REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Appointment of Process Development Manager

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

06/02/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 0329C  Empire Metals Limited  06 February 2024

Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources

 

6 February 2024

 

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Empire Appoints Former BHP Metallurgist as  Process Development Manager

 

Appointment of Expert Titanium Industry Consultants Bolster Technical Advisory
Committee

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON:EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Narelle
Marriott as the Company's Process Development Manager, commencing 11 March
2024. Ms Marriott will lead a small team of metallurgists and engineers and
will manage the ongoing development of the Pitfield Titanium Project
('Pitfield' or the 'Project'). Coinciding with this pivotal appointment Empire
has secured the services of two senior titanium industry consultants, Dr.
Trevor Nicholson and Mr. Eugene Dardengo, who together have over 72 years of
experience in the titanium processing and extraction industry.

 

Highlights

 

·    An experienced and talented former BHP metallurgist, Ms. Marriott has
planned and managed all aspects of process flowsheet development, having over
20 years' experience working across multiple commodities including nickel,
uranium, iron ore, and rare earths.

 

·    As Process Development Manager, Ms. Marriott will be responsible for
the design and execution of mineralogical studies and metallurgical test work,
and the subsequent development of an economic metallurgical processing
flowsheet for mineral beneficiation, titanium extraction and product
development for the Pitfield Project.

 

·    Ms Marriott will be supervising and providing technical guidance to a
small team of metallurgists and process design engineers with the objective of
advancing from the current process development studies to the construction and
successful execution of a demonstration process-product plant.

 

·    Ms Marriott joins a strong technical leadership team led by Shaun
Bunn, the Managing Director, that also includes our Exploration Manager, Mr.
Andrew Faragher (formerly one of Rio Tinto's Chief Geologists).

 

·    The technical team are well supported by the Company's Technical
Advisory Committee comprising Empire's Non-Executive Chairman, Dr. Neil
O'Brien, Exploration Consultant, Mr Ed Baltis, and the recently appointed duo
of titanium experts, Dr Trevor Nicholson and Mr Eugene Dardengo.

 

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "I am delighted to announce the
appointment of Ms. Marriott, who brings with her a wealth of experience and
who will be a great addition to our growing  project development team.
Building our in-house technical expertise and investing in the right talent is
key as we look to accelerate the economic assessment and development of the
Pitfield Titanium Project. I am also extremely pleased that Dr Trevor
Nicholson and Mr. Eugene Dardengo, two highly regarded titanium industry
technical specialists will be joining the team as consultants."

 

"Ms. Marriott's appointment as Process Development Manager is a key milestone
for the Company and significantly bolsters our project team's processing and
project development capabilities. This appointment, along with the appointment
of the two senior titanium industry technical consultants, ensures we have the
expertise required to successfully develop and execute our project development
plans. The timing could not be better, having recently announced (5 February
2024) that we are commencing  resource drilling at Pitfield to delineate
high-grade, shallow zones of titanium mineralisation, and to provide key
samples for mineralogical and metallurgical characterization."

 

Empire's Project Development Team

 

Process Development Manager Appointment

 

Ms. Marriott is an experienced metallurgist with over 20 years' experience
working across multiple commodities including nickel, uranium, iron ore, and
rare earths.  A graduate from the University of Queensland, with a Bachelor
of Engineering (Minerals Process) Honours, her formative years were spent with
BHP, rising to Senior Process Engineer based at BHP's Perth Technology Centre.
Since that time, she has planned and managed all aspects of developing a
beneficiation process flowsheet, including initial concept testwork,
variability testwork, orebody assessments, pilot plant operation, design
criteria development and translation to engineering design.

 

Most recently Ms. Marriott was employed as the General Manager - Process
Development for Hastings Technology Metals Pty Ltd. ('Hastings'), working on
the Yangibana Project. She was credited with the successfully execution of a
metallurgical program to assess the beneficiation potential of the ore,
upgrading it from 1% TREO to >25% TREO in final flotation concentrate.
Leading a team of process engineers in the detailed design phase of the
project she worked closely with the EPCM contractor to deliver beneficiation
and hydrometallurgical plant design.

 

Prior to working with Hastings Ms. Marriott worked for Greenland Minerals
& Energy Pty Ltd on the Kvanefjeld Rare Earth and Uranium Project, where
she managed, designed and executed a geo-metallurgical testwork program to
determine a beneficiation processing technology for the project aimed at
developing an economic process flowsheet. Significant effort on her part was
involved in identifying and engaging with experts in the field, researching
existing processes and parallel industries, and developing testwork programs
to translate research knowledge to practical application on the unique
Kvanefjeld mineralogy. This culminated in the design and operation of three
comminution and flotation pilot plant campaigns.

 

In addition to her experience on applying innovative technology and developing
somewhat unique metallurgical processing routes, Ms. Marriott has also worked
on a large iron ore project in the Mid-West region of WA, not far from the
Pitfield Project. As the Process Manager for Crosslands Resources she managed
the metallurgical testwork, inclusive of gravity separation, magnetic
separation, flotation and product handling, at both bench and pilot scale
which also required leading of a team of engineering consultants.

 

Titanium Industry Process and Extraction Consultants

 

Dr. Trevor Nicholson

Dr Nicholson is an experienced senior technical manager with an extensive
metallurgical background who has been involved with the WA Mineral Sands
industry since 1987. Key strengths are in project management and process
engineering services backed by highly developed engineering and analytical
skills which have been demonstrated through a track record of successful
project outcomes.

 

Dr Nicholson completed a PhD in Mineral Process Engineering at the University
of Queensland in 1996; his thesis entitled: "Mathematical Modelling of the
Ilmenite Reduction Process in Rotary Kilns".  Key areas of expertise gained
within both the titanium oxide and mineral sands industry over a 36-year
career include management of hydro- and pyro-metallurgical operations,
planning and management of research projects, and flowsheet modelling,
analysis and optimization.

 

Dr Nicholson's clients include Tronox Ltd, Iluka Resources Ltd, Lomon Billions
Co Ltd, TiZir Titanium and Iron AS, Bluejay Mining Plc, Alcoa of Australia
Ltd, Northern Minerals Ltd, Hastings Technology Metals Ltd, Vale Exploration
Pty Ltd, Doral Mineral Industries Ltd, Consolidated Tin Ltd, Metals X Ltd,
Lynas Corporation Ltd, Technology Metals Australia Ltd, Atlantic Vanadium Pty
Ltd, MSP Engineering Pty Ltd, Wave International, Hazer Group Limited, Image
Resources NL, TZ Minerals International Pty Ltd, Lycopodium Engineering Pty
Ltd and Australian National University (ANU).

 

 

Mr Eugene Dardengo

Mr Dardengo is an experienced Technical/Operations Manager with a broad
background in the Titanium Oxide and Mineral Sands Industry, having had
responsibility for providing professional and technical support to existing
operations and greenfield projects in the industry for over 36 years.

 

Having spent his early career focusing on magnetic and gravity separation
technologies, Mr Dardengo joined the titanium oxide pigment producer Tiwest in
1997, and he spent the next 12 years working in a number diverse roles, being
accountable for Plant Operations, Technical Support, Mineral Testwork &
Laboratory Services, Logistical Services and Safety, Health and Environment
Advice.

 

Mr. Dardengo's clients include Allied Mineral Laboratories (AML), CSA Global,
Australasian Minerals and Trading Pty Ltd, VV Mineral (India), Image Resources
NL, Bluejay Mining Plc, Crossland Strategic, MSP Engineering, Minerals
Commodities Ltd, Audalia Resources Ltd, Australian Garnet Pty Ltd, Primero.

 

Exploration and Geoscience Team

 

The appointment of Mr Andrew Faragher to the key role of Exploration Manager
in February 2023 was a major milestone in the development of a highly skilled
and experienced exploration team at Empire. Mr. Faragher's experience and
skills compliment those of the other exploration team members that include Mr.
Ed Baltis, as Exploration Consultant, and Ms. Louisa Stokes as Exploration
Geologist.

 

Mr Faragher is an experienced exploration geologist with over 25 years'
experience working across multiple commodities including copper/gold, base
metals, uranium, iron ore, bauxite and diamonds. He has a strong track record
of discoveries and a deep understanding of exploration.

 

Amongst other senior positions, Mr Faragher spent seven years working for Rio
Tinto, where he held a number of roles including Exploration Manager - Canada
and Chief Geologist -  Iron Ore and Bauxite. Highlights of his career with
Rio Tinto include leading a team which discovered in excess of 5Bt of iron ore
in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with building and developing
successful exploration teams in both Australia and Canada.

 

Ed Baltis has an extensive geological knowledge of Western Australia and its
mineral potential as well as notable operational experience having managed and
led exploration campaigns for a diverse range of commodities throughout
Australasia, Africa and the Americas.  Amongst other positions he was
previously Regional Exploration Manager for Australasia and subsequently Vice
President Project Generation for Gold Fields Limited, where he was integral to
the successful acquisition of Barrick Gold assets in Australia in 2013 and
provided oversight of the exploration programmes that led to discovery of
>3Moz Invincible deposit at St Ives. In recent years Ed has been providing
consulting services in geology and target generation to a range of companies
focussed on Australasia and Africa and was responsible for the discovery of
the +1Moz Mandilla gold deposit in Western Australia in 2019.

 

Louisa Stokes is a PhD Candidate (Applied Geology) at Curtin University,
Perth, Western Australia. She graduated from the Royal School of Mines,
Imperial College London with a MScs Geology (1st Class with Honours) in 2010
before embarking on a career as an Exploration Geologist working in places
such as Armenia, Liberia and Mali for gold explorers and producers. Amongst
other responsibilities and achievements, Louisa was involved in the discovery
and development of the 3.56Moz Dugbe Gold Project in southwest Liberia for
Hummingbird Resources plc.

 

In addition to being the Company's Non-Executive Chairman, Dr. Neil O'Brien
acts as a senior technical advisor to the Company.  He is a consulting
economic geologist and former mining executive with a PhD in Geological
Sciences from Queen's University, Canada, and nearly four decades of industry
service.  Dr. O'Brien retired from Lundin Mining Corporation in 2018 as SVP
Exploration and New Business Development and a member the executive team that
transformed a once junior miner into a leading international base metal mining
company. Dr. O'Brien has international experience on six continents in all
stages of mineral exploration and development of economic mineral resource
projects and has a specific expertise in identifying and exploring giant
mineral systems with a focus on creating valuable mineral resource assets.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk)   or contact:

 Empire Metals Ltd

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel                                                               Tel: 020 4583 1440
 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)                                      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl / Kasia Brzozowska
 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                               Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath
 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial                                                       Tel: 020 7236 1177
 PR)

 Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development
company with a project portfolio comprising copper, titanium and gold
interests in Australia and Austria.

 

The Company's strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different
stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on the Pitfield Project
in Western Australia, which has demonstrated to contain a newly recognised
giant mineral system that hosts a globally significant titanium discovery. The
Company is also advancing the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project in Western Australia,
which is prospective for high-grade gold and also kaolin used to produce
high-purity alumina, an essential component in lithium-ion batteries.

 

Company also has two further exploration projects in Australia; the Walton
Project in Western Australia, and the Stavely Project in the Stavely Arc
region of Victoria, in addition to three precious metals projects located in a
historically high-grade gold producing region of Austria.

 

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