Chief Harvey Yesno and Donald Bubar first met 20 years ago as panelists focused on development opportunities in northwestern Ontario. At the time, Chief Yesno was representing the interests of the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund, which provides financing and business support to Indigenous businesses in northern Ontario. Then, as now, Bubar was CEO and president of Avalon Advanced Materials.
Today, Yesno, a former Chief of the Eabametoong First Nation, past director of community relations for Ontario’s Ring of Fire Secretariat and Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation is the newest member of Avalon’s board of directors.
Avalon has interests across Canada, but currently, the company’s focus is squarely on Ontario, and specifically on its Separation Rapids lithium project near Kenora , which the company hopes will produce industrial lithium-mineral products for glass-ceramics and lithium chemicals for energy storage, as well as its Lilypad cesium-tantalum project near Fort Hope, which includes 14 claims totalling 3,108 hectares of cesium, tantalum and lithium-rich granitic pegmatites.
Even before joining the Avalon board, Chief Yesno was familiar with Lilypad, as it is located on the traditional lands of the Eabametoong First Nation.
For the rest of this article: https://magazine.cim.org/en/voices/ntk-22-chief-harvey-yesno-en/