Critical Elements Announces Appointment of Ex Rockwood CFO as VP Finance
PRESS RELEASE
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES
OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
CRITICAL ELEMENTS ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF EX ROCKWOOD CFO AS VP FINANCE
AUGUST 16 TH , 2018 – MONTREAL , QUEBEC – Critical Elements Corporation (“Critical Elements” or the
“Company”) (TSX-V: CRE) (US OTCQX: CRECF) (FSE: F12 ) is pleased to announce that it has
appointed Dr. Marcus Brune as Vice-President Financ e. Dr. Brune will join the senior management team
and will oversee the structuring of the Rose Projec t debt financing, strategic investment and off-take
agreements.
Dr. Brune was Chief Financial Officer of Rockwood Lithium from 2011 until the acquisition by Albemarle in
2015. He left Albemarle in 2016 once the lithium bu siness was successfully integrated into Albemarle’s
organizational structure. Prior to joining Rockwood Lithium, Dr. Brune had worked in different executi ve
positions in corporate finance and M&A for Rockwood Holdings and its predecessor companies since
2004. Prior to that, he was with McKinsey as a stra tegy consultant for organizational development and
management. Dr. Brune completed his doctorate in ma terial sciences at the Technical University of
Dortmund, Germany, after earning a physics degree.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Brune to the managem ent team, where he will oversee all financial
activities, including evaluating and securing sources of funding, forecasting and budget management. His
extensive financial and technical experience, particularly as CFO of Rockwood Lithium, will be valuable to
Critical Elements as the Company continues its transition towards becoming a lithium producer.”
Update on strategic discussions
Critical Elements management is pleased with its advancement with global strategic and offtake partners
and continues to work closely with its financial ad visor, Canaccord Genuity Corp., to successfully
conclude this process.
Update on project activities
Critical Elements would also like to provide an update on the Rose permitting process. The Company has
received initial questions from the MDDELCC and been actively working with the WSP team to provide a
response. Critical Elements is confident that the Rose Project remains on track to be permitted by the end
of H1 2019. The private placement that closed in Ma y 2018 continues to provide the Company with
sufficient capital to fund the permitting process. Finally, in addition to the appointment of Dr. Brun e,
management is also working to strengthen the Critic al Elements team for development and construction
of the Rose Project.
This news release does not constitute an offer to s ell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the
securities in the United States. The securities hav e not been and will not be registered under the Uni ted
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S . Securities Act") or any state securities laws and
may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S .
Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
ABOUT CRITICAL ELEMENTS CORPORATION
The Company recently released a financial analysis for Critical Elements’ wholly-owned Rose Lithium
Tantalum project (Rose Lithium-Tantalum project fea sibility study, WSP, October 20, 2017), which is
based on price forecasts of US $750/tonne for chemi cal-grade lithium concentrate (5% Li2O), US
$1,500/tonne for technical-grade lithium concentrat e (6% Li2O) and US $130/kg for Ta2O5 in tantalite
concentrate, and an exchange rate of US $0.75/CA $. The internal rate of return (“IRR”) for the Rose
Lithium-Tantalum project is estimated at 34.9% afte r tax, and net present value (“NPV”) is estimated a t
CA $726 million at an 8% discount rate. The estimat ed payback period is 2.8 years. The pre-tax IRR for
the Rose Lithium-Tantalum Project is estimated at 48.2% and the pre-tax NPV at CA $1,257 million at an
8% discount rate (see press release dated September 6, 2017). The financial analysis is based on the
Indicated mineral resource. An Indicated mineral re source is that part of a mineral resource for which
quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and ph ysical characteristics can be estimated with a leve l of
confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate appl ication of technical and economic parameters, to
support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The life-of-mine (LOM) plan
provides for the extraction of 26.8 million tonnes of ore, 182.4 million tonnes of waste, and 11.0 mil lion
tonnes of overburden for a total of 220.2 million t onnes of material. The average stripping ratio is 7 .2
tonnes per tonne of ore. The nominal production rat e is estimated at 4,600 tonnes per day, with 350
operating days per year. The open pit mining schedu le allows for a 17-year mine life. The mine will
produce a total of 26.8 million tonnes of ore gradi ng an average of 0.85% Li2O and 133 ppm Ta2O5,
including dilution. The mill will process 1.61 mill ion tonnes of ore per year to produce an annual ave rage
of 236,532 tonnes of technical- and chemical-grade spodumene concentrate and 429 tonnes of tantalite
concentrate.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jean-Sébastien Lavallée, P.Geo.
Chief Executive Officer
819-354-5146
www.cecorp.ca
Investor Relations:
Paradox Public Relations
514-341-0408
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider
(as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.