World Renowned Rare Earths Expert Geoff Atkins to Join the Critical Minerals Institute Board
Atkins to Present Progressing from Resource to Production – The Rare Earth Conundrum at the CMI Summit II in Toronto on June 14-15, 2023
Toronto, June 1, 2023 – The Critical Minerals Institute (CMI), founded for education, collaboration, and to provide professional opportunities to meet the critical minerals supply chain challenges, is pleased to announce that Geoff Atkins, Vice President of Business Development of Ucore Rare Metals Inc. and Managing Partner of Strategic Minerals Group Pty Ltd., has joined the Board of Directors of the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI).
“Geoff Atkins is one of the giants of critical minerals,” said CMI Founder Tracy Weslosky, “long before people recognized the vital importance of critical minerals. Geoff is one of the few mining executives outside of China who has played a critical role in establishing two landmark rare earth operations – Mt. Weld with Lynas Rare Earths Limited and Nechalacho with Vital Metals Limited. He joins a growing team of distinguished experts and industry leaders as a Director of the Critical Minerals Institute and will participate in a number of panels at the upcoming Critical Minerals Summit being held on June 14-15, 2023, in Toronto.”
Mr. Atkins is a mining executive with over 30 years of experience, including over 15 years in the critical mineral sector, focusing on the development of rare earth projects. He was a key player in establishing Mt. Weld with Lynas Rare Earths Limited (ASX: LYC) and Nechalacho with Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML l OTCQB: VTMXF). While at Lynas, he was responsible for a range of functions, including the construction of the Mt. Weld rare earth project, providing corporate construction oversight for the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Malaysia, and developing long-term strategic plans. Mr. Atkins founded Cheetah Resources, which was subsequently taken over by Vital Metals. Mr. Atkins finalized the acquisition of the Nechalacho rare earth project in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada, in 2019. Nechalacho was the first new rare earth project brought into production in nearly 10 years. In March of 2023, Mr. Atkins is the Managing Partner of Strategic Minerals Group Pty Ltd, where he is joined by his fellow Lynas and Vital Metals’ executives providing specialist advisory services to rare earths and other critical minerals development companies. He has also joined Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU | OTCQX: UURAF) to lead its feedstock acquisition efforts as part of its North American SMC strategy.
Presenting a keynote presentation at the upcoming Critical Minerals Summit II being held next month on June 14-15, 2023, in Toronto titled “Progressing From Resource to Production – The Rare Earth Conundrum”, Geoff is also hosting the panel on Day 01 titled: The Priority Critical Mineral Debate – From Selection Criteria to Ranking, Industry Experts Weigh In.
“Progressing rare earth projects from a defined resource, or feasibility, to an operational asset has proven extremely difficult for companies around the world over the past 15 years,” said Mr. Atkins. “This presentation will examine the unique challenges faced converting rare earth resources into operational assets and the traps that companies continue to fall into preventing success.”
The Critical Minerals Institute will be holding its second annual Critical Minerals Summit on June 14-15, 2023, in Toronto. This year’s Summit has the theme “Under Pressure: The Critical Minerals Industry Addresses EV 2030 Demands.” It will feature two days of panels and international speakers including keynote speakers Constantine Karayannopoulos, CEO & Director from Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, and Mark Chalmers, President, CEO & Director, Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) on Thursday, June 15, 2023. The full schedule of panels will include representatives of Canadian and American governments. Details and registration for the Summit is now open at CriticalMineralsSummit.com.
The Critical Minerals Institute was created to offer education, collaboration, and an online resource to learn about critical mineral projects, emerging technologies, legislative initiatives, government funding, human capital needs, and capital market investment opportunities. There is no charge or sign up required for access to the Critical Minerals Institute website: CriticalMineralsInstitute.com. A range of enhanced benefits are available to individual and corporate members of the CMI, including attendance at the CMI Summit, virtual events and additional resources. For details see: www.criticalmineralsinstitute.com/cmi-membership/.
For more information, please visit the Critical Minerals Institute website at CriticalMineralsInstitute.com or to secure a CMI Corporate Membership, please contact CMI Director Tracy Weslosky at [email protected].
About the Critical Minerals Institute: The Critical Mineral Institute (CMI) is an international organization for companies and professionals focused on battery materials, technology metals, defense metals, ESG technologies and practices, the general EV market, and the use of critical minerals for energy and alternative energy production. Offering an online site that features job opportunities that range from consulting roles to Advisory Board positions, the CMI offers a wide range of B2B service solutions. Also offering online and in-person events, the CMI is designed for education, collaboration, and to provide professional opportunities to meet the critical minerals supply chain challenges.
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Special Thanks to the Critical Minerals Institute Summit II Sponsors: Albany Graphite Corp., American Rare Earths Limited, Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp., Ara Partners, Auxico Resources Canada Inc., Avalon Advanced Materials Inc., Canadian Securities Exchange, Clean Air Metals Inc., Critical Metals PLC, Critical Minerals Americas Inc., Defense Metals Corp., dynaCERT Inc., Ebury, Elcora Advanced Materials Corp., Energy Fuels Inc., F3 Uranium Corp., First Phosphate Corp., Fjordland Exploration Inc., Geophysx Jamaica Ltd., Imperial Mining Group Ltd., Karbon-X Corp., Kraken Energy Corporation, Lithium Ionic Inc., Molten Metals Corp., Nano One Materials Corp., Neo Battery Materials Ltd., Neo Performance Materials Inc., Panther Metals PLC, Power Nickel Inc., Sage Potash Corp., Search Minerals Inc., Silver Bullet Mines Corp., Ucore Rare Metals Inc., VATIC Ventures Corp., WCPD Inc., and Westwin Elements Inc.
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For more information, contact:
Tracy Weslosky, Managing Director for the CMI
[email protected] | D. +1 416 792 8228