Mehdi Azodi, the Director of Investor and Corporate Affairs for Quest Rare Minerals
Quest Rare Minerals, a Canadian-base rare metals exploration company, with a focus on the B-Zone area of the Strange Lake Property, has developed significantly in just a few years. Mehdi Azodi, the Director of Investor and Corporate Affairs for Quest Rare Minerals said, “Quest Rare Minerals has been publicly trading since 2008. We were a spin off from Freewest.” Azodi's professional background was the perfect fit for Quest. Said Azodi, “I started working with Peter Cashin on the corporate development side and I’m the Director of Investor and Corporate Affairs. My background comes from the capital markets being on the asset management side.” Currently, Azodi works with Quest Rare Minerals on a full-time basis to assist them in coordinating information with the investment community. Said Azodi, “My involvement with Quest is on a day-to-day, full-time basis, essentially working with the investment community, the analysts that we need to meet and everything that has to do with the corporate presentations and the corporate models, really advancing the company on various levels.”
This advancement is focused right now on the B-zone of Quest's flagship property, Strange Lake. Located 220 kilometers northeast of Schefferville and 125 kilometers west of Voisey Bay Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Mine, Strange Lake encompasses an impressive 54,000 hectares of land. Said Azodi, “We are working on B zone at Strange Lake property. We finished a PEA on our B-zone and we are working on a flow sheet right now. Our prefeasibility is due up in 2012. We are working diligently on bringing on some markets and exploring our robust economic plan.” The B-zone was identified via a surface prospecting and diamond drilling effort in a two kilometer area where radiometric geophysical anomalies had been identified through an airborne survey. The B-zone was isolated when the results indicated a new REE mineralized zone was identified.
Quest is led by an experienced management team that is well-equipped to move the Strange Lake Project, as well as Quest's other projects, forward in the short-term. Said Azodi, “Peter Cashin is the President and CEO. We have a very strong management team.” In addition to Peter Cashin's leadership, Quest benefits from other experienced Board members. Azodi said, “Reno Pressacco is the Vice President of Operations. George Potter has now been added to our Board. He has a long career of building mines and obviously Peter has over thirty years of track record in various aspects of the industry. Our head office is based in Montreal. We do have an office in Toronto.”
In addition to an experienced management team with a history of success, Quest has an aggressive capital share structure. Said Azodi, “As you know, there are 62 million shares outstanding. We have just about $55 million dollars in the bank right now, so if you break that down with our share price, that's just under $0.90 per share in cash.” Like many other companies, Quest has had to deal with the market fluctuations over the last few months. Azodi said, “Our share price over the last twelve months has gone down from $8.85 to $1.75 – that's a bit of a fluctuation in there. We are now trading at about $3.50.” Quest enjoys coverage from an entire group of well-known analysts such as Dundee Resources, Dahlman Rose, National Bank, Euro Pacific and Cormark. Quest Rare Minerals trades on the AMEX on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange.
In terms of future plans, Quest Rare Minerals is focused on maintaining their momentum on the Strange Lake Project. Azodi said, “We will keep the same plan going forward. We are in Strange Lake working in the B-zone.” Ultimately, Quest wants to develop the project fully. Azodi said, “It's to take this thing to bankable, [we want to see] the robust economic features. It is open space. There are a lot more opportunities to expand the project, but right now it is a full sheet of metallurgy, showing us what we are doing. We are talking to a lot of end users, off take agreements. It is a lot of the 'next step' growth of the company.”
This focus on Strange Lake is a calculated step to move Quest Rare Minerals to their next level of development as an organization. Azodi said, “Strange Lake is one of the only heavy rare earth deposits out there that has such a large focus on the heavy rare earths. The grades are incredible.” Azodi is also encouraged by the importance that rare earth metals have gained in the near term. Said Azodi, “The focus on the rare earth metals that the Department of Energy and Department of Defense have listed as critical rare earths – those are the driving factors that we are looking at.”
In order to make the most of the Strange Lake Property and offer the best value and future for investors, Quest is not only working diligently on site, but in their management of it as well. Said Azodi, “Obviously, we are looking at a tight share structure – a very tight share structure – fully diluted, under 70 million shares. There is a lot of value in the company. It hasn't been diluted. We have a very strong shareholder base - great management team. We are a Quebec-based company; so every dollar you put into the ground, you get half that back in a rebate from the government. Also the experience of Peter Cashin and the management team is very important.”
With an opportunity to access precious rare metals needed by the market, a strong management team and a tight share structure, Quest Rare Minerals is working toward moving the B-zone area of the Strange Lake property into bankable status.
