Following an extensive executive search process critical minerals-focused company Premier1 Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLC) has appointed highly experienced lithium professional Jason Froud, effective June 1, 2024.
This marks an important milestone in the transition of Premier1 into a significant junior lithium explorer with the appointment expected to drive exploration and further growth of the company’s portfolio.
Froud is a geologist with more than 25 years of experience in the resources sector focusing on lithium and battery metals, including as the former business development manager of Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR).
He has worked for major mining companies including Newcrest and WMC as well as global consultancies with experience across the mining cycle and numerous commodities.
Industry-leading technology
The incoming MD said: "l am excited to accept the role of managing director at Premier1. The company has the vision, commitment and importantly, the backing to build Premier1 into a successful junior explorer and maximise the chance of exploration success with its industry-leading machine learning technology.
"I am impressed at the rigour and diligence the team has applied in assembling the current exploration package and look forward to the opportunity to fully test this and enhance it with further organic growth or M&A activity.
“Recent months have been challenging for battery minerals but I am confident in the underlying demand for EV metals and strong recovery in the sector.
"I look forward to working closely with Premier1's board and shareholders, and to delivering value for all stakeholders."
Liontown experience
Foord was recently responsible for business development at Liontown including the generation of new lithium and battery metals projects of Tier-1 potential and the execution of various farm-ins and joint ventures across Australia.
With his wide range of experience including commercial and stakeholder engagement, Foord is ideally suited to drive PLC’s growth and success into the future.
“Tremendous expertise”
“We are delighted to appoint Jason as managing director,” Premier1’s non-executive director Anja Ehser said.
"Jason is the former business development manager of Liontown Resources where he played a leading role in generating a pipeline of new major lithium and battery metals projects in Australia.
"He brings tremendous experience and expertise in assessing and valuing lithium assets that will assist Premier1’s growth using our unique lithium data sets.
"We look forward to working closely with him to create shareholder value through continued development of our existing exploration assets and further project opportunities.”
Richard Taylor to remain
The board and entire PLC team thank current CEO Richard Taylor for his contribution and commitment during the transition of PLC and is pleased to have him remain part of the company as a non-executive director from June onwards.
In addition to the management, further additions are planned to be made to the leadership team at PLC to align with the new strategy.