Pro-Or Announces a Change of Name, a Change of Business and the New
Board of Directors
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Jan 7, 2014) - 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. André Boulanger, Me René 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. André
Boulanger, Me René 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 Deschênes Inc., Vice Chairman
of TechnoCentre éolien (Gaspésie-Îles-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 Montréal) 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
Québec'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 Université
Laval in Québec City and an MBA from University of Western
Ontario (currently known as the Richard Ivey School
ofBusiness).
André Boulanger, MESc, is currently President of Hydro-Québec
TransÉnergie, where he manages an electrical network in North
America. He was also President of Hydro-Québec, Distribution
Québec, 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 Métro
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 Montréal 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
Université Laval in Québec City.
René Branchaud holds an LLB from Université 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 École 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.
Sylvain Boulanger, P.Eng.President & CEO(514)
506-9121Info@pro-or.comNicole Blanchard, Managing PartnerSun
International Communications(450)
973-6600nicole.blanchard@isuncomm.com