PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources has announced a spate of changes to its leadership as it works towards delivering its Zero Carbon lithium project, in Germany.

The company on Friday announced that MD and CEO Dr Francis Wedin would be moved into the role of executive chairperson, with current deputy CEO Cris Moreno to take over the leadership role. 

Moreno, who has been deputy CEO since 2022, has 20 years of global experience delivering major capital projects in the energy and chemicals sector, Vulcan told shareholders, including recent success in leading green scale-up companies into commercial production.

With Wedin moving to the executive chairperson role, current nonexecutive chairperson Gavin Rezos will now be appointed as the nonexecutive deputy chairperson.

“As we embark on the execution phase, we need to ensure that we have the right skill sets at the executive level as we execute and deliver the Zero Carbon lithium project,” Wedin said on Friday.

“Since joining us as deputy CEO in 2022, Moreno has been instrumental in transforming Vulcan from a development-focused team into an integrated development, execution and production company, and has built up a highly capable project directorate. Moreno has extensive experience in executing large, integrated capital projects in the oil and gas industry, which shares a lot of DNA with integrated lithium chemicals and renewable energy projects like ours. Importantly, he also has unique experience in the lithium chemicals and battery cathode industries in Europe. We share a passion for the environment, and Moreno’s values embody the decarbonisation and energy transition purpose and mission of Vulcan. With this change, I know Moreno is the right person to lead Vulcan to the next stage and use his considerable abilities to take our integrated renewable energy and carbon neutral lithium chemicals project to large-scale commercial production,” he added.

“As founder, it was important to recognise that Vulcan’s continued success will be ensured with Moreno’s phenomenal experience across the energy and chemicals sectors. Effective succession planning was critical in moving the company from development to execution phase.

“I am moving to executive chair with the same, unchanged daily focus, to continue to drive the company forward and ensure we maintain our strategic direction and liaise with our stakeholders,” Wedin said.