June 08, 2021

REIA Appoints Dr. Stephen Collocott and Ms. Leslie Liang as Advisory Board Members

Brussels, (8 June 2021) REIA, the only Global Association advocating the rare earth industry, born in Brussels in 2019 and already counting 40 members from around the world, is delighted to announce the appointment to its Advisory Board of Leslie Liang, Senior Analyst at Roskill China and Dr Stephen J Collocott, Independent Chair of the Australian Mirror Committee MN-011 Rare Earth to ISO/TC298 Rare Earth.

Commenting on their appointment, Dr Badrinath Veluri, president of REIA, stated: “We are very pleased to welcome Leslie Liang and Stephen Collocott to our Advisory Board. They will bring further skills and diversity to our already multicultural and experienced AB. Another National Mirror Committee Chair to ISO/TC298 and a REE expert from China joining REIA shows the importance of global presence and the need for an association like ours. Additionally, they are both very committed to bringing more sustainability throughout the whole rare earth value chain, which is the main purpose of our association.”

Leslie joined Roskill, one of the leaders in critical materials supply chain intelligence, as a senior analyst in 2019 and now leads Roskill analysis of the rare earth sector in China. Prior to joining Roskill, she spent 12+ years at CHR Metals as their base metal and mining analyst and China specialist, and as the Chief representative of CHR Metals’ China office in 2006. Leslie holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

Commenting on her new role, she said “I am very pleased to join REIA’s Advisory Board.
During my 15 years’ experience of the metal market, I have witnessed the considerable progress that China has made in terms of sustainable development. However, China’s rare earth market is more affected by policies than other metal markets, due to historical reasons and a complex background and still has a long way to go to reduce its environmental impact.

Tech innovation will help further diversify the applications of rare earth in various sectors; supporting policies and legislations will be further accelerated to ensure a greener, more sustainable development of rare earth. As a result, it is important to establish mutual trust and promote understanding and cooperation between China and other countries in the world. I trust that under the leadership of REIA, we can engage together towards a greener and cleaner rare earth future”.

Stephen is an eminent scientist specialised in condensed matter physics, with a focus on magnetic materials and their applications, in particular rare earth permanent magnets. Throughout his career, including 33 years at CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research, he held a variety of management, research, consultancy, representative and non-executive roles and has in-depth expertise in the automotive, appliance, mining and energy sectors.

He has had, and continues to have, research collaborations with groups in the UK, Germany and China. He has worked with a variety of industrial partners, both in Australia and overseas. He represented Australia at the Trilateral EU-Japan-US Critical Materials Conferences in Washington DC in 2011, Tokyo and Brussels the following years, giving presentations on aspects of the rare earth industry in Australia.

In 2016 he was appointed Independent Chair of the Australian Mirror Committee MN-011 Rare Earth to ISO/TC 298 Rare Earth, is an Australian representative at ISO/TC298 Plenary meetings and serves as an expert on a number of working groups. ISO/TC 298 Rare Earth, under the auspices of ISO, Geneva, is working to develop a suite of International Standards for the global rare earth industry.

Commenting on his joining the Advisory Board, Stephen said: “REIA’s objective of a sustainable global rare earth industry by bringing together industry, government, market and science fits well with my expertise which bridges all of these areas. I am excited to join REIA’s International Advisory Board and trust my skills and Australian perspective will bring value to REIA, as it develops to meet the challenges confronting the global rare earth industry.”
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About REIA
REIA, a non-profit organization, is the only global association advocating the rare earth Industry. Founded in 2019, under the auspices of EIT Raw Materials, REIA already counts 40 active members from around the world, representing key industry stakeholders throughout the whole rare earth value chain, policy makers, research institutes and academics.
Our core mission is to build and promote a more sustainable, responsible, collaborative and transparent rare earth supply chain and to contribute to a better understanding of the rare earth value chain.
We provide our members with a platform where they can network and benchmark; make their voice heard; find potential partners; access and share data, information and best practices; get visibility highlighting their engagement towards a more sustainable supply chain.

For more information, please contact:
Florence Gomez
CCO/Press relations
MP: +33 699464346
Florence.gomez@global-reia.org