Former Vice President & Portfolio Manager of Goodman & Company Joins Board of NextSource Materials
Former Vice President & Portfolio Manager of Goodman & Company
Joins Board of NextSource Materials
NEWS RELEASE – TORONTO, July 20, 2020
NextSource Materials Inc.’s (TSX:NEXT) (OTCQB:NSRCF) (“NextSource” or the “Company”) Molo
Graphite Project in Madagascar is in the final stages of development and ranks as one of the
largest-known and highest quality flake graphite deposits in the world.
As part of NextSource’s ongoing strategy to continually strengthen and enhance the Company’s
operating capabilities and capital markets exposure, the Company is pleased to announce that Mr.
Brett Whalen, CFA, has joined the Board effective immediately.
Mr. Whalen has over 20 years of investment banking and M&A expertise, spending over 16 of those
years at Dundee Corporation ( “Dundee Corp.”). During his tenure at Dundee Corp., Mr. Whalen
was directly involved in completing approximately $2 billion in M&A deals and helped raise over
$10 billion dollars in capital for resource sector companies.
While a V ice President and Portfolio Manager of Goodman and Company (a division of Dundee
Corp.), Mr. Whalen oversaw an investment of $6.0 million into NextSource enabling the Company
to achieve key technical milestones, notably the completion of its July 2017 Phase One Feasibility
Study and the concept and design of the full modular build approach NextSource will be utilizing
for construction of both Phase One and Phase Two of the Molo mine. Mr. Whalen has held Board
seats of several TSX-listed and privately held companies and holds a BA (Honours) degree in
Economics and Finance from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Extensive Knowledge in the Graphite and Battery Materials Sectors
Mr. Whalen has extensive knowledge of graphite and vanadium and the battery materials industry
in general, where it is widely recognized by industry analysts that the aggressive growth forecasts
for graphite in high-quality steel applications and especially for use in batteries for electric vehicles
and renewable energy storage systems, will require significant supply of high-quality graphite for
these applications. As the world’s consumption of graphite as a strategic battery (anode) material
is forecast to go much higher, there is going to be significant strain on non-Chinese sourced supply
of flake graphite as a fe edstock for battery anodes required in electric vehicles and renewable
energy storage systems.
Mr. Whalen commented, “Batteries, and their role in the mass adoption of electrified vehicles , will
permeate our lives and I am excited to be involved during this important time in the Company’s
development by assisting in sourcing the necessary capital to build the Company’s Molo mine and
accelerate strategic plans for involvement in downstream value-added products such as graphite
foils and battery anode material. A lot of attention will be focused on the anode over the coming
years, especially the increasing role that natural graphite will play, causing investors to take a
serious look at which deposits will need to come onstream to fill anticipated supply deficits. After
more than 5 years researching the graphite industry, I have chosen to join the Board of NextSource
due to the quality of their deposit and the global offtake partners they have signed and will be
signing in the future. In addition, with the Company’s recent announcement of executing a Letter
of Intent to collaborate on a battery anode facility with its Japanese Offtake Partner and a prominent
Chinese g raphite anode OEM supplier , t he opportunity ahead for NextSource as a vertically
integrated supplier will be very attractive to the world’s largest auto manufacturers, who are looking
for a complete anode solution.”
Dean Comand, Chair of the Board commented, “Brett will add a special dimension to moving
NextSource forward as his proven skills are well understood and acknowledged in the capital
markets arena. The Company is very fortunate to have had Brett’s counsel and support in the past
while he was a portfolio manager at our largest institutional investor and we are delighted he has
chosen to be involved in the next critical steps of NextSource as we accelerate development of our
Molo mine and consider entry into the downstream value-added graphite products space.”
About NextSource Materials Inc.
NextSource Materials Inc. is a mine development company based in Toronto, Canada, that is
developing its 100% -owned Molo Graphite Project in southern Madagascar. The Molo Graphite
Project is a fully permitted, f easibility-stage project that ranks as one of the largest -known and
highest quality flake graphite deposits in the world and is the only project with SuperFlake® graphite.
The Company will be utilizing an all-modular build approach to constructing the Molo mine and in
two production phases. Phase 1 will produce 17,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) over the first two
years of production and Phase 2 producing a total of 45,000 tpa by year three. Offtakes are in place
for 100% of Phase 1 production.
For further information contact: +1.416.364.4911
Brent Nykoliation, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at
[email protected] or Craig Scherba, President and CEO
Safe Harbour: This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable
Canadian and United States securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements in this release relate to the results of the 2019 Feasibility Study, funding of the development of the Molo
Project, implementation and commencement of the build-out of the Molo Project, commencement of production at the Molo Project,
commencement of procurement for mine infrastructure, the procurement of equipment to construct a mine, value engineering, any and all
product test results, the Letter of Intent with a Japanese Offtake Partner and Prominent Chinese Graphite Anode OEM Supplier to
Collaborate on Battery Anode Plant, and product analysis, and the permit application. These are based on current expectations, estimates
and assumptions that involve a number of risks, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from
those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. No assurance can be
given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur or, if any of them do so, what benefits the
Company will derive there from. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news
release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.