Rare earth elements company Medallion Resources on Monday announced the appointment of Gabriel Alonso-Mendoza as interim CEO, following the resignation of Alfredo Ramos Plasencia as CEO and director.

Alonso-Mendoza is the founder and managing partner of Amvest Capital, a specialist investment management and corporate finance firm focused solely on the natural resources sector. He brings 15 years of financial and resource markets experience.

Besides Plasencia’s resignation, Medallion also announced that Kurt Forrester had stepped down as chief technical officer and director. Ramos and Forrester will remain available to Medallion in advisory roles.

Medallion said Ramos and Forrester had been instrumental in advancing the company's displacement chromatography technology developed by Purdue University. Medallion holds exclusive, worldwide rights to use the patented methodology for the separation of rare earths and other minerals from raw materials other than coal by-products, coal waste and acid mine drainage, and wastes and recyclates from battery and magnet sources.

Medallion’s vision is to power the energy transition through innovation in critical minerals. The company aims to become an owner-operator of critical mineral processing facilities in partnership with upstream feedstock and downstream offtake partners. By leveraging innovative extraction technologies and building a resilient supply chain, Medallion seeks to ensure reliable access to critical minerals while meeting the highest environmental standards.

Alonso-Mendoza commented: “I’m honored to take on this leadership role in Medallion at such a pivotal moment in the company’s history. On behalf of the board of directors, we extend our thanks to Alfredo and Kurt for their valuable technical and commercial contributions to Medallion’s growth and development. I look forward to working closely with the board and our dedicated team to build on the Medallion’s impressive foundation.”