MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - May 21, 2013) - Orbite Aluminae Inc. (TSX:ORT)(OTCQX:EORBF) (" Orbite " or the " Corporation ") today announced that Mr. Peter Crossgrove, Mr. Pascal Decary and Mr. Claude Lamoureux are joining the Board of Directors, effective immediately, as independent members and will be proposed by the Board for election by the shareholders at the next annual general meeting of the company, which is scheduled for June 20, 2013.
"The collective experience that we are adding to our Board will strengthen Orbite on multiple levels," stated Lionel Léveillé, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "The nomination of Mr. Lamoureux strengthens the Board's capital markets acumen and shows our commitment toward improving our corporate governance practices. Mr. Crossgrove's depth and breadth of management experience within the resource industry will be invaluable to draw down on as we move ahead with our projects. Bringing Mr. Decary on board provides Orbite with an experienced voice in cleantech and environmental services, as well as in international environmental regulations, which is an area that we believe holds great potential for Orbite and its shareholders."
Mr. Crossgrove, C.M., O.O., a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, is currently Executive Chairman of Excellon Resources, and is Director and Non-Executive Co-Chairman of Detour Gold. He also sits on the Board of Directors of Lake Shore Gold, Pelangio Mines, Nordex Explosives, and Dundee REIT, and previously served as CEO and Vice Chairman of Placer Dome Inc. and as a Director of Barrick Gold. He is the former Chairman and founder of Masonite International Inc. Mr. Crossgrove holds a B.Comm. from Concordia University, an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and was a Sloan Fellow in the Doctoral Program at Harvard Business School.
"Having worked on a number of successful natural resource ventures, I understand the importance of being able to identify high-value projects," stated Mr. Crossgrove. "It's evident to me that Orbite's mineral processing technology has significant potential and I look forward to helping the Corporation translate that potential into tangible value for shareholders."
Mr. Decary is the Senior Executive Vice President for Germany, Eastern Europe and Asia and Executive Director at Veolia Environmental Services, a division of Veolia Environnement S.A., which covers 77 countries and 330 000 employees, with a turnover of EUR 30 Billion. He began his career in 1984 at Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a French national financial institution, as manager of mixed ownership corporations. He then joined the JC Decaux Company in 1987 to create and set up financial control. In 1989, he became the Chief Financial Officer for the North West part of France. In 1991, he accepted a position as a consultant for the CAPFOR firm and joined Veolia in January 1993 as HR Director for a transportation subsidiary. From 1996 to 2000, he served as a divisional HR Director, before moving to Corporate as Executive Vice-President Human Resources for Veolia Environmental Services. He is an environmental specialist and has been in the industry for nearly two decades. Mr. Decary holds a Master in Finance from the Université de Rouen and a Master in Human Resources from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), and was a faculty member at Paris-Dauphine University for twelve years, teaching human resources.
"Orbite is a concrete example of the power of imagination leading to the conception of new technologies for the benefit of industry and the environment," stated Mr. Decary. "Orbite's vision and success will not only create economic value for its shareholders but also an immeasurable benefit for the environment. I believe Orbite is much more than another industrial company; it's a reference point for others: its people are inventors, unafraid of complexity, creating technologies that will enable sustainable economic development for the benefit of all and the environment."
Mr. Lamoureux, FCAI, ICD.D, O.C., is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario and the Ordre national du Quebec. From 1990 until his retirement in 2007, he was President and CEO of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, where he led its development into one of the world's leading pension plans with more than $100 billion in net assets and outstanding services to more than 250,000 plan members. Mr. Lamoureux previously spent 25 years as a senior financial executive with Metropolitan Life in Canada and the United States. He co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance in 2002 to work for improved corporate governance practices at Canadian companies. He is a Director of Industrial Alliance and Maple Leaf Foods. He is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Institute of Corporate Directors. Mr. Lamoureux holds BA degrees from the University of Montreal and Laval University, as well as honorary doctorates from Glendon College (York University) and Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC - Université de Montréal).
"It's exciting to join Orbite at this time to help build a stronger company through improved corporate governance practices," stated Mr. Lamoureux. "I also look forward to supporting management and the Board as they raise the company's profile within the North American investment community."
Nine directors, including these new nominees, will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders within the Management Circular.
About Orbite
Orbite Aluminae Inc. is a Canadian Corporation with innovative and proprietary processes that is expected to produce alumina and other high-value by-products, such as rare earth and rare metal oxides, at one of the lowest costs in the industry, without generating any wastes, using feedstocks that include aluminous clay, kaolin, nepheline, bauxite, red mud and fly ash. Orbite is currently operating and optimizing its first commercial high-purity alumina (HPA) production plant in Cap-Chat, Québec. Orbite has completed the basic engineering for a proposed smelter-grade alumina (SGA) production plant, which would use clay mined from its Grande-Vallée deposit. Orbite signed an exclusive worldwide collaborative agreement with Veolia Environmental Services for the remediation of red mud using the Orbite processes with the intent to begin construction of a Veolia-operated plant in 2014. The Corporation owns the intellectual property rights to nine patents and 32 pending patent applications in 10 different countries. Its intellectual property portfolio now contains 14 intellectual property families.
For more information on the Corporation or to download our corporate presentation please visit: www.orbitealuminae.com
Forward-looking statements
Certain information contained in this document may include "forward-looking information". Without limiting the foregoing, the information and any forward-looking information may include statements regarding projects, costs, objectives and future returns of the Corporation or hypotheses underlying these items. In this document, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or the Corporation management's good-faith beliefs with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control. These risks uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described in the section of the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) entitled "Risk and Uncertainties" as filed on March 28, 2013 on SEDAR, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation does not intend, nor does it undertake, any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements contained in this document to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
