Libra Lithium Appoints New CEO and V.P. of Exploration
Libra Lithium Corp. a new, privately held, Canadian lithium explorer, announced the appointments of Koby Kushner, P.Eng., CFA as Chief Executive Officer and Director and Benjamin Kuzmich, MSc., P.Geo. as Vice President of Exploration.
The also announced that it had acquired a portfolio of six lithium projects that together span about 29,000 ha of in Ontario's Thunder Bay Mining Division. All six projects are 100%-owned by the Libra Lithium.
"Koby and Ben are an exceptional duo. Koby, a mining engineer by trade, combines his technical and capital markets experience to bring unique perspectives on how to best unlock value in the lithium resource space, “ said Mark Goodman, Vice-Chairman of Libra Lithium. “Meanwhile, Ben is one of the brightest and most determined geologists I have come across during my 25 years in mineral exploration, and I look forward to seeing the potential discoveries to be made when the two of them put their heads together."
Koby Kushner spent most his career as a mining engineer and more recently, an equity research analyst. Prior to entering finance, Koby worked at several mines in Ontario and Manitoba, including Hemlo (Barrick Gold), Detour, Rice Lake, and others. During this time, Koby has seen projects advance through all stages of development, including exploration, production, and closure. He then moved into equity research at Red Cloud Securities, a mining-only investment bank, where he wrote on over 100 companies across various stages of development and a wide range of commodities, with a particular focus on lithium. His expertise on lithium has attracted interest from major media outlets and investors. He holds a BSc in Mining Engineering from Queen's University, is a licensed Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario and is a CFA charter holder.
"I am extremely excited to take on this new role and work alongside some of the most intelligent and driven people that I have ever met in the industry,” said new CEO Kushner. “Our vision is to create a best-in-class lithium company, and we have several levers at our fingertips to help achieve that vision, including our upcoming maiden exploration program across our portfolio of highly prospective lithium projects.”
“We continue to evaluate new opportunities as they come up, including additional hard-rock lithium acquisitions,” added Kushner. “We are also evaluating several lithium-brine opportunities across Canada and the USA."
Ben Kuzmich is a professional geologist with a proven history of exploration success throughout Ontario, Manitoba, and the Yukon. His accomplishments include delineating the E-Zone at Barrick's Hemlo mine, where he managed a $20M drill program, and where his reinterpretation of geologic models resulted in a 23% improvement in underground head grade for 2019. Kuzmich led the discovery of the Little Wing occurrence at Alamos's Lynn Lake project as well as numerous REE pegmatite, precious, and base metal occurrences throughout the Superior Province. He completed his MSc thesis at Lakehead University on the highly endowed, critical mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, and his undergraduate thesis on S-type granitic intrusions. Ben has been involved in the exploration of the Georgia Lake Pegmatite field and has been contracted to produce numerous 3D geologic models of LCT pegmatite deposits.
"We have assembled what I believe to be one of the most prospective portfolios of grassroots lithium projects in Canada. We have some of the highest lithium-sediment anomalies in the province (98th percentile), and it is especially encouraging to see a clustering of anomalous sediment samples along trend of known spodumene occurrences that are surrounded by similar anomalous signatures,” Kuzmich commented . “We have been able to identify >50 pegmatite targets across our portfolio that we plan to ground truth during this upcoming field season, while conducting a systematic exploration program to define additional targets.”
“Our projects were acquired on geologic merit first and foremost, however, not to be ignored is the proximity to world-class infrastructure, with simple road access, near rail, and are as little as three-hours from an international airport, “ added Kuzmich. “We look forward to sharing more details on our projects shortly."
Libra Lithium Corp. is focused on advancing and developing a portfolio of grassroots lithium exploration projects in Canada. Libra Lithium's asset portfolio includes the 100%-owned Flanders North, Flanders South, Hutton, Tennent, Lithium Hill, and Twist lithium projects in northwestern Ontario.
The Libra Lithium team, including its Board, management, and advisors, comprises a mix of qualified executives, engineers, and geoscientists, with experience in mining and mineral exploration, capital markets, asset management, oil and gas, and First Nations engagement.
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