Ion Energy Ltd (CVE:ION) announced on Tuesday that it had appointed Mongolian mineral exploration veteran Enkhtuvshin Khishigsuren to the board and two new special advisors with deep knowledge of the rapidly growing lithium industry.
Ion Energy, a company with one of the largest exploration licenses in Mongolia, now has a five-member board with CEO Ali Haji, Aneel Waraich, Matthew Wood, Bataa Tumur-Ochir and Khishigsuren.
Khishigsuren rounds out the lithium exploration company’s board with over three decades of mineral exploration experience in Mongolia. Since 2005, Khishigsuren has been running his own company, Erdenyn Erel, and providing exploration and consulting services to multinational mining companies.
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According to Ion Energy, Khishigsuren has identified targets that have resulted in the discovery of several prospective gold and copper deposits in Mongolia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in geological exploration from Azerbaijan State University and a Master’s degree in geological science from Shimane University in Japan.
In addition, Ion Energy tapped Paul Fornazzari and Don Hains as the company’s special advisers.
Fornazzari has been involved in the lithium industry since 2008 with the creation of Lithium Americas Corp. As the company’s chairman, he secured initial strategic investments from Mitsubishi and Magna International, which helped launch the world class lithium brine asset. Later Fornazzari was a director in Neo Lithium Corp and is currently a partner at the law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.
Hains is president of Hains Engineering and a principal of Hains Technology Associates. He is an industrial minerals exploration and economic geologist with more than 30 years of experience in exploration, development, use and analysis of industrial minerals properties and materials. He focuses on energy-related minerals such as lithium and has worked on projects in China and Mongolia. His lithium experience encompasses all types of deposits, processing routes and stages of project development from exploration through to plant construction.
In a statement, Ion Energy CEO Ali Haji said: “We are pleased to have individuals of this caliber join our advisory board and are confident that Mr Fornazzari, Mr Hains and Mr Khishigsuren will add a wealth of experience to the team. This is a solid addition to our bench strength and validates the potential of our team.”
Exploration update
ION Energy’s Baavhai Uul lithium brine project, spread over 80,000 hectares, is strategically located 30 kilometers from the Mongolia-China border crossing.
“Exploration is set to commence in the coming weeks beginning with seismic and moving on to CSAMT,” said the company.
“We remain excited to explore the highly prospective Baavhai Uul license over the next quarter. The company is optimistic about the lithium market and, in our view, the start of the green revolution: a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy mobilizing the planet sustainably,” said Haji.
Ion Energy’s project represents the first lithium brine mining license award in Mongolia’s history. The project is located in the arid Gobi desert with high evaporation rates and low precipitation rates that are considered optimal for lithium brine extraction.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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