Ionic Rare Earths Limited announced the appointment of Dr. Tommie van der Walt, to the position of chief operating officer (COO). Before joining the company, Dr. van der Walt was General Manager of Projects and Studies Africa with specialist resources private equity group EMR Capital, where he was leading the Lubambe Copper Project in Zambia. Prior to that he was with Newmont as Regional Project Director for Africa where he delivered the USD 2 billion Ahafo mega-project in Ghana.

Dr. van der Walt has a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pretoria, a Master's Degree in Business Management from the University of Cape Town and a PhD in Business Administration from the Potchefstroom Business School, University of North West, South Africa. He has over 20 years' experience in mining industry leadership and delivering large-scale projects in Africa. Dr. van der Walt will oversee all aspects of the company's day-to-day Makuutu Heavy Rare Earths Project, which will include further growth strategies for the mine.