Nemaska Lithium CEO steps down

Nemaska Lithium CEO Guy Bourassa has stepped down. He would leave the management team and vacate his seat on the board with immediate effect, the Quebec-based lithium developer announced Friday.

“Given the restructuring the corporation is undergoing and the current market conditions, we mutually agreed that it was in the best interest of the corporation to undertake the next steps with a new approach and renewed leadership,” said chairperson Jacques Mallette.

Nemaska is currently restructuring under the supervision of the Superior Court of Quebec and PricewaterhouseCoopers, as monitor of its business and financial affairs, after the company entered creditor protection in December.

A sale and investor solicitation process will begin later this month, with a target of closing a transaction by mid-August. Mallette and the corporation’s management team will oversee the restructuring operations.

Nemaska’s Whabouchi project is facing cost overruns of about $300 million. It tried to negotiate a deal with mine financier, the Pallinghurst Group, to secure up to C$600 million. However, having failed to reach a deal, the company suspended operations in October and laid off all but 30 employees.