Uranium explorer Okapi Resources has appointed former Newmont and LionOre executive Brian Hill to the role of Chairman, replacing Peretz Schapiro who helped engineer Okapi’s turnaround over the last year.
The 35-year, Denver-based mining veteran previously held senior global positions at Newmont and was with the Minerals Council of Australia and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.
He really made an impact when steering LionOre Australia to a C$6.8 billion takeout by Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel in 2007.
Prior to that he was Managing Director and CEO of Equatorial Mining which reached a market capitalisation of $550 million prior to being acquired by Antofagasta PLC.
Okapi has been proving up the promising Enmore gold play in NSW and WA-located kaolin/ halloysite ground and then pivoted in August last year to buy out the privately held Australian group Tallahassee Resources and its US-based uranium assets.
Okapi’s shares soared by more than 50 per cent in September after it unveiled a stunning 174 metre gold intercept going 1.83 grams per tonne gold from surface at Enmore. The company says that grade appears to be increasing at depth with the hole terminating with a 1m interval at 15.15 g/t gold from 172m.
The ASX-listed company said at the time the size of the intercept suggests it could be onto a potentially large, high-grade system at Enmore.
The suite of advanced uranium properties Okapi has picked up covers about 7,500 acres in central Colorado’s prolific Tallahassee Creek uranium district about 140 kilometres south-west of Denver in the Athabasca Basin.
The Athabasca Basin lays claim to some of the world’s largest and highest-grade uranium mines, including Cameco’s McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines that boast reserves of 391.9 million pounds at 6.89 per cent triuranium octoxide and 165.6 million pounds going 15.9 per cent triuranium octoxide respectively. In recent years, a string of other world-class discoveries have been made in the area, including the Triple R, Arrow and Hurricane discoveries.
Okapi Resources Managing Director Andrew Ferrier said:
“I am very excited by the appointment of Brian Hill as the incoming Chairman. Brian will add significant leadership and experience to the Board. Brian and I worked closely together at Pacific Road and share a common set of views and beliefs on how to create shareholder value through both project development and acquisition and also the importance of corporate social responsibility.
On behalf of the entire board, I would also like to thank Peretz for his support and service. Peretz has played a fundamental in the transformation of the company over the past six months.”
Hill will be issued 1,800,000 performance shares in four tranches, subject to shareholder approval, which vest when Okapi’s share price hits a range of targets from 50c to 80c.
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