06:47 AM EDT, 05/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Leading Edge Materials Corp. ( LEMIF ) , trading near 52 week lows, over the holiday weekend announced the appointment of Kurt Budge as Chief Executive Officer.

According to a statement, Budge has 30 years' experience in the mining sector, from major to junior companies, in operations and corporate roles, private equity and investment research. His most recent role was as CEO of Beowulf Mining plc, having joined the company in September 2014 and left in May 2023. He has worked in Sweden for 8.5 years, during which time he delivered the Exploitation Concession and Pre-feasibility Study for the Kallak Iron Ore Project.

LEM Chairman Lars-Eric Johansson in the statement noted: "The Board is very happy to welcome Kurt to the company in the role as Chief Executive Officer given his considerable experience leading junior mining companies and especially his knowledge of working in Sweden.

"The Rare Earth Elements at Norra Karr makes the project an obvious candidate as a Strategic Project as defined by the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and the company is focused on applying for this designation. The Exploitation Concession application and environmental work for Norra Karr are also key priorities.

"The company has other Strategic Raw Materials in its portfolio, Natural Graphite at the established mine at Woxna in Sweden and high-grade Nickel and Cobalt at its Bihor Sud exploration project in Romania.

"Each part of the business has real potential for significant value creation, with European politics adding momentum, and the Board is optimistic about the progress that can be made in the short term under Kurt's leadership."