Board of Directors

Giulio T. Bonifacio, CPA

Executive Chair and Director

Mr. Bonifacio has over 30 years of experience in senior executive roles in the mining industry in both the base and precious metals sector. Mr. Bonifacio was the Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Nevada Copper from 2005 until his retirement in February 2018. Mr. Bonifacio led and directed every stage of advancement of the Pumpkin Hollow copper mine from exploration, development, permitting and construction.  Mr. Bonifacio is a Chartered Professional Accountant with considerable experience and knowledge of operations, capital markets and project finance while raising significant amounts of capital for projects of merit by way of project debt, offtake, and equity.  During his 12 years at Nevada Copper Mr. Bonifacio successfully permitted both the underground and open pit operations at Pumpkin Hollow, which is the only permitted copper project of scale in the United States in the past 25 years.

Mr. Bonifacio has held previous senior executive roles with Getty Resources Limited, TOTAL Energold Corp., an energy and gold producer and Vengold Inc., gold producer prior to founding Nevada Copper in 2005. Mr. Bonifacio was formerly President, Chief Executive Officer and Non-Executive Chair of Faraday Copper Corp. from May 2018 until April 2022.

Mr. Bonifacio is currently the Executive Chair of the Company and Non-Executive Chair of Nevgold Corp. and Terra Balcanica Resources Corp.

 

 


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Joanne C. Freeze, P.Geo

President, CEO and Director

Joanne (Joey) C. Freeze is CEO and co-founder of the Company.  Ms. Freeze has 25+ years in senior executive roles in the global mining industry and is a Professional Geologist with considerable experience and knowledge of exploration, valuations, resource definition and economic studies, capital markets and finance.  Ms. Freeze has raised over $120M to date for advanced projects. 

Since entering the mineral exploration business 40+ years ago, Ms. Freeze has worked predominately in gold and copper exploration in Canada, Peru and Mexico but also in diamonds, coal and other commodities for both junior and major companies such as Queenstake Resources Ltd., Arequipa Resources Ltd., Placer Dome Inc., Dia Met Minerals Corp. and Utah Mines Ltd. (BHP). 

Ms. Freeze lived and worked in Peru in the mid 1990’s where she was the Qualified Person for various Canadian and Peruvian companies. She co-founded Alta Copper Corp. with Peruvian geologist Ing. Fredy Huanqui (co-discoverer of the Pierina gold mine) in 1997.  Since then, Alta Copper Corp. has spun-out various assets to form two other companies, also listed on the TSX/TSX.V and Ms. Freeze is currently President and CEO of Xali Gold Corp as well as President and CEO of Alta Copper Corp. 

Ms. Freeze obtained a B.A. in Geography from the University of Western Ontario in 1978 and a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of British Columbia in 1981. She is a Fellow Member of the Geological Association of Canada and is registered with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, Canada. 

In 2011, Ms. Freeze was appointed as a Member of the Board of the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University - http://www.mcgill.ca/isid/

 


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Sean I. Waller, P. Eng.

Key Advisor and Director

Mr. Waller is a retired  Professional Engineer with  35 years of International experience in mining project management, evaluation, design and operation, with a specific focus on large scale copper projects and gold projects. Mr. Waller was previously  a Senior Advisor with Wood Mining and Minerals (previously AMEC), a division of Wood PLC, a global engineering and construction firm.  Prior to joining Alta Copper he was with Wood in Vancouver where he held the positions of Vice President of Global Business Development and Senior Project Manager. While at Wood, Mr. Waller managed the feasibility study for Nevsun's Bisha gold/copper mine in Eritrea and the front end engineering for Inmet's Cobre Panama project in Panama.

Prior to AMEC, Mr. Waller worked with SNC-Lavalin's Mining Division in management and senior technical roles. Mr. Waller also previously worked for Freeport-McMoran at its Grasberg copper operation in Indonesia. Mr. Waller is a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM").   He was President of the CIM in 2015 and a Member of the CIM Audit and Risk Committee from 2017 - 2021.  Mr. Waller previously served on the CIM National Executive Council as Vice-President of District 6 (British Columbia and Yukon).

Mr. Waller has a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a Masters Degree in Mineral Process Engineering from The Montana School of Mines in Montana.

 


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Miguel Inchaustegui, B.A., LLB, MBA

Director

Mr. Inchaustegui is a lawyer who graduated from the University of Lima, with an MBA from the San Ignacio de Loyola University and completed Negotiation courses at the Kellogg School Management of Northwestern University.

Mr. Inchaustegui is a consultant on strategic issues, corporate affairs and sustainable development.  Miguel has held the position of Minister of Energy and Mines from August to November 2020, consultant to External Products and Services (PEC) of the Inter-American Development Bank from March to August 2020, Independent Director of Turmalina Metals Corp. during 2019 and 2020.  He also served as Vice Minister of Mines from May 2018 to April 2019 and as Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Development of Gold Fields La Cima SA from April 2012 to September 2017.

Mr. Inchaustegui has more than 26 years of experience in the mining sector, during which he worked with several important mining companies (Barrick, Volcan Compañía Minera, Lumina Copper and Gold Fields La Cima).  Mr. Inchaustegui was also a member of the cabinet of advisers to the Prime Minister in 2002 and professor of Royal Rights at the Women's University of the Sacred Heart (UNIFE).


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Christine Nicolau

Director

Ms. Nicolau is the General Manager of Metals, Latin America, for Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. ("Fortescue").  Ms. Nicolau is responsible for Fortescue’s South American minerals business including exploration, project development and other growth activities. 

Ms. Nicolau has been with Fortescue for over 10 years.  During this time, Ms. Nicolau has held a range of management positions across Australia and South America.  Ms. Nicolau is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 


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Steven Latimer, MBA, HBA, CFA

Director

Mr. Latimer is Managing Director and Head of the Americas for London-based Bacchus Capital Advisers, an independent investment banking boutique with a particular expertise in the natural resources sector. Mr. Latimer has over 30 years of experience as a leading global M&A adviser and has led numerous financings for mining companies, with a focus on both operating and development copper companies operating in the Americas.

Mr. Latimer has previously acted as Managing Director and Head of Canadian Investment Banking for Jefferies and served as Director and President of Jefferies Securities, Inc.  Prior to Jefferies, Mr. Latimer was Head of Credit Suisse's Canadian Metals and Mining Investment Banking practice.

Mr. Latimer is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors Director Designation (ICD.D), received his MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and his HBA from The University of Western Ontario.  In addition, Mr. Latimer is a CFA Charterholder.


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Andrew Hamilton, B. Eng. (Mech)

Director

Mr. Andrew Hamilton is Technical Director of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (“Fortescue”) with the Corporate Strategy Team. He is a Mechanical Engineer, BEng. (Mech) from the University of South Australia while also being a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. His current role also includes managing and reviewing critical metals project opportunities. Over his career, Mr. Hamilton has spent significant time in senior management and directorship roles, providing expertise in engineering, constructing, commissioning and ‘business delivery’ services to mining, building infrastructure and fleet management.

Mr. Hamilton joined Fortescue Metals in early 2008 to complete, commission and ramp up Fortescue’s first operational Cloudbreak mine, and later delivery of the site’s wet beneficiation and power station upgrades. Prior to this, Mr. Hamilton held Project Management and delivery roles at Project Magnet, South Australia, and managed the design of the African Minerals three stage Haematite & Magnetite development, delivering the first stage in West Africa.

In 2011 Mr. Hamilton managed the delivery of the Wet Front End modifications to the Cloudbreak processing plant, followed by technical and design input to Christmas Creek processing operations. In late 2013, Mr. Hamilton commenced work on the Iron Bridge project leading to design, construction, commissioning, and delivery of the full-scale Stage 1 developmental plant within a 15-month period. Upon successful operation of Stage 1, Mr. Hamilton managed and delivered the Investment Decision report to the Fortescue Board in 2019, culminating in approval of the 22mtpa Iron Bridge Magnetite JV (“IBJV”) Project. Mr. Hamilton held various roles on the US$3.9bn IBJV project including Project Director and Technical Director.


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