Chief Operating Officer

This is a unique leadership opportunity for a senior mining professional to play a key role in advancing a domestic rare earth element (REE) company focused on critical mineral development. The company is currently permitting its fully delineated flagship REE resource while validating proprietary separation technology at the demonstration-plant scale. The COO will leverage a strong technical foundation in permitting, mining, geology, or geoscience to lead a highly specialized team and help guide the organization toward commercial operations. Overview Responsibilities Technical & Operational Leadership Serve as the senior technical voice within the executive team, providing geological and scientific leadership that underpins the Company's resource narrative, investor story, and regulatory posture Translate geological knowledge into operational strategy: resource risk, mine planning assumptions, process feed characterization, and permitting technical submissions Direct all field operations including exploration drilling, resource definition programs, and core logging — ensuring data quality, geological integrity, and NI 43-101 / SK 1300 compliance Establish and maintain operating systems, KPIs, and accountability structures across all active workstreams Build and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team; recruit key technical and operational talent as the Company scales toward production Permitting & Regulatory Strategy Own the Company's permitting strategy and regulatory relationships across federal and state agencies (e.g., USDA/USFS, EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, NRC/Wyoming DEQ, as well as other state Federal and state regulatory bodies) Leverage deep technical understanding of the resource to strengthen the quality and defensibility of permitting submissions — baseline studies, geochemical characterization, mine closure plans, and environmental and radiological impact assessments Manage external consultants and government and community relations advisors with precision and accountability in support of permitting and regulatory processes Identify and mitigate regulatory risk proactively; maintain permitting timelines that align with the Company's capital and development plan Proprietary Separation Technology — Demonstration Plant Oversight Provide executive oversight of the proprietary REE separation technology program, ensuring demonstration-plant milestones are achieved on schedule and within budget Apply technical acumen to evaluate process design criteria, feed and waste stream characterization data, and scale-up assumptions Collaborate with the process engineering team to develop a commercially validated flowsheet and support the transition from demonstration to commercial-scale design Manage IP protection, vendor relationships, and strategic partnerships associated with the separation process Capital Stewardship & Financial Partnership Own the operational budget; develop detailed project cost models and forecasts in support of ongoing capital-raise activities Partner with the CEO and CFO to produce investor materials, Board reporting, and financial projections grounded in rigorous technical assumptions Drive capital allocation discipline across workstreams, ensuring resources are deployed to the highest-value activities at each stage of development Board, Investor & Stakeholder Engagement Serve as the primary technical authority in investor presentations, data rooms, and due-diligence processes — bridging the gap between geological reality and capital-market communication Represent the Company with government officials, regulatory bodies, indigenous and local communities, and strategic partners General & Administrative Participate actively in Board-level strategic discussions and governance from the outset Develop enterprise-wide fluency across commercial, financial, legal, and human capital functions to complement the company’s technical foundation Qualifications Required Bachelor's degree or higher in Geology, Geoscience, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering or a closely related earth science discipline 15+ years of progressive technical and leadership experience in the mining, permitting and processing disciplines Demonstrated expertise in resource definition, geological modeling, and drill program management — ideally with rare earth, critical mineral, or specialty metal projects Hands-on experience navigating mine permitting and licensing processes at the federal and state level, with working knowledge of NEPA, SMCRA, CWA, NRC, State Departments of Environmental Quality and/or equivalent frameworks A track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs Executive-level communication skills — the ability to translate technical substance into investor, regulator, and Board-level language with precision and confidence Preferred Direct experience with REE mineralogy, metallurgy, processing and radiological controls — including familiarity with monazite, bastnäsite, xenotime, or ionic clay deposit types Prior P&L ownership or experience operating at the C-suite or VP level in a junior or pre-production mining company Exposure to demonstration-plant operations and process scale-up programs Advanced degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) in a geoscience or technical discipline; an MBA or executive leadership credential is complementary Existing relationships with federal and state permitting agencies relevant to Western U.S. mining projects Eligibility to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and SK 1300 Leadership Attributes Beyond Credentials, The Successful Candidate Will Bring Geological authority with executive reach: the ability to command a room of investors and a room of drill geologists with equal effectiveness Builder's instinct: comfort and energy in environments where process, infrastructure, and culture must be created from the ground up Transparent character: the reputation among peers, regulators, and capital partners for dealing straight, even when the news is hard Strategic discipline: the capacity to hold the long-term development thesis steady while managing short-term operational complexity #J-18808-Ljbffr