LONDON, UK: Altona Rare Earths announced the appointment of Cédric Simonet as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) with immediate effect.

Cédric has been a non-Executive Director of Altona since his appointment on 24 December 2020 and, prior to this, worked with the Company in his capacity as Consultant Geologist since July 2020. His full biography can be found on the Company’s website.

He is a French national who graduated from Universite Blaise Pascal with a Masters in Geology in 1995, and from Universite de Nantes with a PHD in Geology in 2000. Cédric has spent the past 25 years living and working as a geologist in Africa. He served as Chairman of Kenya Chamber of Mines, an advocacy body representing the mineral industry in Kenya, between 2010 and 2011, and again between 2017 and 2019. He holds the European Geologist title and is qualified to act as a Competent Person / Qualifies Person over a wide range of mineral projects.

Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Altona, commented, “With the acquisition last month of our first rare earths mining asset in Mozambique, we now need to put in place an operational structure to ensure the exploration work we are shortly to embark upon is done quickly and accurately.

“Cédric, being instrumental in much of the deal work we are currently undertaking, is the natural choice to run Altona’s operational activities in Africa. His many years of in-country experience provides him with the local knowledge and contacts’ network to ensure the project teams we appoint to carry out our work, are of the highest calibre. As COO, he has a remit to oversee all project work, starting with Monte Muambe, where we expect to commence phase 1 drilling by the end of September.”