Pro-Or Announces a Change of Name, a Change of Business and the New Board of Directors
January 07 2014 - 12:59PM
Marketwired Canada
NovX21 Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:POI) is pleased to announce that
following its annual and special meeting of shareholders of the Corporation held
on December 30th, 2013; Pro-Or changed its name to "NovX21" reflecting the
approved change of business by shareholders from solely a "mining issuer" to
both a "mining issuer" and a "technology issuer". Mr. Andre Boulanger, Me Rene
Branchaud, Mr. John LeBoutillier and Mr. Jean-Paul Schaack were nominated as
directors of the Corporation. Mr. John LeBoutillier has been appointed Chairman
of the Board of the Corporation.
Trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the new symbol "NOV" will start in the
coming weeks.
Description of Change of Name
-- NOV stands for technological inNOVation
-- X symbolizes the eXtraction of metals from different sources
-- 21 is for an inNOVative technology of the 21st century
-- Low energy, low cost, high recovery process
Description of Change of Business
The Corporation (i) completed a Change of Business of the Corporation from
solely a "mining issuer" to both a "mining issuer" and a "technology issuer" in
accordance with the applicable policies of the Exchange and (ii) changed its
name to "NovX21 Inc." in order to reflect the proposed Change of Business.
Pursuant to the proposed Change of Business, the Corporation will develop and
implement new industrial patented technologies, including the patented
processes, to recover metal from recycled material or ore. More particularly,
the Corporation will recycle precious metals from used catalytic converters,
thus allowing the transportation industry, mostly automobile manufacturers, to
purchase the recycled refined metals to coat new catalytic converters, thus
changing the business of the Corporation.
The Change of Business, and certain ancillary matters were approved by
shareholders of the Corporation at the annual and special meeting of
shareholders of the Corporation held on December 30, 2013 (the "Meeting").
Matters Considered at the Meeting
At the Meeting, shareholder approval was obtained (i) for the Name Change, (ii)
for an amendment to the articles of incorporation of the Corporation, (iii) for
the New General By-Laws and (iv) for amendments to the stock option plan of the
Corporation.
Board Appointments
Mr. Sylvain Boulanger and Mr. Yves Lasnier have been re-elected as Directors of
the Corporation at the Meeting and Mr. Andre Boulanger, Me Rene Branchaud, Mr.
John LeBoutillier and Mr. Jean-Paul Schaack have been elected as directors of
the Corporation. Therefore, the board of directors of the Corporation now
consists of six directors.
John LeBoutillier, Member of the Order of Canada, has been appointed as Chairman
of the Board of NovX21. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Industrial
Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. and of Groupe Deschenes Inc.,
Vice Chairman of TechnoCentre eolien (Gaspesie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine) and a board
member of a number of public issuers, such as Mazarin Inc., SEMAFO Inc. and
Stornoway Diamond Corporation.
Mr. LeBoutillier was President and Chief Executive Officer of Iron Ore Company
of Canada from 1996 to 2000 and President and Chief Executive Officer of
Sidbec-Dosco (Ispat) Inc. (currently known as ArcelorMittal Montreal) from 1983
to 1996. He was also a member or board member, as applicable, of many industrial
associations at Canadian and international levels, namely the Quebec's Health
Review (The Clair Commission) in 2000 and the Canadian Democracy and Corporate
Accountability Commission in 2001. Mr. LeBoutillier has a law degree from the
Universite Laval in Quebec City and an MBA from University of Western Ontario
(currently known as the Richard Ivey School ofBusiness).
Andre Boulanger, MESc, is currently President of Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie,
where he manages an electrical network in North America. He was also President
of Hydro-Quebec, Distribution Quebec, from 2003 to 2011, where he was
responsible for the reliability of the electrical network, its distribution and
supply and demand planning for 3.9 million consumers. Prior to such functions,
Mr. A. Boulanger was a senior executive at Gaz Metro Inc. from 1983 to 2003. He
has been a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors since 2010 and is a
board member of Northeast Power Coordination Council Inc. (New York) and
Chairman of the board of Cedars Rapids Ltd., as well as board member of the
Cancer Institute of Montreal and other economic development and cultural
organizations. Mr. Boulanger studied at a doctorate level at the Georgia
Institute of Technology (Atlanta, U.S.) and has bachelor's and master's degrees
in mechanical engineering from the Universite Laval in Quebec City.
Rene Branchaud holds an LLB from Universite Laval obtained in 1982. He has been
a lawyer since 1983 and is a partner of the law firm Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. He
practices in the areas of securities law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate
law. Mr. Branchaud serves on the board of directors and is corporate secretary
of several public companies. He also serves on several committees of the board
of directors, including corporate governance committees and ad hoc committees
created for specific transactions (mergers, takeovers). In addition, he advises
directors who sit on ad hoc committees.
Jean-Paul Schaack, an MBA retiree since 2007, spent most of his career from 1982
to 2007 in the steel industry with ArcelorMittal Canada or its predecessor
companies. As Director of Strategic Planning of that company, he was
instrumental in the creation of four joint venture subsidiaries of which he also
became a director. Later, as Vice President, he was responsible for the
Purchasing and Environment division, where his focus was principally on the
efficient purchase and optimal usage of raw materials and energy, during which
time he was involved in several due diligence studies and acquisitions. He also
sat on the board of industrial associations of energy intensive companies. Prior
to joining the steel industry, Jean-Paul Schaack was a consultant for
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., where he participated in numerous feasibility studies on
industrial and power projects in Canada and overseas. He obtained his
engineering degree from the Ecole des Mines de Paris (France) and a master's
degree in management sciences from the University of Waterloo (Ontario).
For further information, reference should be made to the management information
circular of the Corporation dated December 2, 2013, a copy of which is available
under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
About NovX21
NovX21 operates an industrial prototype plant for the recovery of Platinum Group
Elements (Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium or PGMs). The plant is located near
Quebec City in St-Augustin-de-Desmaures. Its patented process yields more than
97% recoveries of PGMs, and is not only much less capital extensive but also
operates much more rapidly than conventional plants thus dramatically lowering
the amount of time that its customers capital is tied up as work-in-process
inventory. NovX21's mission is to sustainably recover precious metals by the
recycling of end-of-life PGM containing components while meeting global "green"
standards for the automobile industry.
NovX21 also holds the mineral rights to six mining properties and has focused
its exploration activities on the Menarik property in the James Bay area, in the
Province of Quebec, the site of a major chromite deposit with occurrences of
gold, nickel, copper and platinum group metals (PGMs). The operation of NovX21's
patented and proprietary processes to such deposits may lead to a breakthrough
in low cost primary mining metallurgy in the near future.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Sylvain Boulanger, P.Eng.
President & CEO
(514) 506-9121
Info@pro-or.com
Nicole Blanchard, Managing Partner
Sun International Communications
(450) 973-6600
nicole.blanchard@isuncomm.com