Spark Energy Minerals Inc. has appointed Dr. Paul Woolrich to lead the exploration and strategic management of the Brazilian Lithium and REEs Joint Venture assets. Dr. Paul Woolrich is also a Director of Foxfire Metals Pty Ltd, JV partner. Dr. Paul Woolrich is a Geologist and Metallurgist who holds a BS Honors in Geology, MSc in Geochemistry, and a PhD in Metallurgy.

He has an extensive record for success over 45 years of experience in the international exploration and mining industry focused on gold, base metals, PGEs, uranium, and coal. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Woolrich has held senior management roles with Western Mining Corporation, Ranger Minerals, Orion Resources, Gallery Gold, Platmin Ltd, A-Cap Resources Ltd. and Botswana Metals Ltd. From 1978 to 1981 he lectured at London University in Economic and Exploration Geology and was supervisor of several PhD and MSc students. In 1990, he is credited with discovering the 4Moz Damang Gold deposit in Ghana, for Ranger Minerals, which is still an operating mine today.

He served as Group Exploration Manager of Gallery Gold Ltd. from 2003 to 2005 and as Project Manager in charge of the Feasibility Study of the Pilanesberg PGE Project for Platmin Ltd. in South Africa from 2005 to 2006, which is now an operating PGE mine. Currently, since 2021, he is a Director of Tonota Resources Pty Ltd. and Foxfire Metals Pty Ltd. Tonota is evaluating a graphite deposit in Botswana and is in the process of taking the project to a BFS to produce spherical graphite used in Lithium-ion batteries. Foxfire Metals Pty Ltd. is currently evaluating an underexplored region in Brazil for gold, PGEs, base- metals, Lithium and REE.