Alabama Graphite appoints Baxter co-CEO, director

Jun 18, 2015

ALABAMA GRAPHITE ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF DON BAXTER AS CO-CEO AND DIRECTOR

Alabama Graphite Corp. has appointed Don Baxter, PEng, as co-chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Alabama Graphite, effective immediately.

Mr Baxter’s primary responsibilities will focus on the mining side of the Company’s operations and will include the following: (1) completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment, using environmentally conscious processes, for the Coosa Project in Alabama, USA, (2) to secure offtake agreements, and (3) to develop a reliable and environmentally conscious graphite battery component supply chain for just-in-time delivery of graphite and graphite value-added products to targeted corporations operating in the USA. Mr. Ron Roda will remain as President, Co-CEO, Corporate Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors, with primary responsibility for corporate strategy, developing the Company’s technological interests, intellectual property and determining commercial scalability of its naturally occurring graphene discoveries.

Mr. Baxter holds a degree in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University and is a Registered Professional Engineer and a “Qualified Person” as defined under NI 43-101.

Mr. Baxter is one of the premier graphite mining experts on the continent, having helped define 3 graphite deposits and has built 1 of only 2 producing graphite mines.

Most recently, Mr. Baxter served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Focus Graphite Corporation from September 2013 until May 2015. Mr. Baxter led Focus to wide recognition in the graphite industry and updated the company’s preliminary economic assessment and advanced the Company to a completed feasibility study. He was also responsible for rapidly advancing the development of value added graphite products, namely coated spherical graphite for the lithium ion battery sector.

Prior to Focus Mr. Baxter served as President of Northern Graphite Corporation from February 2011 and July 2013 and was responsible for all technical aspects relating to the Bissett Creek graphite project, including the bankable feasibility study, metallurgical test work and environmental and mine permitting, as well as developing battery related graphite products.

Mr. Baxter also served as Mine Superintendent at the Kearney Graphite mine when it operated in the 1990s, providing true operational experience in graphite mining and processing. He served as Director of Mining at Ontario Graphite Ltd., has worked for Inco and Noranda Minerals, as well as on numerous consulting projects for base and precious metals.

“We are delighted and fortunate to have Don join our team,” said Alabama Graphite chairman Jean Depatie. “His unparalleled skills working with PEA’s and feasibility studies for graphite will be very useful to the Company as we enter the next exciting stage of our mine development, the completion of our PEA and inroads with target quality companies which require large supplies of graphite for both the EV market and ever growing energy storage market.”

“Don’s appointment provides us with the skillset we need to aggressively pursue our dual mandates of building a graphite mine and expanding our technological horizons in graphene and related graphite materials,” said Ron Roda, who remains Co-CEO with primary responsibility for developing the Company’s technological interests.

Mr. Baxter commented, “It is refreshing to join a graphite company with a clear, consolidated focus of advancing to production and with the intent of doing so in the shortest time possible. Although I am very impressed with Alabama Graphite’s projects, namely Coosa, and the entire management team, I find the Company’s Board of Directors even more compelling. When it comes to producing and selling graphite, an excellent graphite deposit and a strong technical team are, essential. The board at Alabama Graphite has tremendous graphite mining experience and is among the finest in the graphite industry. I am honored to serve on this board with Jean Depatie and Daniel Goffaux, both of whom were building a graphite mine in Quebec as I was doing the same in Ontario in the early 1990s. In addition, David Ramm and Co-CEO Ron Roda bring corporate strategy, strong financial and relevant technical expertise to the Board.”

“The United States is a tremendous market for graphite, with no producing graphite mines. I look forward to help lead Alabama Graphite in addressing security of U.S. domestic supply of a critical strategic material with significant future demand,” said Mr. Baxter.

In connection with his appointment, the Company has granted a total of 500,000 incentive stock options to Mr. Baxter at an exercise price of $0.27 per share for a period of five years in accordance with the provisions of the Company’s stock option plan.

Mr. Rick Keevil will step down from the Board of Directors, but will continue his role as VP of Project Development with the Company.

http://alabamagraphite.com/news/