Piedmont Lithium beefs up board with addition of two experienced executives
Christina Alvord and Michael Bless have joined Piedmont Lithium’s executive team to provide operational and strategic guidance.
Emerging lithium producer Piedmont (ASX: PLL) has beefed up its board with the appointment of two new directors to provide additional executive, operational and strategic guidance.
Piedmont’s board has been expanded from five directors to seven with Christina Alvord and Michael Bless joining the executive team.
President and chief executive officer Keith Phillips said Ms Alvord and Mr Bless have extensive knowledge and experiencing in leading “substantial, integrated mining businesses”.
“We are pleased to have these respected industry leaders join our board and lend us their invaluable expertise as we work to become a large, low-cost, sustainable producer of lithium hydroxide and a prime contributor to US energy national security.”
Christina Alvord
Ms Alvord’s most recent role was with the US’ largest construction aggregate producer Vulcan Minerals.
At Vulcan, Ms Alvord was president of its Central division. She was also previously president of Vulcan’s Southern and Gulf Coast division and vice president of the company’s corporate planning and performance improvement team.
Ms Alvord has also held former management positions with GE Aviation and is also a current board member of Apogee Enterprises and Albany International.
Michael Bless
Meanwhile, Mr Bless joins Piedmont after serving as president and chief executive officer of Century Aluminium Company for nearly a decade.
US-based Century is a global producer of primary aluminium.
Prior to his chief executive officer role with Century, Mr Bless served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for five years.
Mr Bless has also held executive positions with numerous other companies including Maxtor Corporation and Rockwell Automation.
He is also currently serving on the boards of CNA Financial Corporation and Enact Holdings.
Piedmont
Piedmont’s goal is to become an integrated miner and producer of spodumene and lithium chemicals to supply North America’s lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle markets.
The company has an interest in numerous assets including a 25% stake in the North American Lithium mine (NAL) in Canada.
Piedmont also has a 15% direct holding in NAL joint venture partner Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA).
First spodumene from NAL is expected in the current quarter with initial output to comprise 220,000 tonnes a year of 6% spodumene concentrate – equating to about 30,000tpa of lithium carbonate equivalent.
In addition to the NAL joint venture, Piedmont plans to produce its own spodumene and lithium hydroxide products from its Carolina and Tennessee projects in the US.
The company is also earning 50% of Atlantic Lithium’s lithium projects in Ghana, including the flagship Ewoyaa asset.