Iggy Tan’s Lithium Universe ‘Dream Team’ adds new recruits

• Four mining experts added to Lithium Universe management team to drive the Apollo lithium project
• They bring a wealth of experience from developing Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin lithium mine
• The four new signings to management will help drive the development of James Bay lithium processing hub

 

Four lithium veterans have been added to the already highly-credentialled team at Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7), which is developing a vertically integrated mining and processing hub in Quebec, Canada.

LU7 chief and former Galaxy Resources boss Iggy Tan has added four more former colleagues to his Lithium Universe Allstars team to help drive the company’s vision of an integrated mining and processing business in Quebec, Canada.

The latest signings to his management team come less than two weeks after LU7 appointed Dr Jingyuan Liu, a distinguished technical expert in the lithium industry.

Dr Jingyuan Liu previously served as GM development and technologies with Galaxy Resources and has experience with Galaxy’s Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant.

Liu and the slew of new appointments will be integral to LU7’s plans to establish a lithium processing hub in Québec’s James Bay.

 

Who’s joining the Lithium Universe team?

 

In terms of NBA 2K player ratings, the four incoming players to the leadership team are right up there.

 

Head of Mining: Terry Stark

Player Rating: Engineering: 95, Strategy: 92, Exploration: 89. Overall: 92

A veteran mining engineer, Terry Stark has been appointed as Head of Mining and will spearhead the mining strategy for LU7’s “Apollo First to Market” program.

Previously, he oversaw the resources division for Galaxy Resources, which, in a merger with Argentina’s Orocobre, has since turned into lithium giant Allkem (ASX:AKE) – which is also operating in James Bay.

Stark was responsible for all of Galaxy’s mineral resources assets, including exploration and mine operations and oversaw the construction and production start of the 12.8Mt Mt Cattlin lithium mine.

During his time at Galaxy, he established strong relationships with the Cree First Nations people for LU7’s current James Bay project.

 

Head of Processing: Roger Pover

Player Rating: Engineering: 92, Strategy: 95, Construction: 88. Overall: 91

Another Galaxy alumni, Roger Pover has been consigned to lead the processing and concentrating strategy for the Apollo First to Market program.

A veteran of the lithium world, he first started at the world’s largest lithium mine, Greenbushes, in the early 1990s and had a role as Mt Cattlin’s plant manager as part of the commissioning and operations team.

 

Engineering Manager: Huy Nguyen

Player Rating: Engineering: 91, Business Acumen: 97, Construction: 88. Overall: 93

Another Galaxy Resource spinout, Huy Nguyen has been seconded from engineering business Mintrex to act as LU7’s engineering client representative.

Together with DRA Global, Mintrex was the lead engineering company that designed and constructed the Mt Cattlin Spodumene Plant.

Nguyen is a qualified mechanical engineer with over 15 years’ of engineering and project experience in mining, mineral processing, and construction and also holds an MBA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) and is a member of Engineer Australia (MIEAust).

 

Head of Lithium Carbonate Refinery: John Loxton

Player Rating: Experience: 95, Plant Development: 98, Projects: 89. Overall: 94

With over 45 years’ experience in industrial and infrastructure project management, Loxton started his lithium rollercoaster in 2010 when working on the Jiangsu plant EPCM for Galaxy in China, where he ended up managing the final stages of construction and commissioning.

He then went on to Tianqi Lithium as project head during the company’s investment into its Kwinana lithium hydroxide processing plant and oversaw the commissioning of the first train in 2021 and the second in 2022.

 

Developing a lithium processing hub

LU7 says the appointments are “crucial to the formation of the Québec Lithium Processing Hub strategy” it has outlined as part of its development strategy for Canada’s James Bay lithium precinct.

“These appointments conclude the establishment of the pedigree of lithium professionals – our ‘Lithium Dream Team’,” Tan says.

Iggy Tan and his team are primarily focused on the 240km2 Apollo project, just 29km southeast of Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) monster 109.2Mt @ 1.42% Li2O Corvette lithium project and is within the same greenstone belt of the La Grande sub-province.

LU7 is currently undertaking survey and fieldwork to delineate priority targets for a maiden drilling campaign.

Then there’s the Adina West & South projects, close to Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) Adina project in the same James Bay district.

Elsewhere, LU7 owns the Margot Lake project in Ontario, situated between Frontier Lithium’s PAK and Spark deposits which have resource grades of up to 1.52%.

It also owns the Lefroy Bald Hill project in WA and the Voyager REE project in Tasmania.

But the company could not simply unearth lithium deposits, but instead had to ensure its long-term strategy incorporated Canada’s supply chain security concerns, Tan says.

“We must possess the expertise and resources to build and operate a fully integrated lithium processing and downstream facility,” he says.

“This includes an intricate understanding of each stage, from extraction and purification to the final production of battery-grade lithium products.”

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Lithium Universe, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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