NioCorp Developments Ltd has announced that Peter Oliver, a 30-plus year veteran of the mining and critical mineral processing industry, is joining the company’s board of directors.
The company said Oliver brings decades of experience in resource development, critical minerals processing, mergers and acquisitions as well as project financing to its leadership team.
With a background in chemistry, Oliver served for 18 years at Talison Lithium, including 12 years as CEO/MD and then as non-executive director.
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During his tenure, Oliver guided Talison through its 2013 acquisition by Tianqi Lithium, valued at approximately C$1 billion.
He was also the founding director of Tianqi Lithium Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianqi, which was established to build a major lithium hydroxide manufacturing facility in Western Australia.
In a statement, NioCorp CEO Mark Smith said Oliver will be a highly valuable addition to the NioCorp enterprise.
“Peter is an exceptionally successful leader in the global mining business, and his experience spans the entire spectrum of resource development, operations and process optimization, public company management, global M&A, and project financing,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Oliver said there is a fundamental shift across the globe as nations move much more aggressively toward lower-carbon economies and the technologies that enabled the transition, highlighting the need to secure adequate supplies of the critical metals needed for this historic transformation.
“In my view, NioCorp is positioned to take advantage of this shift once project financing is secured and the project begins commercial operation,” he said.
“For me, this is a wonderful opportunity to join NioCorp's board and assist the company in many aspects of moving this project to commercial operation."
NioCorp is focused on developing a superalloy materials project in southeast Nebraska that will produce niobium, scandium, and titanium.
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