• Luan Atkinson will step down as Chief Executive Officer of Renewable Metals on 7 August 2026, having led the company over four years from a flowsheet and laboratory results to the commissioning of its demonstration plant at Kewdale, Western Australia.

• Peter Beaven will assume the role of Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer, while the Board undertakes a search for a permanent CEO.

• The Board has also appointed Jacob Brown as a Non-Executive Director, adding deep technical and entrepreneurial capability as Renewable Metals moves from demonstration to commercial scale-up.
  
  

Luan Atkinson has advised the Board that she will step down as Chief Executive Officer, concluding her time with the company on 7 August 2026. The change marks the completion of the development and build phase Luan was brought in to deliver, and the company's move into commercial scale-up, with the demonstration plant at Kewdale now well advanced in commissioning,

Luan joined Renewable Metals four years ago in its early days, when the company consisted of little more than a flowsheet and laboratory results. Since then, she has led the business through the commissioning of two pilot plants and the construction of the demonstration plant at Kewdale, Western Australia.

During her tenure, Luan secured over A$40 million in equity and grant funding from investors and governments in Australia and the United Kingdom. Together with Mark Urbani, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, she built the leadership team that remains in place to take the plant into production.

Peter Beaven, Chairman of Renewable Metals, said:

“On behalf of the Board, I thank Luan for her four years of dedication and commitment, which have brought Renewable Metals to the cusp of first metal production from its 2,000tpa demonstration plant. With the plant built and commissioning well advanced, this is the natural point to hand over to a team focused on commercial delivery.

“I will assume the role of Executive Chair and CEO while the Board undertakes a search for a permanent CEO. The company is at a very exciting stage of its development. We have recently completed a two-stage, oversubscribed $12 million equity raise and are well advanced in commissioning the demonstration plant at Kewdale, with first metal production in sight. Our technology will enable a step change in operating and capital costs for recycling plants, and our leach process enables very high recoveries from all battery types, avoiding the costly black mass process step.

“Working with Mark and the management team, my immediate focus will be on safely ramping up the demonstration plant, building partnerships for the commercialisation phase, and working with feedstock providers, industry, and government stakeholders. Renewable Metals has a compelling and differentiated value proposition, and I look forward to working with the team to deliver the next phase of the company's development.”

Peter Beaven spent ten years at BHP in senior operating roles, including President Manganese, President Base Metals and President Copper, followed by six years as BHP's Chief Financial Officer. He has extensive experience leading operating businesses and major projects.

The Board has also appointed Jacob Brown as a Non-Executive Director, effective 27 July 2026.

Brown co-founded Magrathea in 2022 and serves as its Chief Scientist, having previously been Chief Technology Officer. Magrathea is developing a new generation of electrolytic technology to produce magnesium metal from seawater and brines, rebuilding lost magnesium supply. The company has secured substantial financial backing including a US$24 million Series A closed in March 2026 and a US$28 million partnership with the US Department of Defense.

Before founding Magrathea, Brown was a Senior Chemical Engineer at Tesla, where he was one of the first 10 engineers responsible for delivering Tesla’s first cathode material manufacturing operations. Prior to this, he was an Electrode Process Engineer at Primet Precision Materials, building equipment for lithium-ion battery manufacturing and began his career in Western Australia with Alcoa at the Kwinana alumina refinery. Brown holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Western Australia and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

On the appointment, Beaven said:

“Jacob is a chemical engineer who has taken a novel process from the laboratory towards commercial production, and who has raised the capital to do it. That combination is rare. He has spent his career in electrochemistry and battery materials, first at Tesla and now at Magrathea, so he understands the science behind our flowsheet and the practical realities of building a metals business in a Western cost environment. He also brings the networks that fund industrial scale-up in the United States, which matters as we move from our Kewdale prototype to a first commercial refinery and to the plants that follow it. Jacob began his career in Western Australia, currently resides there, and we are pleased to have him on our board.”

Jacob Brown said:

“Capital efficient battery recycling that can handle the full breadth of li-ion chemistries is a problem the industry has been circling for years, and Renewable Metals has a credible answer to it. Building a metals business to achieve compelling rates of return is the problem I work on every day. I am looking forward to leveraging these lessons and supporting the team to take this technology to commercial scale.”

For further information please contact:
Peter Beaven, peter.beaven@renewable-metals.com,
or Neil McVeigh, neil.mcveigh@renewable-metals.com.