The Greenvale Mining Ltd (ASX: GRV) share price surged 9.52% today. This comes after the company announced the appointment of an experienced Australian mining executive as its new managing director.
The mineral exploration company's shares closed the day's trade at 10.5 cents per share.
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Quick take on Greenvale
Based in North Fremantle, Western Australia, Greenvale is a mineral exploration company with a focus in oil shale deposits. The company owns a 99.99% interest in the Alpha shale oil deposit in central Queensland, and an 80% stake in the Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) exploration project in the Georgina Basin.
What's lifting the Greenvale share price
The Greenvale share price was sent surging following the company's appointment of Mr Neil Biddle as managing director.
Mr Biddle is the founder of Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and has served on the Greenvale board since September, alongside mining executive Mr Tony Leibowitz.
He brings a significant wealth of experience to Greenvale, with over 35 years in senior management within the exploration and mining industry. Biddle will drive the development and commercialisation of the company's Alpha Torbanite Project in Queensland
Greenvale's Alpha Project is known to be the only remaining deposit of torbanite in Australia. The mineral is a substance between oil shale and coal, which consists of a variety of fine-grained black oil shale.
The company said that previous studies have shown that torbanite has potential to produce bitumen, light crude, and activated carbon.
According to Greenvale, over 800,000 tonnes per annum of the product is currently imported. The company highlighted that if the Alpha Project goes into production, the site will become a domestic supplier of bitumen, creating a unique position for Greenvale in the Australian market.
The company further noted Mr Biddle will supervise the pre-feasibility study for the Alpha Project which is due to be completed before mid-2021. The study will include resource drilling and bulk sampling test work, which will enable a final feasibility study, and potential investment decision.
Management commentary
Greenvale chair Mr Tony Leibowitz commented on the appointment of Mr Biddle. He said:
We believe the Alpha Torbanite Project is a project whose time has come, and I can think of no one better qualified to drive its development than Neil. Being resident in Queensland, Neil will be ideally placed to access the Project and work with our key consultants to rapidly advance Alpha towards production over the next 12 months.
He added:
Having worked closely with Neil at Pilbara Minerals, Bardoc Gold and other ventures over many years, I know that we possess the combined technical, corporate and commercial skill-sets to move this Project forward quickly and unlock value for our shareholders. Neil will also be well placed to advance our exciting Georgina IOCG Project in the Northern Territory, which is a frontier-scale exploration initiative capable of delivering Tier-1 mineral discoveries in an under-explored part of Australia.
