Lithium Africa Appoints Dr. Rachel Hampton as VP Exploration with 200,000 RSUs
Lithium Africa has appointed Dr. Rachel Hampton as Vice President of Exploration, effective May 29, to lead exploration programs at the Adzopé (Côte d’Ivoire) and Springbok (South Africa) projects. She will receive 200,000 restricted share units under the company’s equity incentive plan to drive data-driven target generation.
1. Appointment Details
Lithium Africa has named Dr. Rachel Hampton as Vice President of Exploration, effective May 29, 2026. She joins from KoBold Metals, bringing seven years of lithium deposit expertise and a Ph.D. focused on machine learning applications in igneous systems.
2. Exploration Oversight
In her new role, Dr. Hampton will direct field programs at the Adzopé hard-rock lithium project in Côte d’Ivoire and the Springbok pegmatite project in South Africa. Her approach combines systematic, data-driven algorithms with sharp field observations to accelerate target identification.
3. Equity Grant and Transition
Upon commencement, she will be granted 200,000 restricted share units under the company’s equity incentive plan, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Outgoing VP Ben Gelber will transition to a consultancy role to ensure continuity of exploration activities.
4. Strategic Positioning
This leadership strengthening aligns with Lithium Africa’s 50/50 joint venture portfolio with GFL International, covering assets across South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Zimbabwe. Enhanced technical leadership aims to expand the pipeline and elevate discovery potential across the African portfolio.