreciate the unwavering support of our shareholders throughout these drawn-out negotiations, and we believe the project value will be worth our investment in time, effort and patience. We continue to maintain our communication with the technical team in Mexico to expedite our exploration program on Pino de Plata upon signing of an agreement with the landowner.' As per the terms of the Option Agreement, it remains subject to force majeure until access to field exploration, including diamond drilling, is granted by the landowner agreement. The Company remains current on payment of the requisite property taxes through to the 2nd semester 2024 on Pino de Plata and looks forward to advancing its proposed Phase 1 exploration drilling program. Further technical updates on the El Terrero, La Perla (see Figure 1) and other significant drill targets will be provided to shareholders in due course. Project Background Pino de Plata is located within the western portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental Volcanic Complex within the prominent northwest-trending 'Sonora Gold Belt' of northern Mexico and parallel to the precious metals-rich Mojave-Sonora Megashear. The 397-hectare Pino de Plata Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu-Au concessions are strategically located only fifteen (15) kilometres west from Coeur Mining Inc.'s ('Coeur') Palmarejo open pit and underground operations and is largely surrounded by Coeur through its December 2014 acquisition (valued at US$146 million) of the adjacent San Miguel Project via its all-share transaction with Paramount Gold and Silver. The Property has supported small scale historical production of high-grade mineralization from artisanal workings, though modern exploration is limited to Silver Spruce's 2016-2019 programs, and, of principal note, the project has not yet been drilled. The project area is known to host widespread mineralization at surface with silver values, on average, of greater than 50 g/t Ag, with local targets >500 g/t Ag. Three outcropping target types with attendant moderate to intense alteration include disseminated epithermal, carbonate replacement and significant vein mineralization, each providing high priority, shallow drill targets. Qualified Person Greg Davison, PGeo (BC), Vice-President Exploration & Director, is the Company's internal Qualified Person (QP) and is responsible for the technical content of this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ('NI 43-101"), under TSX guidelines. About Silver Spruce Resources Inc. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company holding 100% interest in the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario and the Jackie Au project located <10 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos' Nicho deposit in Sonora, Mexico. The Company, as noted herein, has signed an amended Option Agreement to acquire 100% interest in the Pino de Plata Ag project located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration. Contact: Silver Spruce Resources Inc. Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director (250) 521-0444 [email protected] [email protected] 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. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains 'forward-looking statements,' Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, statements regarding the private placement. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. press release
Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Lawmaker calls for probe into FWC after 4 officers had video footage deleted in Pino crash
A state lawmaker is calling for an independent probe into the state agency that investigated a boat crash in Biscayne Bay that killed a 17-year-old Miami girl after the Miami Herald reported four officers had their body camera footage deleted amid the investigation. Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami-Dade Republican state House member, called on her colleagues in the Legislature 'to learn what exactly happened and why so this never happens again.' READ MORE: 'Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours The call for the investigation comes after the Herald reported that body camera footage from four officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — who were on the scene of the crash and were either in direct contact with or were near the boat operator, Doral real estate broker George Pino — has been deleted. 'I might understand if one of the officers had made a mistake but from what we now know it is impossible to assume that four highly trained officers could all have made such an egregious error,' Lopez said in a statement she posted on the Miami Herald's Instagram account. The FWC says the footage was deleted after the officers classified it as 'incidental,' not criminal, when they uploaded it into the FWC's computer system. 'Incidental' footage is automatically deleted after 90 days; footage from a criminal investigation has to be retained five years for misdemeanor charges and 13 years for a felony charge, according to the FWC's policy. 'Full investigation is warranted' Lopez said that it ultimately should not have mattered how the officers labeled their footage since it was the responsibility of the investigators to retain all of the evidence. 'And, assume for a moment that they all made a mistake they still had plenty of time to correct their error since body camera footage is not deleted for 90 days,' Lopez said in her Instagram post. 'It is obvious that a full investigation is warranted into what actually happened on that harrowing day.' The FWC declined to comment Friday on Lopez's statement. In her post, Lopez asked Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican and chair of the House Criminal Justice Committee, to lead the investigation into the FWC's handling of the crash. Alvarez's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Herald. Lopez co-sponsored a House bill calling for tougher penalties for boat operators in crashes with serious injury. The law will go into effect July 1. Pino, 54, crashed his 29-foot Robalo boat into a fixed channel marker in Biscayne Bay on Sept. 4, 2022, during a celebration for his daughter's 18th birthday. Pino, his wife, their daughter and her 11 teenage friends were thrown into the water after impact, and the boat capsized. All were injured, although Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, Katerina Puig and Isabella Rodriguez were seriously injured. Lucy, who was not breathing when she was pulled from the water, died in the hospital the next day. She was 17 and a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. While Isabella Rodriguez, then 17, has recovered, Katerina Puig —a standout Lourdes soccer player with Division 1 college prospects — suffered lifelong injuries and is relearning to walk. Katerina was also 17. The FWC's initial investigation resulted in prosecutors with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office charging Pino with three counts of misdemeanor careless boating in August 2023. Pino pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the maximum penalty would have been 60 days in county jail. The agency's lead investigator quickly ruled out alcohol despite Pino telling him that night he drank two beers and officers finding more than 60 empty bottles and cans of booze on his boat the next day when they pulled it from the water. No evidence of other boat in channel coming toward him Pino also maintains another boat coming his way in the channel threw a wake and caused him to hit the channel marker. The FWC, in its final report, stated no witnesses — including the people on his boat or boaters in the channel that day — saw that vessel. Photographic evidence also does not support his claim. Following a series of Miami Herald articles detailing flaws in the investigation, including FWC officers never following up with eyewitnesses, a Miami-Dade firefighter at the scene that day spoke to the State Attorney's Office and said Pino displayed signs of intoxication that day. Prosecutors reopened their investigation and charged Pino with felony vessel homicide on Oct. 31. Pino pleaded not guilty and is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in September. He now faces 15 years in prison if convicted. 'If we don't get justice, it will be because of the way the FWC investigated this,' Lopez said in an interview Friday with the Miami Herald. Lopez said the probe should be independent of the FWC and look into whether there are fundamental problems with the way the state agency trains its officers. 'You don't expect law enforcement to make these types of egregious errors,' Lopez told the Herald. 'We are past being shocked, and we are now demanding answers.'
Miami Herald
21-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Really? Deleted body cam video of deadly boat crash raises more questions
This one is hard to believe: Body camera video footage was deleted for four Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers on the scene of the deadly Jorge Pino boat crash on Labor Day in 2022. The Miami Herald had previously reported that body cam footage was deleted for two FWC officers — that was bad on its own. But now there are two others, the Herald reported Tuesday. That brings us to a grand total of four FWC officers whose body cam footage was deleted in a case that involved one death, numerous injuries and questions about whether the driver was impaired with alcohol. How could this happen? And what could the video have told us? A lot, potentially. Video from officers' body cams could have given the courts critical evidence on whether Pino was impaired. At least some of the officers were in close proximity to Pino, the Herald reported. But the footage from four officers was deleted, apparently as part of the normal video process — at least, that's what the FWC contends. When the officers uploaded the video, it was classified as 'incidental,' not 'criminal,' an FWC spokesperson told the Herald. Incidental footage is deleted after 90 days; video in a criminal investigation is retained for five years in the case of a misdemeanor and 13 years for a felony charge. But there's more: According to the Herald's reporting, FWC investigators were considering whether to charge Pino with a criminal charge — felony reckless boating — just days after the crash. It's not like officers didn't know this was a serious crash. It was terrible. A 17-year-old South Florida girl, Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, was killed when the 29-foot boat being driven by Pino, a real estate mogul, slammed into a fixed channel marker. All 14 people on board, celebrating the 18th birthday of Pino's daughter, were at least injured. The impact of the crash shredded the hull and threw all of the passengers into the Biscayne Bay. The FWC did not give Pino a sobriety test, even though police said he told them he'd had two beers. The agency has said it lacked probably cause to get a warrant to force the issue. Maybe — but as the Miami Herald's reporting has pointed out, the agency's own policies list significant injuries and deaths as probable cause to do a blood test. One FWC officer on the scene said Pino had bloodshot eyes and a 'flustered demeanor,' and smelled of alcohol. Another officer said in a sworn statement that he didn't notice any signs of drunkenness. But that officer's body cam footage was among those deleted. The FWC quickly ruled out alcohol as a factor. And yet officers found empty alcohol bottles and cans on the boat when they pulled it from the water the day after the crash — Pino's attorney has said the empty containers were from five boats tied up in the bay. The Herald also interviewed key eyewitnesses that investigators didn't initially talk to — including three who said Pino was dazed and clinging to the hull. Despite all of that, the video from the body cams worn by four FWC officers on the scene was allowed to disappear from the FWC's computer system. That's shocking. And it hurts. The emotional cost of this crash was enormous. One young woman who survived the crash is still re-learning how to walk. The parents of Fernandez helped to push a new boating safety bill through the Florida Legislature this year. It awaits the governor's signature. Pino, initially charged with three misdemeanors, now faces vessel homicide charges after a Miami Herald investigation and new witness testimony. The FWC, which at first told the Herald the footage erased in the first two officers' case was due to 'human error' by the officers, later said the agency's policy on body cam footage 'lacks clear guidance' for officers who are there in a support role. That may be true but it doesn't explain why the FWC didn't realize that potentially critical video sitting in the FWC's computer system for 90 days should have been saved for the criminal investigation. It's time for answers. Click here to send the letter.
Miami Herald
13-05-2025
- Miami Herald
‘Just another boating accident.' FWC officer says why body cam was deleted in Pino crash
The state police officer whose body camera footage was deleted from the scene of a boat crash that killed a 17-year-old girl said he considered it 'just another boating accident' and thus didn't take steps to preserve the video for a criminal investigation, according to newly filed court records. Yet when he filed his footage, the lead investigators at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were already discussing criminal charges against George Pino, the boat's operator. FWC Officer Keith Hernandez also contradicted the sworn statement of another FWC officer on the scene, who said Pino had bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol and had a 'flustered demeanor.' Hernandez, in a deposition obtained Monday by the Herald, said he didn't notice any signs of Pino being drunk. That differs from what FWC officer Julien Gazzola said in his deposition last month. Both Hernandez and Gazzola's body camera footage from the crash scene was deleted after they classified the footage 'incidental,' not criminal, when they uploaded it into the FWC's system. 'Incidental' footage is automatically deleted after 90 days, according to the FWC's policy. At the time Hernandez uploaded his footage, all 14 people on Pino's 29-foot Robalo were injured after Pino slammed into a fixed channel marker in Biscayne Bay, causing the boat to capsize. Three of the 12 teenage girls on the boat were found unconscious in the water. Pino and his wife had invited the girls on the boat outing to celebrate the 18th birthday of their daughter, Cecilia. One girl, 17-year-old Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, died the next day in the hospital. Her classmate at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Katerina 'Katy' Puig, now 19, was left with permanent injuries and is still relearning to walk. The third unconscious girl, then 16-year-old Isabella Rodriguez, who suffered a head injury and brain bleed, has since recovered. Awaiting trial on felony charge Pino is now awaiting trial on a felony vessel homicide charge, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, if there's a conviction. He was initially charged with only three misdemeanor counts of careless boating, which carried a sentence of 60 days in jail. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office upped the charge to a felony after a series of Miami Herald articles detailed a flawed investigation from the beginning. READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl The smell test Hernandez interacted with Pino on the night of the crash. Lead FWC investigator William Thompson spoke to Hernandez as he and Pino were on boat heading to a triage center set up on Elliott Key, where Thompson eventually questioned Pino that night. As the boat pulled away from Thompson's vessel, Thompson yelled toward Hernandez, 'Keith Hernandez!' He then tells him quietly, 'Smell,' indicating he wanted Hernandez to smell Pino for alcohol. Hernandez was escorting Pino to the ranger station, where the injured passengers were taken. While Pino received medical attention from paramedics, Pino 'stated that he had 2 beers total for the day' and recounted the events leading up to the crash, according to Hernandez's supplemental report. Hernandez was asked during his deposition if he noticed Pino showing signs of impairment. 'Did Mr. Pino have an odor of alcohol that you noticed?' Mark Shapiro, an attorney for Pino, asked Hernandez, the court records show. 'Not that I noticed,' he replied. 'Did you notice if Mr. Pino had bloodshot eyes?' 'Not that I saw,' he said. READ MORE: Pino smelled of alcohol, had 'bloodshot eyes' after deadly boat crash, FWC cop says The FWC didn't give Pino a sobriety test the night of the Sept. 4, 2022, crash, despite his admission to officers that he had '2 beers' that day. The FWC said it didn't have probable cause to get a warrant to force Pino to take a sobriety test that night. But training manuals from both the FWC and State Attorney's Office list significant injuries and deaths as probable cause for a blood draw in a sobriety test, the Herald's investigation found. The next day, the FWC found 61 empty booze bottles and cans on the boat, which had been carrying 12 underage girls. Pino's defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, said the empty containers stemmed from five boats tied up that day on Elliott Key. With Hernandez and Gazzola's body camera footage deleted, there is no video evidence to corroborate what either officer said in their sworn statements. FWC changes its story about deleted footage When the Herald reported last week that Hernandez's footage was also deleted, the FWC said it was because of 'human error' on both officers' parts. A day after the Herald published its story, the FWC changed its position, saying the agency's policy on body-worn cameras 'lacks clear guidance for officers who are present on the scene in a supporting role, rather than as primary investigators or arresting officers.' 'The policy is now under revision to provide clearer direction, particularly regarding supervisory review and categorization expectations in such scenarios,' FWC spokeswoman Ashlee Sklute said Friday. The FWC's record-retention policy says body camera footage related to misdemeanor charges must be stored for five years and a felony charge for 13 years, according to FWC records obtained by the Herald through public records requests. READ MORE: Why was officers' body cam video deleted in Pino boat-crash case? FWC blames its unclear policy What remains unclear is why the officers were labeling their footage as if the crash were a minor incident when FWC investigators were mulling charging Pino with felony reckless boating just days after the crash, according to the Herald's investigation into the crash. Four days after the crash, the FWC and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office were contemplating misdemeanor criminal charges for Pino, according to a text conversation between Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and FWC Lt. Col. Alfredo Escanio, the deputy director of the south region, according to records the Herald obtained through a public records request. The FWC has not responded to questions asking why the lead investigators on the case didn't relabel the footage to retain it as evidence. Lt. Daniel Miranda, the immediate supervisor of the lead investigator, William Thompson, told Pino's attorney in March in a sworn statement that he and Thompson both thought Pino was driving recklessly when he rode on the wrong side of the wide channel, did not swerve before hitting the marker and slammed into the concrete marker at nearly 50 mph. 'You know, we felt that his actions constituted a reckless operation of the vessel,' Miranda said. Miranda deferred to Thompson's conclusion in his final report, which stated: 'Pino's actions did not constitute as reckless operation,' only careless boating, which led to the initial misdemeanor charges. Reckless boating would be a felony. In the end, Miranda added, the decision on the severity of the charges came down to the State Attorney's Office, and Assistant State Attorney Ruben Scolavino told the FWC the evidence investigators had wasn't strong enough to warrant a felony. 'We don't want anything like this to happen to anyone, you know. This accident happened. It killed, you know, some young ladies. And obviously, you know, we don't want any of this to happen, but we have our due diligence to do our work and to do an investigative report,' Miranda said in his sworn statement. 'So we felt as investigators that this had reached a level of a felony charge for a vessel homicide. There was a discussion with the state attorney, and they felt different.' Thompson didn't respond to questions from the Herald Tuesday, but Miranda stressed the final decision was up to the State Attorney's Office, which declined to comment about the case. 'We felt that we had this, but in discussions with the state attorney, you know, they felt that we weren't there yet. Or we weren't there,' Miranda said.
Miami Herald
10-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Why was officers' body cam video deleted in Pino boat-crash case? FWC blames its unclear policy
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it was revising its officer-worn body camera policy a day after the Miami Herald reported that footage from two officers who were on the scene of a high-profile, fatal boat crash was deleted. The Herald reported Thursday that body camera footage from a second FWC officer who interacted with George Pino, the operator of the 29-foot Robalo that crashed into a Biscayne Bay channel marker in September 2022, had disappeared from the agency's database. The Herald reported last month that the footage from the camera of another officer — who told Pino's attorneys that he believed the Doral real estate broker was drunk the day of the crash — was also gone. The FWC said the reason both officers' footage was deleted was because the officers categorized it as 'incidental' when they uploaded it instead of labeling it as part of a criminal investigation. Anything labeled 'incidental' gets deleted from the system 90 days after it's submitted. READ MORE: Second body cam video deleted after George Pino boat crash, FWC says FWC spokesperson Ashlee Sklute on Thursday said footage being labeled 'incidental' was 'human error' on the part of officers Julien Gazzola and Keith Hernandez. On Friday, however, the agency released a statement changing its stance on the officers' actions 'after thorough review.' The officers' classifications of their videos 'were within the bounds of the policy as it is currently written,' according to the FWC, but 'it is clear that the policy did not align with our intent for our officers' documentation responsibilities.' 'We acknowledge that this gap in policy has led to understandable concern, and we are taking steps to correct it,' Sklute said. 'The policy is now under revision to provide clearer direction, particularly regarding supervisory review and categorization expectations in such scenarios.' The current policy 'lacks clear guidance for officers who are present on the scene in a supporting role, rather than as primary investigators or arresting officers,' according to Sklute. Gazzola and Hernandez weren't lead officers that night 'nor were they addressing any violations directly,' Sklute said. However, the lead investigator on the scene that night, William Thompson, did tell Hernandez to check Pino for signs of drinking, according to Thompson's body camera footage. Pino was on a boat with Hernandez and other officers. As Thompson pulled away from that patrol boat, he stressed to Hernandez to 'smell' to determine if Pino had been drinking, the footage shows. Hernandez was interviewed by Pino's attorneys last week with Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office prosecutors present. Transcripts from that proceeding were not yet public as of Friday. A flawed probe The boat crash and the subsequent investigation continue to reverberate throughout South Florida. It marked the tragic end to a day that was supposed to be an 18th birthday celebration for Pino's daughter with an outing on Elliott Key and then a dinner at the Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo. But, on the way back to the Ocean Reef Club, Pino rammed his 29-foot Robalo into a channel marker in Biscayne Bay. The boat capsized, hurtling Pino, his wife, his daughter and 11 of her teenage friends into the water. Among them were Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, 17, and Katerina 'Katy' Puig, now 19. Lucy was trapped under Pino's boat and died in a hospital the next day. Katy, a star soccer player, was left with permanent disabilities and is relearning to walk. Lucy's parents, Melissa and Andres Fernandez, have since devoted their time to promoting boater safety, most recently successfully pressing for the passage of a law in the Legislature in their daughter's name. Lucy's Law, among other things, stiffens the penalties for seriously injuring someone in a boat crash. READ MORE: 'Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours The families of both girls, however, remain outraged about how the probe into the crash was handled by the FWC and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Almost a year after the crash, prosecutors charged Pino with three misdemeanor counts of careless boating. The FWC concluded Pino was not impaired that day despite officers finding more than 60 empty alcohol bottles and cans on his boat when they pulled it from the water the day after the crash, and Pino telling Thompson, the lead investigator, that he had 'two beers' when Thompson asked him to voluntarily submit blood to test for alcohol. READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl The Fernandezes and Puigs are also frustrated that Pino maintains that another boat traveling toward his Robalo threw a wake that caused him to lose control of his vessel. No witnesses on his boat, nor witnesses on other boats in the channel saw that boat, according to Thompson's report. After a 2024 series of Miami Herald articles containing interviews with witnesses who were never contacted by investigators from either agency, another witness, a Miami-Dade County firefighter who pulled Pino from the water, came forward and said Pino showed signs of impairment in his opinion. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle then reopened the case and charged Pino with vessel homicide, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Pino's attorney, Howard Srebnick, criticized the FWC in a statement Friday, saying the loss of Gazzola's body camera footage hurts Pino's possibilities of having a fair trial, given the officer's testimony that Pino showed signs of being drunk. 'The deletion of Gazzola's [body-worn camera] footage prevents Mr. Pino from allowing a jury to see for itself that Gazzola's contradicted allegations about Pino, and the innuendo of his impairment, are categorically false,' Srebnick said.
