• A board and management team change has been implemented by Ivanhoe Atlantic to strengthen the company’s focus on the U.S. as it prepares for construction at its flagship Kon Kweni ultra-high grade iron ore project in Guinea
• Ambassador (Ret.) J. Peter Pham transitions to Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer from the role of Non-Executive Chairman
• Erik Bethel, Samantha Carl-Yoder, Daniel Pfeffer to join the Board as non-executive directors
• Future capital raising to be primarily focused on the U.S.
• Ivanhoe Atlantic is strategically aligned with U.S. critical minerals policy
• The Company aims to begin production in 1H 2027 and is pursuing final necessary permits and regulatory approvals after securing access to multi-user rail and port infrastructure in Liberia 

Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc. (“Ivanhoe Atlantic” or the “Company”), a U.S. mining company, is pleased to announce key changes to its leadership team. U.S. Ambassador (Ret.) J. Peter Pham, formerly Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, assumes the role of Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Erik Bethel, Samantha Carl-Yoder, and Daniel Pfeffer have been appointed as non-executive directors, replacing Patrick Tsang, Ken Lau, and Robin Sandenburgh.

The appointments support Ivanhoe Atlantic’s focus on delivery as the Company prepares for future capital raising exclusively in U.S.-aligned markets to fund the construction of its flagship Kon Kweni ultra-high grade iron ore project in Guinea. This transition comes after the Company secured Liberian legislative ratification of its Concession and Access Agreement, which provides access to multi-user rail and port infrastructure in Liberia. This is a crucial step to advancing the Company’s plan to ship iron ore from Guinea through Liberia for delivery to U.S-aligned markets via the Port of Buchanan.

Ambassador Pham commented: “These appointments expand our capacity to navigate a complex operating environment in West Africa and indeed across the globe. The experience of our new team members across mining, metals and financial markets brings tremendous value as we execute Ivanhoe Atlantic’s commitment as an American company to develop U.S. aligned critical and strategic mineral projects to power America’s future.”

Mr. Erik Bethel commented: “The global mining and metals sector is undoubtedly shaped by a sharp focus on supply chain security. I am pleased to join Ivanhoe Atlantic at a time when disciplined strategy, strong governance and alignment with long-term U.S. strategic interests matter more than ever.”

Ms. Samantha Carl-Yoder commented: “I am looking forward to collaborating with my Ivanhoe Atlantic Board colleagues and our management team as we work to provide the world’s highest grade iron ore to U.S.-aligned markets in 2027 by unlocking a strategic corridor that can provide so much to local communities in both Guinea and Liberia for decades to come.”

Ms. Bronwyn Barnes has left the company. The Board of Directors of Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc. acknowledges Ms. Barnes for her tenure as CEO.

About Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc. in Guinea and Liberia

Guinea:

• Ivanhoe Atlantic holds a mining convention in Guinea for the Kon Kweni Iron Ore Project. The convention is the operating framework covering exclusive infrastructure development and access rights to one of the lowest contaminant and highest-grade undeveloped iron ore deposits in the world.
• Kon Kweni is an advanced world-class deposit featuring 751.9 million tonnes of Direct Ship Ore, of which 209 million tonnes is high-grade ore (>67% Fe).
• The project is 85% owned by Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG), a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Atlantic, 15% owned by the Government of Guinea.
• Kon Kweni is located in southeast Guinea,16km from Guinea’s border with Liberia, and 46km from the northern end of the Yekepa-Buchanan railway.
• Liberia and Guinea ratified a Bilateral Implementation Agreement in 2021. The agreement promotes shared use of transport infrastructure at national, sub-regional and regional levels to bolster mining development, contribute to sub-regional integration of the economies of Guinea and Liberia, and strengthen the socio-economic development of both countries.
• Kon Kweni is expected to generate USD $16.7 billion for the Guinea government over the mine’s lifecycle.

Liberia:

• Liberia is home to an estimated 17 billion tons of iron ore, much of which lies in the Yekepa-Buchanan corridor.
• Ivanhoe Atlantic, through its local subsidiary, Ivanhoe Liberia, plans to expand capacity of the Yekepa–Buchanan railway and Buchanan Port to support the export of up to 30 million tons per annum of iron ore.
• Ivanhoe Atlantic will become the rail line’s first ‘multi-user’ customer, in full alignment with President Joseph Boakai’s ARREST Agenda. The proposed infrastructure expansion will increase capacity on the railway to support the transportation of 2-5 mtpa, building up to 30 mtpa, of iron-ore from the Kon Kweni project.
• Following over six years of discussions with Liberia’s Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee, Ivanhoe Atlantic has negotiated a Concession and Access Agreement (CAA) with the Government of Liberia.
• Liberia is to establish a National Rail Authority that will place oversight and governance of the railway, a strategic sovereign asset, back under the purview of the government.
• The CAA was ratified by the Legislature with support from President Boakai on December 18, 2025.

More information on Ivanhoe Atlantic’s newly appointed board and management personnel

J. Peter Pham served as the United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes (2018-2020) and Sahel (2020-2021) Regions of Africa, with the personal rank of U.S. Ambassador granted by President Donald J. Trump.

He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Senior Advisor at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University and a Ben Franklin Fellow. Pham was previously Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Centre. He is the author of several books and more than 350 articles, essays and reviews on African politics, security, and economic issues. He currently also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Africell Global Holdings and of Rainbow Rare Earths as well as a strategic advisor to several other companies, with a particular focus on managing geopolitical risk and developing business in Africa.

Erik Bethel is a global finance professional with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. In 2020, he was nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Previously, he was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed unanimously by the Senate to represent the United States at the World Bank. During his tenure, Mr. Bethel participated in the analysis and deployment of over $100 billion in capital across the developing world through grants, loans, equity investments, and other financial products.

Mr. Bethel’s private-sector career has centered on emerging markets, with a focus on natural resources and mining. He served as a managing director at Franklin Templeton Investments, where he executed private equity transactions in Latin America. Prior to this, he was based in Shanghai, China, as Managing Partner of SinoLatin Capital and Managing Director of ChinaVest.

Samantha Carl-Yoder is the co-chair of the international and critical minerals practices at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. In her nearly 20 years of service at the U.S. State Department, she worked in both Washington, D.C. and embassies across the world to build strategic partnerships for companies expanding domestically and overseas. Prior to joining the private sector, she served as a foreign service officer in Indonesia, Peru, Myanmar (Burma) and Brazil. She also held senior positions in the Trump and Obama administrations, including chief of staff to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the State Department, chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau of Energy Resources and as a senior advisor to two deputy secretaries. Samantha is also on the board of the Atlantic Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Council.

Daniel Pfeffer has spent the majority of his career in the global critical minerals space, with technical, financial and managerial experience across a variety of operating and investment roles. Mr. Pfeffer currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Office of the Chairman at I-Pulse Inc. Prior to that he was a partner at New York-based hedge fund Bornite Capital. Mr. Pfeffer ran metals and mining investments at Point72 in Connecticut and served in the Natural Resources Fund at 3G Capital in New York. Before his buyside experiences, he was an investment banker in Morgan Stanley’s Basic Materials Group in London and worked as an exploration geologist.