During a recent InvestorTalk interview hosted by Tracy Hughes, Tom Drivas, CEO and Director of Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (CSE: API | OTCQB: APAAF), introduced the company’s new President, Kurt Radtke, and outlined an increasingly active period across Appia’s rare earth and uranium portfolio.
Radtke was appointed President effective September 1, 2026, bringing more than 20 years of international mining and operational leadership experience to the company. His career has included responsibility for large-scale drilling, field operations, logistics and exploration programs across several continents, including serving as Vice President of Field Operations and Logistics, Exploration and Resource Development for Saudi Arabian mining company Maaden.
Asked by Hughes what attracted him to Appia, Radtke pointed to both the company’s existing work and the scale of its land position.
“I looked at the company, and I was just really enthralled with what they’ve done so far and the land that they’re sitting on,” he said. “I think that Appia has just got an amazing story to tell.”
Drivas said the appointment followed a year-long search for someone capable of helping move Appia’s collection of projects forward. What distinguished Radtke was not simply his executive background, but his experience managing drilling programs and converting technical plans into activity on the ground.
For Drivas, Radtke’s value lies in his ability to turn plans into action. “He’s an operations guy,” Drivas said. “We have all these projects, and we would like to have somebody who can really help us move those projects forward.”
One of the principal subjects of the interview was Appia’s Brazilian rare earth exposure. Appia holds a 25% interest in Ultra Rare Earth Inc., which indirectly owns 100% of the Ultra Hard Rock and Ultra Ionic Adsorption Clay projects in Goiás State. Together, the two projects cover approximately 42,932 hectares and contain two distinct forms of mineralization: hard rock rare earths associated with carbonatites and rare earths hosted in ionic adsorption clays.
Drivas said Ultra currently has six drills operating in Brazil and has completed an S-K 1300 technical report covering the hard rock carbonatite portion of the property. He added that Ultra intends to complete a separate resource estimate for the ionic clay mineralization over the coming months, followed by a preliminary economic assessment and then pre-feasibility work.
The pace of work reflects the importance Ultra has assumed within the broader Appia story. Appia’s 25% equity position allows the company to retain meaningful exposure to the Brazilian projects while Ultra advances an extensive drilling and development program.
In Canada, management identified the 100%-owned Otherside uranium property in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin as an increasingly important priority. On August 31, Appia reported that the final interpretation of two lines from its 2026 SPARTAN magnetotelluric survey had outlined several additional preliminary uranium drill targets.
Drivas described the geophysical story developing at Otherside as particularly encouraging and said success there could require a substantial drilling commitment. That possibility is one reason Radtke’s background has become relevant so quickly.
Radtke agreed that the property carries considerable potential but emphasized the importance of disciplined target selection. “We need to make sure that we’re putting our rigs on the right spot and getting the data that we need to have,” he said.
Radtke also expressed enthusiasm for Appia’s Alces Lake rare earth property in northern Saskatchewan. The company recently completed six diamond drill holes at Alces Lake, with rare earth-bearing monazite visually identified in three of them. Three originally planned holes and ten additional targets remain available for potential follow-up work.
Hughes also drew attention to the cross-border significance of Radtke’s appointment. Appia is a Canadian-listed company advancing rare earth and uranium assets that are strategically important to both Canada and the United States, while Radtke’s background includes a career in the United States Army and extensive international mining experience.
“These are two very strong economies that need to move forward,” Radtke said. “If we can do that in sync, together, then excellent. And we always have.”
The immediate task for Appia’s new President will be to understand how the technical team operates, review the flow of information and determine how the company can translate its portfolio into a clearer operating plan. Radtke described his first 30 days as a period of observation, while Drivas said management is developing a roadmap covering the next 12 to 18 months.
That roadmap is expected to combine continued work at Otherside, future planning at Alces Lake and the ongoing advancement of the Brazilian projects through Ultra Rare Earth. It will also require Appia to communicate more clearly how these separate assets fit together.
For Radtke, that communication is part of the assignment. “My job is to get in front of people, tell that story and get them as excited as I am about moving this forward,” he said.
Appia’s portfolio already gives the company exposure to hard rock and ionic clay rare earths in Brazil, high-grade monazite-hosted rare earths and gallium at Alces Lake, and uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin. The addition of Radtke signals a greater emphasis on coordinating those opportunities through operational discipline, carefully selected drill targets and a defined plan for the next stage of the company’s development.
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