LKE towards TOP-5, page-14399

Q&A between Steve and Stock head, as he shed more light onto his departure. Just contractual dispute/disagreement.

*and Promnitz sat down for a frank discussion about leaving Lake, and what attracted him to start it all again at QXR.

You left Lake suddenly. Was it an abrupt decision?

“I didn’t want to leave; the board wanted a CEO transition,” Promnitz says.

“There was a broad feeling that as the company grew, Lake would need an operational CEO and a new board.

“I had expected the CEO transition would logically occur post financial close and post DFS.

“The board decided that they wanted a new CEO sooner. They advised me at the end of May that they wanted it announced by the end of June.

“I simply said that my biggest concern was the shareholders and the need for clear communication that this was a normal and seamless transition.

“I had spent six years building the company and the shareholder base and, with the team, had it almost readied for construction.

“I stated that the best way would be to announce a transition to a new leader with operational skills and provide me with a contract for ~6 months and a bonus for what we had achieved in the company, increasing the value more than 30 times in 18 months.

“I provided suggestions on a release to the market.

“That didn’t happen … but I wish them well, as I put my heart and soul 24/7 into that company.”

“It was clear that I was not part of the transition,” Promnitz says.

“Also, I did not have a platform to explain what happened. That was unfortunate given the major effort I made putting together a robust property package, coming up with a new development method, and with the team, successfully worked with different levels of governments and local communities to ensure support.

“Under my leadership, a project that had never been drilled before was turned it into a top 10 global brine project, with a new, more efficient processing method withdirect lithium extraction (DLE).

“My team secured indicative terms from low-cost, long-term debt providers and offtake partners.

“I’m also bemused that the major lithium brine producers scoffed and belittled the new DLE approach, yet recently they are all pursuing similar methods.”