Caue Araujo has been appointed CEO effective today. Pic: via Getty Images.
Oceana adds new CEO to drive lithium exploration in Australia, Brazil and Canada
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- New CEO Caue Araujo has extensive experience in critical minerals like lithium
- Appointment will drive exploration at company’s Solonópole Project in Brazil, the Monaro Project in Canada and Napperby Project in Australia
- OCN’s projects are in Tier 1 lithium exploration jurisdictions
- Fieldwork is underway in Canada and assays are pending in Brazil
Oceana Lithium has appointed experienced critical minerals professional Caue Araujo as chief executive officer, effective today.
The appointment comes as the company advances its maiden field work at the Monaro lithium project in James Bay, Québec, over which it acquired an option earlier this year.
The 104km2 Monaro project is just 10kms from Winsome Resources’ (ASX:WR1) Adina project, where ‘significant’ lithium mineralised pegmatite intercepts have recently been reported.
Monaro adds to Oceana Lithium’s (ASX:OCN) attractive portfolio of projects in the Americas, which includes the Solonópole lithium project in Brazil, with the Tier 1 jurisdictions of Brazil and Canada perfectly placed to potentially feed the growing North American battery metal and EV markets.
Plus, the company also has exposure to a high-quality lithium-rare earths exploration play in the Napperby project in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Extensive critical minerals experience
Following his early training with mining giant Vale in Brazil, Araujo’s subsequent roles have included general manager of SRK Consulting Brazil, regional director of investment and business planning at Hatch for Australia and Asia and more recently global general manager – mine finance with mining industry advisory group Palaris Australia.
Araujo is also well acquainted with the key chemical companies, battery producers and EV manufacturers’ supply chain and their requirements to secure environmentally responsible long-term sources of lithium supply.
“Oceana is delighted to have attracted Caue Araujo as CEO at this stage of the company’s development,” chairman Gino Vitale said.
“Caue brings both critical minerals industry experience, broader corporate leadership skills and extensive international experience, and will be based in Perth.”
Exploration continues in Canada and Brazil
The initial field work underway at Monaro includes mapping, prospecting, rock, till and soil sampling in 60 locations, with the target being spodumene bearing pegmatites which host lithium mineralisation.
At Solonópole, the company is pulling up pegmatite intercepts up to 37m wide and expects assays from the first 10 holes of the 30-hole, ~2,000m Phase 1 in the near-term.
“The board and I look forward to working closely with Caue to create shareholder value through continued development of Oceana’s exploration assets and value accretive project expansion opportunities,” Vitale said.
With the appointment of a new CEO, Vitale will resume his role as the company’s non- executive chairman in October after a brief handover.
This article was developed in collaboration with Oceana Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
