Energizer Resources Announces Appointment of Richard Quesnel to Board of Directors
Energizer Resources Inc. (formerly Uranium Star Corp.) (TSX.V: EGZ) (OTCBB:ENZR) (FRANKFURT:YE5) (“Energizer” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that Richard Quesnel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. (TSX: CLM), has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors effective October 21, 2010.
As Energizer’s Green Giant Vanadium Project advances into the development phase, the Company has created a new board committee, the Capital Projects Committee, to sheppard this development. Richard Quesnel has been appointed Chair of the Capital Projects Committee.
Throughout his almost 30-year mining career, Richard Quesnel has contributed to the success of several large gold, copper, nickel and iron ore mining properties in Canada and the U.S.A. He has successfully developed, commissioned, operated and expanded mining operations, including the Mount Wright and Quebec Cartier mines in Quebec, the Gibraltar mine in British Columbia, the Barrick Gold Meikle mine in Nevada and the Montcalm mine in Ontario. Most recently, Richard Quesnel, in his capacity as President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Thompson, was responsible for the successful development of Consolidated Thompson’s 8 million tonne Bloom Lake iron ore deposit located in Quebec, Canada, which came into commercial production in early 2010, just three years after completion of the feasibility study.
In addition to the construction of the iron ore mine, Richard Quesnel was instrumental in the construction of a 31-km railroad and ore handling facilities near the port of Pointe-Noire to support the mining operations of the Bloom Lake project.
As part of the successful and on-schedule completion of the Bloom Lake project, Richard Quesnel and the CLM team raised over CDN$1 billion in financing, negotiated and concluded a $240 million strategic investment by Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (“WISCO”), one of China’s largest steel producers, as well as off-take agreements with WISCO, Worldlink Resources of China and SK Networks Co., a subsidiary of the third largest Korean conglomerate, SK Group.
Throughout his almost 30-year mining career, Richard Quesnel has contributed to the success of several large gold, copper, nickel and iron ore mining properties in Canada and the U.S.A. He has successfully developed, commissioned, operated and expanded mining operations, including the Mount Wright and Quebec Cartier mines in Quebec, the Gibraltar mine in British Columbia, the Barrick Gold Meikle mine in Nevada and the Montcalm mine in Ontario. Most recently, Richard Quesnel, in his capacity as President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Thompson, was responsible for the successful development of Consolidated Thompson’s 8 million tonne Bloom Lake iron ore deposit located in Quebec, Canada, which came into commercial production in early 2010, just three years after completion of the feasibility study.
In addition to the construction of the iron ore mine, Richard Quesnel was instrumental in the construction of a 31-km railroad and ore handling facilities near the port of Pointe-Noire to support the mining operations of the Bloom Lake project.
As part of the successful and on-schedule completion of the Bloom Lake project, Richard Quesnel and the CLM team raised over CDN$1 billion in financing, negotiated and concluded a $240 million strategic investment by Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (“WISCO”), one of China’s largest steel producers, as well as off-take agreements with WISCO, Worldlink Resources of China and SK Networks Co., a subsidiary of the third largest Korean conglomerate, SK Group.
Richard Quesnel is a professional mining engineer and holds a B.Sc. (Engineering) from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and the Order of Engineers of Quebec.
Julie Lee Harrs, President and COO of Energizer, said, “We are delighted that Richard has joined our board of directors. With his current experience and success in bringing the Bloom Lake iron ore project into commercial production this year, Richard will provide valuable insight and advice as we advance our Green Giant Vanadium Project and finalize alliances with strategic partners. We look forward to working with Richard to bring our Green Giant Vanadium Project into production.”
A total of 1,100,000 options were issued to Mr. Quesnel on October 21, 2010 under the terms of the incentive stock option plan of the Company filed with the TSX Venture Exchange and approved by shareholders at the last Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company held on December 9, 2009. The options are exercisable at a price of U.S.$0.25 per share for a period of four years and are subject to a six-month hold period from the date of the issuance.
About the Green Giant Vanadium Project
The Green Giant Vanadium Project, located in Madagascar, is 100% owned by Energizer. The Company previously reported a National Instrument 43-101 compliant indicated resource estimate of 21.74 million tonnes of vanadium pentoxide at an average grade of 0.759% and an inferred resource estimate of 4.15 million tonnes of vanadium pentoxide at a grade of 0.655%. Assay results from the drilling program completed earlier this year are expected to increase the resource estimate by an additional 25 to 30 million tonnes, to make the Green Giant Vanadium Project one of the largest vanadium deposits in the world. An updated National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate is expected shortly.
About Vanadium
Vanadium is well-established as a strategic metal that strengthens and hardens alloys like steel and is positioned to play a significant role in emerging battery technologies such as batteries for electric cars and for large-scale energy storage. While there are some opportunities for substitution in steel production, the same is not true for other markets, including the emerging energy (battery) storage markets, the military and particularly in the aerospace industry, where vanadium is irreplaceable.
Today, more than 90% of existing vanadium demand is from the global steel industry, driven by increased steel production primarily in China, India and the developing world. At the same time, various economic and legislative factors are increasing the use of vanadium in the steel industry (i.e. stronger rebar in construction) where production of higher strength steels to meet the growing demand for infrastructure is accelerating on a global basis. As a result, the demand for vanadium is expected to grow at 7% year-over-year from 2010 to 2025 based on the steel industry alone.
In addition, new demand channels for vanadium from battery manufacturers of both mobile applications (electric vehicles) and large-scale energy storage systems is expected to result in additional demand for vanadium, especially high purity vanadium which is not readily available in today’s market.
Energizer’s Green Giant Vanadium Property is expected to produce high purity vanadium pentoxide which can meet the increasing demand from both the steel and battery industries.
About Energizer Resources
Energizer Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company based in Toronto, Canada. The Company’s common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EGZ, on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol ENZR, and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol YE5.
For more information please visit our website at www.energizerresources.com
Or contact:
Brent Nykoliation
Vice President of Business Development
Toll Free: 800.818.5442 or 416.364.4911
Email: bnykoliation@energizerresources.com
or Julie Lee Harrs, President and COO