Clean Air Metals announces that Mr. Abraham Drost will no longer be continuing as CEO and Director of the Company effective immediately.
Mr. Jim Gallagher, who has served as Executive Chair since Clean Air Metals began to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange in early 2020 will assume the role of CEO on an interim basis while retaining the Executive Chair role. A search for a permanent CEO will commence in due course.
Mr. Gallagher is a mining engineer and experienced executive who most recently was CEO of North American Palladium with its single asset being the Lac des Iles Palladium mine located approximately 90 kilometres north of Clean Air Metals' Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project. Mr. Gallagher assumed the CEO role in 2015 as the company emerged from a CCAA process and over the next five years led an operational and financial turn-around of the company culminating in the sale to Impala Platinum of South Africa at the end of 2019 for just under C$ 1 billion.
On May 4,, 2023 the Company press released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Company's 100-per-cent owned Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals project. The Indicated resource of 14 million tonnes contains 1.2 million ounces of Platinum and Palladium (on a one-to-one ratio), 57,000 tonnes of copper and 34,300 tonnes of nickel. All four of these potentially payable metals are defined as Critical Metals by both the Provincial and Federal Governments. The Company is near completion with DRA Americas on validating metallurgical recoveries and potential smelter offtake terms. Technical evaluation of mining options, production rates and site infrastructure will be ongoing over the next several months and we will continue to advance environmental studies towards future permit applications.
Jim Gallagher, CEO and Executive Chair commented: "I would like to thank Abraham for his efforts while leading the Company and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. The new mineral resource estimate and new leadership bring the Company to its next stage of development. Technical studies of a selective, higher grade, underground mining plan are commencing for these two near surface deposits. The next phase of exploration will investigate down plunge targets. Once the exploration plan is finalized and permits and sufficient funding are secured, we will look to execute the program in 2024 and beyond.”
