POLYMET MINING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Lead Independent Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Lead Independent Director / Former Chairman, President and CEO of ALLETE Inc., Now Retired. His Career Spanned 40 Years Within ALLETE and Its Subsidiaries. Elected to the Board in 2011
Alan Hodnik has served on the Board of Directors since March 2011 and was appointed lead independent director in June 2020. He is chair of the Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance committees and also serves on the Audit and Health, Safety, Environment and Communities committees.
Mr. Hodnik retired in 2021 from ALLETE Inc., as its executive chairman after a career that spanned 40 years. Minnesota Power, an ALLETE subsidiary, is the energy provider to the PolyMet project. After holding various titles of increasing responsibility over his career, he was named president of ALLETE in 2009, CEO in 2010 and chairman of the board in 2011. After announcing his plans to retire in 2020, Mr. Hodnik served ALLETE as executive chairman in a transitionary role until his retirement in May 2021.
Mr. Hodnik maintains extensive business, labor, political and community relationships across the State of Minnesota and regionally. He serves on the Essentia Health Systems Board of Director and on the Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Economic Development Authority. He served as Mayor of Aurora from 1988 to 1998. Aurora along with nearby Hoyt Lakes are co-host communities of the PolyMet Project. He resides in Minnesota.
Former chairman, president and CEO of ALLETE Inc., now retired. His career spanned 40 years within ALLETE and its subsidiaries. Elected to the Board in 2011.
Job Titles:
- Chief Geologist
- Member of the Leadership Team
Andrew Ware joined PolyMet Mining in 2013. As chief geologist, he is responsible for ore body definition, reporting and exploration activities. Andrew focuses on progressing exploration and advancing the NorthMet Project through permitting and into production.
With more than 25 years of mining industry expertise, Andrew has worked on mineral exploration projects globally including in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Chile, Mexico and the U.S. Prior to joining PolyMet, he worked for Rio Tinto's Eagle and Tamarack Ni-Cu projects, holding numerous positions including acting project director, exploration manager and site operations manager. He has worked in the ore body definition and optimization field for more than 15 years.
Andrew graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in applied geology from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Vice President, Corporate Communications and External Affairs
Bruce Richardson joined PolyMet in 2013 to lead the company's internal and external communications efforts, as well as to guide its community outreach and partnership initiatives. He is also a member of the senior executive leadership team, contributing to the overall strategic direction of the company.
A 30-year veteran of corporate communications in the utility, retail and mining industries, Bruce has worked with numerous permitting and development teams, most recently for Rio Tinto's Resolution Copper project and previously for Phelps Dodge Mining Co.'s Safford Project in Arizona. He started his career with Arizona Public Service Co., the state's largest electric utility, leaving after 12 years to manage communications for Phelps Dodge Mining Co.'s North American copper and molybdenum operations. He served a brief stint as director of the Office of Information and Public Affairs for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Bethesda, Maryland, and six years as director of corporate communications for PetSmart, North America's largest pet retailer.
Bruce earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Environmental Affairs
Christie Kearney joined PolyMet Mining in 2016 and was instrumental in the NorthMet Project becoming fully permitted. As vice president of environmental affairs, Christie leads permitting and on-site environmental compliance activities. As a member of the senior leadership team, she contributes to the overall strategic direction of the company.
A second-generation miner and native Iron Ranger, Christie has nearly 25 years' experience in environmental review, permitting, and civil and environmental engineering across the Midwest and Alaska. She spent most of her career in consulting, including 10 years on PolyMet's environmental review and water management design. In her previous employment with Barr Engineering, the Alaska Railroad and HDR Engineering, she worked on a variety of projects including mining, pipelines, wind farms, railroads and fiber optics.
Christie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science and Master ofcience degree in civil engineering, both from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and is a licensed professional engineer.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
David Fermo was elected to the board of directors in June 2020. He is chair of the Audit Committee and serves on the Compensation Committee.
Mr. Fermo's career spans auditing, financial analysis, bond fund management and private fund banking. He initiated his career in South Africa as an auditor before moving to the U.S. to attend school. He worked for Paine Webber for eight years in various capacities, including as a financial analyst where he managed investment grade and mortgage bond portfolios. He spent six years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management where he led a national team of professionals who placed investment products managed by the firm with institutions, followed by 22 years at J.P. Morgan. There, he managed three positions encompassing both the Asset Management Division and the Private Bank, retiring in 2017.
Mr. Fermo holds degrees in business and accounting from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York.
Former J.P. Morgan executive where he managed three positions encompassing both the Asset Management Division and the Private Bank, now retired. Elected to the Board in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Search Minerals
- Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy at the University of British Columbia
Dr. David Dreisinger has served as a member of the board of directors since October 2003. He chairs the Technical Steering Committee and serves on the Health, Safety, Environment and Communities, the Nominating and Corporate Governance and Audit committees.
Dr. Dreisinger is professor and chairholder of the Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy at the University of British Columbia. He has published more than 300 papers and has been extensively involved as a process consultant in industrial research programs with metallurgical companies. He has participated in more than 20 U.S. patents for work in the areas of pressure leaching, ion exchange, removal of impurities from process solutions, use of thiosulfate as an alternative to cyanide in gold leaching, leach-electrolysis treatment of copper recovery from sulfide ores, and the Sepon copper process for copper recovery from sulfidic-clayey ores.
Dr. Dreisinger also serves as a director of Search Minerals Inc. and LeadFX Inc., and as vice president of metallurgy/process for Camrova Resources, Inc. and Search Minerals Inc. He resides in British Columbia, Canada.
Professor and chairholder of the Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy at the University of British Columbia. Has published more than 300 papers. Elected to the Board in 2003.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Asset Manager for Glencore 's North American
Helen joined the board of directors in July 2016 and serves on the Audit (non-voting participant) and Nominating and Corporate Governance (non-voting participant) committees, Technical Steering, and Health, Safety, Environment and Communities committees.
Helen serves as asset manager for Glencore's North American copper operations and legacy sites. She began her career as a process metallurgist with the Finnish process technology provider Outotec and worked on mineral processing and water treatment designs and optimizations before moving into business and commercially-oriented roles with Outotec and subsequently Xstrata. She has held the position of asset manager with Glencore since 2013.
Helen holds degrees in metallurgical engineering and business and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. She resides in Ontario, Canada.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director / Director - Company Secretary of Glencore. Leads Governance Arrangements for Glencore and Advises on Corporate Transactions. Elected to the Board in 2023
John Burton has served as a member of the board of directors since April 2023.
He has been company secretary of the parent company of Glencore since 2011. He leads a team that focuses on excellence in Glencore's governance arrangements across its large number of subsidiaries and joint ventures across the globe. He also advises Glencore's businesses on acquisitions, divestments and equity investments. This has included transactions for Glencore's copper, zinc and oil businesses and its agriculture JV Viterra.
Mr. Burton qualified as an English solicitor in London in 1990 and was appointed a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna in 1998 advising on a broad range of corporate and securities law matters. In 2006, he was appointed as company secretary and general counsel of London-listed Informa plc, where he established the group legal function and a new company secretarial team. He resides in Switzerland.
Director - Company secretary of Glencore. Leads governance arrangements for Glencore and advises on corporate transactions. Elected to the Board in 2023.
Jon Cherry - CEO, Chairman, President
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President
Jon Cherry has served as PolyMet's president and chief executive officer, and as a member of the board of directors since July 2012. He was appointed chairman of the board in June 2020. He is chair of the Health, Safety, Environment and Communities Committee and serves on the Technical Steering Committee.
Mr. Cherry's career has spanned nearly 30 years in the industry with more than 20 of those years with Rio Tinto where he worked in a number of positions including general manager, where he was responsible for permitting and the initial development of the Eagle Mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His previous position was vice president with Rio Tinto, responsible for strategic direction in environmental permitting and compliance, legal matters, and external relations associated to mine development of the Resolution Copper project in Arizona.
Mr. Cherry also serves on the board of Highland Copper Co. and the Montana Tech University Foundation. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana Tech of the University of Montana.
Leader in new mine development and environmental policy with over 30 years industry experience. Designed and permitted first US nickel mine in Michigan. Joined PolyMet in 2012.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
Matthew Rowlinson was elected to the board of directors in December 2021. He is a member of the Audit Committee (non-voting) and serves on the Technical Steering Committee.
He leads business development for Glencore's copper assets group. As such, he has led and been involved with many of Glencore's copper divestments, mergers and acquisitions and has held various board positions for the group which included Compañía Minera Antamina S.A. in Peru and Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi SCM in Chile.
Beginning his career with Ernst & Young as an auditor of multinational mining and financial services companies in London, United Kingdom and South Africa, Mr. Rowlinson joined Glencore in 2013 as an asset manager responsible for Latin American assets. He subsequently was named CFO of Copper Latin American Mining and Global Copper Smelting and Refining Assets, then CFO of Copper Latin American Mining and Joint Venture Assets Copper, followed by CFO, Copper Americas (mining and metallurgical assets). Mr. Rowlinson was appointed to his current position at Glencore in 2021. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and holds an MBA from the University of Bath (UK). He resides in Switzerland.
Leads business development for Glencore's copper assets group, leading and participating in many of Glencore's copper acquisitions, mergers and divestments. Elected to the Board in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- CEO of Road Machinery & Supplies Co
Michael has served on the board of directors since March 2011. He serves as chair of the Audit Committee and also serves on the Corporate Governance Committee.
Since 1994, Michael has served as CEO of Road Machinery & Supplies Co., a distributor of construction, mining and forestry equipment. He started his career as a financial analyst and commercial lending officer with the Northern Trust Company. He serves on the board of Reviva Corporation and Dunwoody College of Technology and has previously served on the Twin Cities Regional Board of US Bank and numerous industry association boards. He resides in Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
Nathan Bullock was elected to the board of directors in July 2020. He leads operational strategy, technical services, asset management, capital management and technology for Glencore's copper assets group, and brings to the board a broad range of operational and technical experience with his background in mining and processing across Australia and Africa in a range of commodities.
Beginning his career as a geologist at Glencore's Mount Isa Mines in Australia, Nathan worked for 17 years across Glencore's North Queensland mining, processing and smelting assets. He joined BHP in early 2018 at its Olympic Dam operation, working on operational discipline and improvement across the uranium, gold, silver and copper assets before rejoining Glencore in late 2019 as CEO at Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia.
Nathan holds a bachelor's degree with honors in applied geology from Queensland University of Technology, and an MBA from Griffith University, both in Brisbane Australia, and holds a graduate certificate in Applied Finance and Investment.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Leadership Team
Patrick Keenan joined PolyMet in June 2017 as chief financial officer, bringing more than 25 years of finance and mining industry experience to the executive team. He is a member of the senior executive leadership team, contributing to the overall strategic direction of the company.
Patrick previously served as senior vice president, finance and treasurer at Newmont Mining, which he joined after more than 20 years at Rio Tinto, where he served in a variety of leadership roles including chief financial officer for Rio Tinto's Energy Group based in Brisbane, Australia, chief financial officer for Kennecott Utah Copper in Salt Lake City and Rio Tinto Diamonds based in London. In these roles he had financial oversight of major open pit and underground mining operations and projects globally including diamond, uranium and coal mines, and the Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah, one of the larger open pit copper mines in the world.
Patrick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Utah.
Extensive finance and executive leadership roles with major global mining operations, including Rio Tinto and Newmont. Over 30 years industry experience. Joined PolyMet in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Project Director
- Senior Vice President
Richard Lock joined PolyMet in January 2020 as senior vice president and project director and is a member of the senior executive leadership team, contributing to the overall strategic direction of the company.
A veteran mining executive who has led construction and development of large copper and other mines around the globe, Richard had served as construction director for the KAZ Minerals Peschanka open pit copper mine located in Russia, within the Arctic Circle. Previously, he held executive and project director roles at Arizona Mining Inc.'s Hermosa project, a lead-zinc-silver mine in southern Arizona; Yara International's Dallol project, a sulfate of potash mining project in Ethiopia; Western Potash Corporation's Milestone project, a potash solution mining project in Canada; and Rio Tinto's Resolution and Keystone copper projects in Arizona and Utah, respectively. Earlier, Richard held leadership roles in the development of Canadian Natural Resources Limited's Horizon oilsands mining development in Alberta, and Rio Tinto's Diavik diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Richard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University College Cardiff in the U.K. He resides in Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Leadership Team
Stephen Rowland has served as a member of the board of directors since October 2008 and serves on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Compensation Committee.
He has been an executive with Glencore, one of the world's largest diversified natural-resource companies since 1988. Mr. Rowland has held various positions with responsibility for international trading in metals and minerals in London, Switzerland and the U.S. He resides in Connecticut.
Glencore executive for international trading in metals and minerals in London, Switzerland and the U.S. Elected to the Board in 2008.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
Ian has served on the board of directors since October 2003. He previously served as chairman from May 2004 to February 2008, became co-chairman in January 2011 and assumed his current position as chairman in July 2012. He is chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and also serves on the Audit and Compensation committees.
A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Ian has more than 40 years of experience with public companies in the resources sector including the areas of promotion, financing, exploration, production and company management. He has participated in several notable projects in Africa, including the North Dome gas discovery in Qatar, Reunion Mining's Scorpion zinc mine in Namibia, which was subsequently developed by Anglo American, and Ocean Diamond Mining, which pioneered the independent diamond dredging industry off the west coast of southern Africa. He also served as a director of Tanager Energy Inc. (formerly MGold Resources Inc.) until October 2011 and Belmore Resources (Holdings) plc until 2011 when it was acquired by Lundin Mining Ltd.
Ian was a director of Viatrade plc Georex SA. and Poros SAS. He resides in Vaud, Switzerland.