THUNDER BAY – MINING – Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (“Zenyatta” or “Company”) (TSXV: ZEN) has announced the appointment of Ms. Mara Strazdins as VP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. The appointment of Ms. Strazdins is a key component in Zenyatta’s strategy to raise their profile with current and potential investors as the Company moves forward with the development of the Albany Graphite Project.
Aubrey Eveleigh, President and CEO stated, “We are delighted to attract a professional of Mara’s caliber to our existing Zenyatta team. Ms. Strazdins is an individual with a strong technical and investor relations background. She will play a very important role during the awareness and development of Zenyatta’s unique hydrothermal graphite deposit. We are looking forward to getting this story out to a wider audience and working closely with Ms. Strazdins to achieve this goal.”
Ms. Strazdins has a HB.Sc. (Geology) from University of Toronto and Public Relations from Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario with over 30 years of experience in the mining/investor relations sector. Prior to joining Zenyatta, Mara worked as VP Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for Duluth Metals Limited, Wallbridge Mining Limited and CHF Investor Relations. Prior to that she worked as a geologist with Placer Dome for 18 years and obtained a varied range of experience within their North American corporate structure. With a diversified background in geology, exploration and public relations, Ms. Strazdins will be focusing on raising the Company’s visibility within the investment community.
About Zenyatta Ventures Ltd.
Zenyatta continues to develop its rare volcanic-hosted Albany graphite deposit in Ontario, Canada. The Company’s highly crystalline graphite deposit is fluid derived rather than the typical and abundant sedimentary (flake) style of graphite deposits. Albany is the only and largest graphite deposit of its kind under development in the world. It is situated 30 km north of the Trans-Canada Highway, power line and natural gas pipeline near the communities of Constance Lake First Nation and Hearst. A rail line is located 70 km away with an all-weather road approximately 10 km from the graphite deposit. The world trend is to develop products for technological applications that need extraordinary performance using high-purity graphite powder at an affordable cost. Albany graphite can be upgraded with very good crystallinity without the use of aggressive acids (hydrofluoric) or high temperature thermal treatment therefore having an environmental advantage over other types of upgraded high-purity graphite material.
The outlook for the global graphite market is very promising with demand growing rapidly from new applications. It is now considered one of the more strategic elements by many leading industrial nations, particularly for its growing importance in high technology manufacturing and in the emerging “green” industries such as electric vehicle components. The application for graphitic material is constantly evolving due to its unique chemical, electrical and thermal properties. It maintains its stability and strength under temperatures in excess of 3,000°C and is very resistant to chemical corrosion. It is also one of the lightest of all reinforcing elements and has high natural lubricating abilities. Some of these key physical and chemical properties make it critical to modern industry.
