TSX: NEXT|OTCQB: NSRCF
TSX: NEXT|OTCQB: NSRCF
To meet rapidly growing demand for anode material for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, NextSource has secured an exclusive international partnership to develop turn-key processing facilities, called Battery Anode Facilities (BAFs).
NextSource is planning a staged buildout of a series of BAFs in key geographic locations, each designed with modular production capacities that can expand in lockstep with automotive (OEM) demand from key markets in Asia, North America, Europe and the UK.
Each BAF uses an innovative design based on a proprietary and well-established processing technology that NextSource has exclusive license to, and is currently used to supply spheronized, purified graphite (SPG) to major OEMs. In addition, the BAFs will use a coating process verified by the Toyota and Tesla supply chain to produce coated SPG (CSPG). You can find out more about CSPG here.
The BAFs will source flake graphite from the Molo Graphite Mine and, if required and where appropriate, from qualified flake graphite feedstock of third parties.
To make CSPG, flake graphite concentrate is reduced to micron size, then mechanically shaped into spheres (spheroidization) and then purified. The spherical, purified graphite (SPG) material is then coated with a hard carbon shell that protects the sphere from exfoliation and degradation.
SPG production is dominated by Chinese firms who possess much of the Intellectual Property (IP) and expertise required to refine flake graphite into finished anode material.
NextSource has secured an exclusive partnership with two well-established and leading companies that process and supply leading Japanese anode and battery makers with anode material. Through this partnership, NextSource has an exclusive licence to best-in-class processing IP for SPG that is currently used in multiple OEM supply chains including Tesla and Toyota, and for a verified coating IP to produce CSPG.
Director
Mr. Kruba is Vice-President and Legal Counsel to Nostrum Capital Corporation and a number of related corporations that are part of the Toldo Group, headquartered in Windsor, Ontario. The Toldo Group is composed of several privately held corporations in Canada and the United States, some of which have large manufacturing operations in diversified sectors and others which are involved in active and passive investments across capital markets throughout North America, Europe and Africa. In addition to his responsibilities as counsel to the Toldo Group, Mr. Kruba serves as corporate secretary to all the companies, is a member of Group’s investment committee and he serves on the board of directors of many of the companies.
Mr. Kruba has extensive manufacturing and capital markets experience and has led merges and acquisitions and participated in the management and strategic planning for numerous companies, including venture capital corporations in which the group has invested in.
Nostrum Captial Corporation and Mr. Kruba personally have been investors in NextSource Materials Inc. since 2011 and he joined the Board in 2019.
Interim Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Velloza has a wealth of technical and operating experience in the mining industry spanning 30 years during which he managed operational optimization processes and large capital expansions across a range of commodities and in many jurisdictions. Mr. Velloza was previously Deputy CEO and COO of Gem Diamonds and CEO of Chemaf. Prior to this, he was with BHP Western Australia Iron Ore where, from 2013 to 2015, he was General Manager at the largest iron ore mine in the BHP portfolio, leading a number of successful operational efficiency programs. He also acted as a Senior Exploration Manager in Zambia and in Chile for BHP from 2011-2013, Operations Manager at AngloGold Ashanti from 2009-2010 and held numerous managerial positions at De Beers from 2001-2009. Mr Velloza holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from The University of Johannesburg and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from The University of South Africa.
Vice President, Sustainability
Mr. Reichardt brings a practical understanding of integrating ESG into all stages of the project cycle based on a 25 year track record in operational, senior corporate and advisory roles in the resources, agricultural and renewables sectors across the developing world.
Mr. Reichardt is responsible for driving the Group’s Safety, Health, Environment, Social, Climate Change and Quality performance and initiatives.
Mr. Reichardt is a former Corporate Environmental Manager of AngloGold Ltd and holds degrees in history and restoration ecology.
Chair of the Board
Sir Mick Davis is a highly successful mining executive who founded Vision Blue Resources in December 2020 to identify and capture opportunities in battery and technology minerals linked to EV & Grid Storage growth. He is credited with building Xstrata Plc into one of the world’s largest global diversified mining and metals companies prior to its acquisition by Glencore Plc. Before listing Xstrata on the London Stock Exchange as CEO, he was CFO of Billiton Plc and Chairman of Billiton Coal, which he joined after serving as CFO of Eskom, South Africa’s power utility company that provides 60% of the total electricity consumed on the African continent.
During his career in mining, Sir Mick Davis has raised over US$40 billion from global capital markets and successfully completed over US$120 billion of corporate transactions, including the creation of the Ingwe Coal Corporation in South Africa; the listing of Billiton on the London Stock Exchange; the merger of BHP and Billiton; as well as numerous transactions at Xstrata culminating in the sale to Glencore Plc.
Sir Mick Davis is a Chartered Accountant by profession and holds an honors degree in Commerce from Rhodes University, South Africa and an Honorary Doctorate from Bar Ilan University, Israel.
Director
Ian Pearce has over 40 years of professional experience in the global metallurgy and mining related industries. Mr. Pearce held executive roles at Falconbridge Limited, including COO and subsequently served as CEO of Xstrata Nickel, a subsidiary of Xstrata Plc. He has also held senior engineering and project management roles managing numerous significant development projects in the mining extractives sector.
Mr. Pearce currently is a Director of New Gold Inc, where he is Chair of the Board a Director of Metso Outotec Corporation and a Director of Northland Power Inc. He is also Chair of MineSense Technologies Ltd. Mr. Pearce holds a Higher National Diploma in Engineering (Extractive Metallurgy) from the University of Johannesburg and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Mr. Pearce’s principal occupation is as a corporate director.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr Johnson is a bilingual senior executive with over 25 years of business experience, including 10 years at public corporations as CFO, VP Corporate Development and other financial management positions, and 10 years in capital markets in investment banking and equity research. Mr. Johnson is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and joined NextSource as CFO in October 2015.
He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal.
Executive Vice President
Mr. Nykoliation joined the senior management team at NextSource Materials as Vice President in 2007 and leads the development and implementation of strategic partnerships and offtakes with supply chain customers. In addition, Mr. Nykoliation oversees all communications with institutional investors and analysts for the Company.
He brings over 20 years of senior management experience, having held marketing and strategic development positions with several Fortune 500 corporations in Canada, notably Nestlé, Home Depot and Whirlpool.
Mr. Nykoliation holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours degree from Queen’s University.
VP, Special Projects
Mr. Stokes joined NextSource in 2022, during his career he has been responsible for providing project management support across a diverse portfolio of projects in mining, infrastructure, and nuclear industries; developing tools, implementing best practices and mentoring apprentices.
Mr. Stokes holds degrees in Engineering and Business and has a qualification in Project Management from the Association for Project Management.
General Manager, Molo Mine
Wilhelm Reitz is a mine management professional with 28 years of experience in the global mining sector, with the last 11 years focussed on critical minerals and in developing technologies through design, engineering, and research on graphite.
Mr. Reitz held senior management roles with AfriGold in Senegal and West African Diamonds in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Prior to joining NextSource, he was involved in developing and managing graphite mines in Madagascar for Stratmin Global and Greenwing Resources.
Mr. Reitz holds a BSB Diploma in Leadership and Management and studied with AIM in Australia, Faculty of Management.
Country Manager, NextSource Materials
Lydia Boarlaza joined NextSource as Country Manager in January 2021, and has had extensive management experience in the Madagascar mining sector over her career. She has served in general manager and resident manager roles for various companies including Madagascar Consolidated Mining S.A., Madagascar Oil S.A., Avana Group, Hunt Oil Madagascar, and Shell Exploration & Development Madagascar BV.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of Madagascar Chamber of Mines, member of the National Committee within the EITI Madagascar, and member of the Women in Mining and Resources Association in Madagascar.
Director
Mr. Whalen has around 20 years of investment banking and M&A expertise, spending 18 of those years at Dundee Corporation. During his tenure at Dundee Corp., Mr. Whalen was directly involved in completing approximately $2 billion in M&A deals and helped raise over $10 billion in capital for resource sector companies. While a Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Goodman and Company (a division of Dundee Corp.), Mr. Whalen oversaw an investment of $6 million into NextSource enabling the Company to achieve key technical milestones, notably the completion of its July 2017 Phase 1 Feasibility Study and the concept and design of the full modular build approach NextSource will be utilizing for construction of both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Molo Mine. Mr. Whalen has extensive knowledge of both graphite and vanadium, and the battery materials industry in general.
Mr. Whalen has held Board seats of several TSX-listed and privately held companies, and joined NextSource as a Director in 2020.
He holds a BA (Honors) degree in Economics and Finance from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Director, President & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Scherba was appointed President and CEO in September 2012 and has been a director since January 2010 when he served as Vice President, Exploration of the Company. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Scherba was a managing partner for six years with Taiga Consultants Ltd., a mining exploration consulting company. Mr. Scherba has been a professional geologist (P. Geo.) since 2000, and his expertise includes supervising large Canadian and international mineral resource exploration programs.
Mr. Scherba was an integral member of the exploration team that developed Nevsun Resources’ high grade gold, copper and zinc Bisha project in Eritrea. Mr. Scherba served as the NextSource’s Country and Exploration Manager in Madagascar during its initial exploration stage, discovering both the Molo Graphite and the Green Giant Vanadium deposits. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science after-degree in Geology from the University of Alberta.