Toronto, Canada – January 24, 2024 – Quebec Rare Earth Elements Corp. (CSE:QREE) (the “Company“) is pleased to announce that at its annual general and special shareholder meeting held on January 24, 2024 (the “Meeting“), Messrs. Benoit Desormeaux, Martin Milette and Richard Roy were elected as directors of the Company.
Brief biographies of the elected directors are as follows:
Benoit Desormeaux: Benoit Desormeaux is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Benoit Desormeaux is a proven mining CEO, having risen through the ranks of SEMAFO from 1997 to 2020, including as CEO, COO and CFO. He also has over 12 years of board experience, including as audit committee chair, with public and private companies and charitable organizations. During his career, Mr. Desormeaux established a reputation for value creation, respecting guidance and timelines and delivering on commitments. He has a strong operations background, having operated four mines in three West African countries, and a proven ability to take exploration and development projects through the full cycle of technical studies, permitting, financing, construction and operations. Mr. Desormeaux has excellent mining capital markets experience, having participated in multiple equity and debt financings and various M&A transactions. He is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).
Martin Milette: Martin Milette is the current Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Martin Milette held the position of Chief Financial Officer of SEMAFO Inc., a gold mining company which was sold for $1.6 billion in 2020, for 15 years. During his career at SEMAFO, Mr. Milette oversees all aspects of the Finance and IT functions of the company, including multiple equity and debt financings and M&A transactions. Previously, he worked as Senior Manager, Assurance and Advisory Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he was principally active in the high-tech and mining sectors. He is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).
Richard Roy: Richard Roy brings over 30 years of experience in the mineral resource industry across three continents, including extensive experience with underground and open pit mine geology. Richard has held the position of Vice President New Ventures with Endeavour Mining Corporation upon the completion of the acquisition of SEMAFO Inc. in March 2020. Mr. Roy spent almost 11 years with SEMAFO Inc. (as the Exploration Manager and subsequently holding the position of Vice President Exploration), where he focused on target selection and prioritization, and was part of the acquisition team looking at opportunities of a variety of grassroots to late-stage level projects. Mr. Roy has designed and implemented successful exploration programs and mine feasibility programs in Mexico and North America, working for companies such as Aur Resources, Placer Dome, and several other junior companies. He has been involved in the discovery of several gold deposits that ultimately reached the mining stage. Mr. Roy has worked with various geological environments and commodities including precious and base metals located in diverse challenging environments such as the Canadian Arctic and African desert. Mr. Roy holds a B.Sc. in Geology from Concordia University in Montreal and is a member of the Ordre des Géologues du Québec.
Mr. Trumbull Fisher did not stand for re-election at the Meeting. The Company would like to thank Mr. Fisher for his contributions to the Company and wishes him success in future endeavours.
About QREE
Quebec Rare Earth Elements Corp. (QREE) is a mining exploration and development company focused on Rare Earth Elements (REE), primarily in the favourable mining jurisdiction of Quebec. QREE is lead by a Quebec based team that has decades of mining experience across all stages of development, from grass roots discoveries, resource development, economic studies, financing, construction, production and on-going operations. Local community engagement is a core principle on which we seek to build a sustainable, high quality, high integrity business for the benefit of all stakeholders. QREE is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol “QREE”.
For More Information, Please Contact:
QUEBEC RARE EARTH ELEMENTS CORP.
Benoit Desormeaux, CPA
President & Chief Executive Officer
Email: info@QREE.ca
Tel: 1-833-572-2333
Toronto Office:
Suite 401 – 217 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 0R2 Canada
Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward-Looking” Information
This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. “Forward-looking information” includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, but not limited to, the Company’s ongoing business plan. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved” or the negative connotation thereof.
Forward-looking information and statements are based on our current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about QREE’s business and the industry and markets in which it operates. Such forward information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that locations of historical mineral resources estimates and showings could lead to new mineralization discoveries and potentially be verified as current mineral resource estimates, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms to conduct further exploration and operational activities, and that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct QREE’s planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by QREE in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.
Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performances and achievements of QREE to differ materially from any projections of results, performances and achievements of QREE expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others: limited operating history, negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional financing, delays or failure to obtain required permits and regulatory approvals, no known mineral resources/reserves, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on key management and other personnel; potential downturns in economic conditions; availability of third party contractors; availability of equipment and supplies; failure of equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the mineral exploration industry; changes in laws and regulation, competition, and uninsurable risks, community relations, delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals and the risk factors with respect to QREE set out in QREE’s public disclosures filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under QREE’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Although QREE has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. QREE undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws.