Vulcan
Team Zero Carbon
Our most important resource: our team of world-renowned experts in chemistry, engineering and geology.
We’re from all over the globe, bound together with one goal in common: decarbonising the transition to electric vehicles.
Meet the Vulcan Zero Carbon Lithium™ team.
our-board
Board
Our team of world-renowned experts in geology, chemistry and engineering is supported by a Board with decades of leadership and expertise in the lithium industry, geology, and investment banking.
Dr Francis Wedin
Managing Director & Founder – CEO
- Founder of Vulcan Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project. Lithium industry executive since 2014. Previously Executive Director of ASX-listed Exore Resources Ltd.
- Three discoveries of JORC Lithium Resources on two continents including Lynas Find, now part of Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora Project in production (ASX:PLS).
- Management & Executive experience in resources sector on four continents; bilingual; dual Swedish & Australian nationality.
- PhD & BSc (Hons) in Exploration Geology & MBA in Renewable Energy.
Dr Horst Kreuter
Co-Founder & Executive Director – Geothermal Expert
- CEO of Geothermal Group Germany GmbH and GeoThermal Engineering GmbH (GeoT). Co- Founder of Vulcan Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project.
- Successful geothermal project development & permitting in Germany and worldwide.
- Widespread political, investor and industry network in Germany and Europe.
- Based in Karlsruhe, local to the project area in the Upper Rhine Valley.
Gavin Rezos
Chair – Investment Banking Expert
- Executive Chair/CEO positions of two companies that grew from start-ups to the ASX 300. Extensive international investment banking experience.
- Investment banking Director of HSBC with senior multi-regional roles in investment banking, legal and compliance functions.
- Currently Chair of Resource and Energy Group and principal of Viaticus Capital.
- Previously Non-Executive Director of Iluka Resources, Alexium International Group and Rowing Australia.
Ranya Alkadamani
Non-Executive Director – Communications Expert
- Founder of Impact Group International. A communications strategist, focused on amplifying the work of companies that have a positive social or environmental impact.
- Experience in working across media markets and for high profile people, including one of Australia’s leading philanthropists, Andrew Forrest and Australia’s then Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
- Was personally behind the global launches of the Walk Free Global Slavery Index, which reached more than 1 billion people.
Dr. Heidi Grön
Non-Executive Director
- Senior German chemicals industry executive Dr. Heidi Grön has joined Vulcan as Non-Executive Director.
- Grön is a chemical engineer by background with 20 years’ experience in the chemicals industry.
- Since 2007, Dr. Grön has been a senior executive with Evonik, one of the largest specialty chemicals companies in the world, with a market capitalization of €14B and 32,000 employees.
- In her capacity as Senior Vice President Production & Technology at Evonik, Dr. Grön is currently responsible for:
- Global product safety of nine large growth business units;
- Impact assessment and development of solutions for the chemicals strategy for sustainability as an essential part of the EU Green Deal, and;
- Management of Evonik’s major investment volumes.
Rob Ierace
CFO / Company Secretary
- Robert is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Secretary with over 20 years experience, predominately with ASX and AIM listed resource and oil and gas exploration and production companies.
- He has extensive experience in financial and commercial management including experience in corporate governance, debt and capital raising, tax planning, risk management, treasury management, insurance, corporate acquisitions and divestment and farm in/farm out transactions.
- Robert holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Curtin University, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance from the Governance Institute of Australia and a Graduate Certificate of Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia
Technical, Management Team and Consultants
World-Renowned Geological,Lithium and Chemical Engineering Expertise
Dr Katharina Gerber
Lithium Product Manager
- Former manager of geothermal lithium projects at Salton Sea, California.
- Chairwoman of the German ISO/TC 333 Committee developing international standards and regulations for lithium mining/refining/processing to battery-grade lithium chemicals.
- Experienced in synthesis and characterization of active materials for lithium ion battery and holds a patent on electrode compositions developed with the BASF.
- Holds PhD, MSc, and BSc in lithium chemistry from the University of Bonn, Germany.
- Supported technological advancement and lab-to-market transition of new clean energy technologies at the California Energy Commission, Sacramento.
DR. THOMAS AICHER
Chemical Engineering Lead
- Chemical engineering expert Dr. Thomas Aicher is part of Vulcan’s project development team in Karlsruhe, Germany. Dr. Aicher has 25 years’ experience in chemical process innovation and industrial scale-up across a range of industries.
- Awarded a PhD and MSc in Chemical Engineering from the world-renowned Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Dr. Aicher was also a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- Dr. Aicher was Head of Group at Fraunhofer Institute, one of the most prestigious organisations of applied sciences in Europe, and Process Engineer at Fortune 500 engineering company Fluor Inc.
Alex Grant
DLE Technology Expert
- Independent advisor for multiple lithium projects around the world that seek to implement advanced technologies for production of battery quality lithium chemical products from unconventional resources using low CO2 intensity processes.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy category for 2021, and research affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
- Co-founded Lilac Solutions, one of the world’s leading direct lithium extraction technology companies, which raised $20M from Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Thorsten Weimann
Geothermal Plant Engineering Expert
- Expert in geothermal and drilling technology, with more than 25 years of professional experience.
- Thorsten is Technical Manager of the German Geothermal Association (Bundesverband Geothermie e.V.) and he is well connected in the German geothermal industry. Mr. Weimann has a diploma in Engineering (Technical University of Munich) and an MBA (Universities of Augsburg and Pittsburgh).
Vincent Ledoux-Pedailles
Vice President – Business Development
- Vincent was previously Executive Director – Corporate Strategy at Infinity Lithium Corporation, where Vincent led the project to become the first to secure EU funding. Vincent was also appointed as a Lithium Expert by the European Commission.
- He previously worked at IHS Markit where he led the lithium and battery materials research team covering the entire industry’s supply chain from raw materials to E-mobility. When he joined IHS Markit he first focused on chemical trading and led the EMEA Chlor-alkali team.
- Earlier in his career, he worked for Talison Lithium located in Perth, Australia, tracking the lithium industry in China and Europe. He also worked for Roskill, an international metals and minerals research and consulting company.
- Mr Ledoux-Pedailles is a regular speaker at various industry events across the world presenting at chemical, mining, and energy related conferences.
- Mr. Ledoux-Pedailles holds a Business Masters in Risk Management and International Purchasing from ESDES Business School in France. He wrote his master’s thesis on the development and deployment of electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. He has also studied at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark and Marshall University, US.
Julia Poliscanova
EU Sustainable Battery & CO2 Policy Expert
- Poliscanova is a Senior Director with the EU’s Transport and Environment (“T&E”).
- She has been instrumental in shaping policies around EU vehicle CO2 standards & sustainable batteries, heading T&E’s vehicles programme since 2019.
- This recently culminated in the EU CO2 battery regulations announced in December 2020, which will effectively ban high-CO2 & “uncircular” batteries in the EU.
- Poliscanova is also on the steering committee for the Battery CO2 Passport programme of the Global Battery Alliance (https://www.weforum.org/global-battery-alliance/home).
- CO2 footprint of lithium-ion battery production is highly relevant for Vulcan, which is developing the world’s only Zero Carbon Lithium® project in the centre of Europe, the world’s fastest growing lithium market.
- Ms. Poliscanova, who holds an MSc in Energy, is an expert in EU energy policy and has been at the forefront of climate related policy issues addressing air quality, renewable energy, energy efficiency, batteries and vehicle CO2 legislation for the past 10 years in the EU at T&E and as senior EU policy officer for the Mayor of London, and before that as an advisor in the European Parliament.
Jochen Rudat
Electromobility Expert
- Ex-direct report to Elon Musk
- 10 years’ experience at Tesla
- Ex-Telsa Director for Central Europe
- Launched Tesla S, 3, X and Roadster
- Ex-Automobili Pininfarina Chief Sales Officer; Launched Electric Hyper-car
- Experience in the Auto industry including BMW, Porsche and Kia
Aziz Mohadeen
Chemical Technical Assistant
- Experienced in sample preparation for a variety of analytical chemistry tools, including ICP-OES and ICP-MS
- Education to Chemical Laboratory Assistant at Karlsruher Instititute of Technology (KIT), Germany
- Sudied Bio-Engineering in Allepo (Syria)
Jana Scherrer
Chemical Technical Assistant
- Experienced in preparative chemistry, including inorganic solid-state and wet chemistry reactions
- Education to Chemical Laboratory Assistant at Karlsruher Instititute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Dr. Michael Kraml
Senior Geochemist
Dr. Jens Grimmer
Senior Geologist
Tobias Hochschild
Senior Geologist
Prof. Dr. Gerald Ziegenbalg
Chemical Processing Expert
Corporate Directory
Board of Directors
Gavin Rezos
Chairman
Francis Wedin
Managing Director
Ranya Alkadamani
Non-Executive Director
Horst Kreuter
Executive Director
Rob Ierace
Company Secretary
Stock Exchange Listing
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