LithiumBank Appoints Paul Matysek as Executive Chairman
Calgary, Alberta. January 30th, 2023 – LithiumBank Resources Corp. (TSX-V: LBNK) (OTCQX: LBNKF) (“LithiumBank” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Paul Matysek as the Company's Executive Chairman.
Mr. Matysek's unique qualifications, experience and unprecedented string of successful transactions in the mining sector will create value for the Company as it now transitions from an exploration to development company of district scale direct brine lithium projects in North America. LithiumBank holds a dominant position of key brine reservoirs with a unique combination of scale, grade and exceptional flow rates that are necessary for a large-scale direct brine lithium production. LithiumBank is developing and de-risking several strategic projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Mr. Matysek is a geoscientist by training, a successful alpha entrepreneur and consistent creator of shareholder value with over 40 years of experience in the mining industry. Since 2007, as either CEO or Executive Chairman, Mr. Matysek has sold six publicly listed mineral exploration and development companies, in aggregate worth over $2.5 billion. Of particular note, two of six sales were lithium brine assets that are advancing toward production.
Most recently in June 2021, as Chief Executive Officer, he sold Gold X Mining Corp. to Gran Colombia Gold Corp. for over $300 million in an all-share transaction. In March 2018, as Executive Chairman, he sold Lithium X Energy Corp. to Nextview New Energy Lion Hong Kong Limited for $265 million in cash. Earlier, in July 2016, Mr. Matysek, as President and CEO, sold Goldrock Mines Corp. to Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. He was also previously CEO of Lithium One Inc., which merged with Galaxy Resources Limited of Australia (now Allkem) to create a multi-billion-dollar integrated lithium company. He served as CEO of Potash One Inc., which was acquired by K+S AG for $434-million cash in a friendly takeover in 2011. Mr. Matysek was also the co-founder and CEO of Energy Metals Corp., a uranium company that grew from a market capitalization of $10 million in 2004 to approximately $1.8 billion when sold in 2007.
Mr. Matysek commented: "I am very pleased to join LithiumBank as its Executive Chairman. The location, scale, and clear development roadmap of the Company’s strategic development assets create a unique and timely opportunity to transform them into enhanced shareholder value, address lithium supply challenges and support local community development. I look forward to working with the talented board and management of the Company. I firmly believe that together we can unlock significant value by re-purposing key infrastructure, advancing permitting, and demonstrating economic direct lithium extraction technology at scale in North America.”
Mr. Rob Shewchuk stated: "LithiumBank is very excited that Paul has agreed to move from his position as a Director to the role of Executive Chairman of our Board. I view this as a testament to the enormity of the opportunity in front of us as well as the exceptional job done by our team to set the table for valuable next steps. I am confident that investors in LithiumBank will benefit greatly from Paul’s stewardship, energy, experience and expertise as we transition to the development of our extraordinary portfolio of district scale lithium opportunities towards near term production potential."
The Company is also pleased to announce that Ann Fehr, Founder of Fehr & Associates, was appointed as Chief Financial Officer effective January 27, 2023. Ann received her accounting designation in 1996 and founded Fehr & Associates in 2010. She has been consulting and preparing public company financial reports in the mining industry since 2007. As a consultant and senior manager, she has supported and coordinated numerous complex transactions. Most recently, Ms. Fehr, as a director of QuestEx Gold & Copper Ltd. in 2022, was part of the team that completed a transaction to sell the company. We are excited to add Ms. Fehr to the core management team as we transition LithiumBank’s projects from exploration to development stage. The new appointment follows the resignation of Andre Mbeng who resigned as Chief Financial Officer of the Company effective January 27, 2023.
Stock Options
The Board of Directors have approved the implementation of a new “fixed up to 20%” stock option plan (the “New Plan”) to replace its existing “rolling up to 10%” stock option plan (the “Current Plan”). Under the New Plan, the Company may issue up to an aggregate of 7,700,000 stock options to purchase common shares in the capital of the Company (each an “Option”).
The Company also announces the grant of a total of 3,250,000 Options to certain directors, officers, consultants and investor relations service providers of the Company pursuant to the New Plan. Subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”) and the terms and conditions of the New Plan, the Options will have an exercise price equal to $1.10 and will expire 5 years from the date of grant.
The New Plan is subject to: (i) the approval of the TSXV; and (ii) the approval and ratification of shareholders of the Company, which approval will be sought at the Company’s next annual general meeting of shareholders (the “Meeting”). At the Meeting, the Company will also seek disinterested shareholder approval and ratification of the Options granted under the New Plan.
About LithiumBank Resources Corp.
LithiumBank Resources Corp. is an exploration and development company focused on lithium-enriched brine projects in Western Canada where low-carbon-impact, rapid DLE technology can be deployed. LithiumBank currently holds over 3.6 million acres of mineral titles, 3.33M acres in Alberta and 336K acres in Saskatchewan. LithiumBank’s mineral titles are strategically positioned over known reservoirs that provide a unique combination of scale, grade and exceptional flow rates that are necessary for a large-scale direct brine lithium production. LithiumBank is advancing and de-risking several projects in parallel to its work on a Preliminary Economic Assessment scoping study for the Boardwalk Lithium Brine Project located in west-central Alberta.
Contact:
Rob Shewchuk
CEO & Director
rob@lithiumbank.ca
(778) 987-9767
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