"I have had the good fortune of working with Peter over a span of 25 years as his direct supervisor and as a colleague in the uranium industry. He has earned my complete trust and has proven his capability of successfully delivering projects on time and on budget," Encore CEO Paul Goranson said.

The company notes Luthiger has 35 years of experience with in-situ recovery and conventional uranium production, processing, exploration, radiation safety and environmental management within the uranium fuel cycle.

His experience includes serving as the director of Texas operations for Energy Fuels, vice president of Mestena Uranium, manager for regulatory compliance and licensing for BHP Billiton/ Rio Algom, and has been involved with radiation safety programmes for testing activities at the Nevada Test Site for the US Department of Energy.

As part of his compensation package, Luthiger has been granted 250,000 stock options. A quarter of which to vest six months following the grant, and in 25% increments every six months thereafter.

The stock options are exercisable for a term of five years at US$1.44 per share.

Encore's share price was quoted as C$1.49 (US$1.60) on May 4, having risen 3% day on day. The company has a market capitalization of C$476.26 million.