Vancouver, British Columbia, Jan. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North American Niobium and Critical Minerals Corp. (CSE: NIOB) (FSE: KS82.F) (OTCQB: NIOMF) ("North American Niobium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment today of Olivier Tavchandjian to the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board").
Mr. Tavchandjian currently serves as Senior Vice President, Exploration and Technical Services at Hudbay Minerals Inc., where he leads the execution of the company's exploration strategy aimed at increasing mineral reserves and resources while overseeing technical governance across a global portfolio of operations and development projects. His career spans a wide range of base and precious metals, in both underground and surface mining environments, and across diverse jurisdictions, providing him with a strong technical foundation relevant to the evaluation and development of strategic and specialty metals.
Mr. Tavchandjian brings more than 35 years of experience in mineral resource and reserve estimation, exploration strategy, and technical evaluation, with a strong focus on value creation through disciplined resource growth and long-term mine planning, capabilities that are directly applicable to the advancement of critical mineral projects, including niobium. Throughout his career, Mr. Tavchandjian has been closely involved in the successful development of multi-billion-dollar greenfield projects and large-scale mining expansions, contributing to project assessment, optimization, and execution. His experience in resource estimation, technical due diligence, and life-of-mine planning will support North American Niobium's efforts to responsibly advance its critical mineral assets in alignment with growing North American supply chain priorities.
Prior to joining Hudbay, Mr. Tavchandjian served as Vice President, Resource Evaluation at Anemka Resources, the mining portfolio company of a large private investment firm and has worked in management roles at several major mining companies including ArcelorMittal, Vale and Inco He holds a Ph.D. in Mineral Resources from the University of Québec at Chicoutimi and is a Professional Geoscientist registered with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.
"We are very pleased to welcome Olivier to our Board," said Murray Nye, Chief Executive Officer of North American Niobium. "His depth of experience in resource estimation, exploration strategy, and the advancement of complex mining projects will be a valuable asset as we continue to position North American Niobium as a future supplier of a critical mineral that is essential to advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, and emerging technologies."
With the addition of Mr. Tavchandjian to the Board, the Company also announces that it intends to form a Technical Committee. The mandate of the Technical Committee will be to provide technical oversight and strategic guidance to management and the Board in connection with the evaluation and advancement of the Company's exploration and critical mineral properties, including review of exploration programs, technical interpretation, and project prioritization. The Company has recently closed flow-through financings totaling $4.8 million and is fully funded for its 2026 exploration program.
Pursuant to the Company's Share Option Plan and subject to regulatory approval, the Company has granted stock options (the "Options") to Mr. Tavchandjian. The Options are exercisable into common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Shares") at an exercise price of $1.20 per Share for a period of five years from the date of grant of the Options. The Options will vest in full over 16 months. The Shares to be issued upon the exercise of the Options will be subject to a hold period of four months and a day from the date of grant.
ABOUT NORTH AMERICAN NIOBIUM AND CRITICAL MINERALS CORP.
North American Niobium and Critical Minerals Corp. is a North American mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of precious, base, and critical mineral assets. Its portfolio includes the Silver Lake property in British Columbia's Omineca Mining Division and a recently acquired land package in Quebec's Grenville Province. The Quebec properties add exposure to rare earth elements (REE), niobium (Nb), and nickel-copper (Ni-Cu) occurrences, expanding the Company's footprint into critical minerals that are strategically important for energy and defense applications.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Murray Nye
Chief Executive Officer
1055 West Georgia Street, Suite 1500
Vancouver, BC V6E 0B6
Canada
For further information, please contact:
Murray Nye, CEO
Email: info@northamericanniobium.com
Phone: +1 (647) 984-4204
CSE:NIOB
OTCQB: NIOMF
FSE:KS82.F
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "believes", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements respecting: (i) the Grenville Properties and the mineral prospects thereon, and (ii) the Company's planned activities on the Grenville Properties. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the receipt of regulatory approvals, market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
