Applied Minerals taps industry veteran Sharad Mathur as chief technology officer

Applied Minerals Inc (OTCMKTS:AMNL) announced Wednesday that it has appointed senior industry veteran Dr Sharad Mathur as its new chief technology officer.

The Brooklyn-based company is a leading global producer of Halloysite clay, a material used in lithium-ion batteries.

READ: Applied Minerals wants to put Halloysite clay in your rechargeable batteries, and it’s energizing the company’s profit outlook

Dr Mathur has over 20 years of experience working at BASF Corporation and Engelhard Corporation and is well placed to lead Applied Minerals’ product development, technical service and manufacturing efforts.

The company said Dr Mathur will closely interface with the technical and engineering staffs of their customers to “facilitate the conversion” of the company’s pipeline of commercial opportunities.

“It is a great honor to have Sharad join the Applied Minerals team. Sharad has a long-proven track record as a customer-centric commercial scientist, highly fluent across a wide range of applications on which we are focused,” said Applied Minerals CEO Andre Zeitoun. “It is rare to find such a talented professional with the enthusiasm to match. We are very confident that Sharad’s contribution will be immediately accretive to the development of our business.”

Dr Mathur has a Master of Engineering degree in Materials Science and Engineering from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. He also has a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida.

He is listed as an inventor on 13 issued US patents and six more US patent applications.

“I am very excited to join the team at Applied Minerals. I look forward to applying my vast experience with kaolin clay-based technologies to the continued commercialization of the Company’s DRAGONITE Halloysite products, which enable the development of high-performance solutions for an array of applications,” said Dr Mathur.

Shares in Applied Minerals shot up 56% to $0.050.

Applied Minerals is a leading global producer of Halloysite clay and the owner of the Dragon Mine — the only deposit in the western hemisphere big enough for large-scale commercial production. The Utah mine is sprawled over 230 acres of land in the western US state.

Halloysite clay is used in everything from a fire-retardant additive to a key material in lithium-ion batteries. The clay is also one of the best and most efficient delivery methods for agricultural agents like fertilizers and pesticides.

Contact Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive 

Story by ProactiveInvestors