Skills, experience, and contribution

Sandy has over 35 years of international executive and non-executive board experience. Her professional career spans top leadership positions in general management, ESG, major projects, commercial negotiations, engineering and operations, supply chain management, HSE, and external affairs in both the energy and hard rock mining industries.  A petroleum engineer by training, Sandy was one of the first women to work as a drilling engineer at locations across North America.

Board committees

Sandy chairs the Board’s ESG Committee and is a member of the Board’s Technical and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Sandy is a non-executive director EVRAZ plc, Diversified Gas & Oil plc; Trans Mountain Company, a Canadian Crown Corporation, and of Lucid Energy, a PE-backed, diversified energy company.  Sandy is also a member of the board of governors of the Colorado School of Mines and serves in an advisory capacity and as a director for several not-for profits and privately-held, community firms.

Mr. Henze has more than 10 years of mining investment, M&A, corporate and project finance expertise in the metals and mining sector, gained in corporate roles, private equity and investment banking. He was previously Investment Manager of Swiss based Fusion Capital AG where he played a major role in the management and sale of Lynx Resources Ltd. for USD 403m, a JV with Orion Mine Finance and led all investment activity for the Fund. Prior to that, he was responsible for the London based origination of natural resources financing & advisory at UniCredit Bank AG within the corporate & investment banking arm of the group completing transactions from USD 20m to USD 750m. Mr Henze holds a M.Sc. In Finance & Economics from Technical University GSO Nuremberg and University Malaya Kuala Lumpur.

Mr. Pilipenko’s experience involves working for the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation during 7 years, as well as for the Russian largest enterprises like Rusal and InterRAO. Vyacheslav was directly involved in a number of GR projects for Russian and international companies, including development of GR strategies. Mr. Pilipenko was responsible for maintaining effective interaction with state authorities and political organizations and has organized public lobbying of the interests of companies and access to the desired levels of government in Central Asia. Vyacheslav has successfully prevented and settled undesired consequences of hostile actions of competitors or authorities. Mr. Pilipenko has built strong working relations with representatives of state authorities of the Russian Federation (at the level of Governors and deputy governors) and in the former Soviet Union (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan – at the level of the Presidents, the Prime Ministers and the Ministers), and secured favorable regime of operations in supervisory and tax regulatory bodies.

20 years of operations management and engineering experience, including leadership roles and oversight of open pit, underground mining and ore processing operations. Previous experience with Freeport McMoRan, Zangezur CMC and Dundee Precious Metals (Kapan).

20 years of experience in both greenfield and brownfield project development. Formerly a senior project team member during construction of Amulsar Gold Mine in Armenia. Previous experience in original mine construction at the Çöpler mine and subsequent plant and heap leach expansion projects.

• Over 30 years of experience in greenfield, brownfield exploration and development projects
• Former VP Exploration of Euromax Resources with a major role in target generation, exploration and development of variety of projects in SE Europe as Ilovica porphyry copper-gold, KMC scarn gold-copper, Trun IRG gold, Breznik epithermal gold-silver, Babyak IRG gold-silver
• Previously extensive exploration management experience with companies as Royal Gold Inc, Phelps Dodge, Silver & Baryte in SE Europe, Caucuses and Russian far east
• Recently providing principal consultancy for Eldorado Gold, Assarel, Teck Cominco, Tara Resources

Mr Cooper joined Chaarat with more than 30 years’ experience in the metals and mining industry spanning operations, projects, restructuring and culture change. Immediately prior to joining Chaarat, Darin was Head of Mining at Fusion Capital, a Swiss investment firm, where he was responsible for due diligence of potential projects, assessment of early stage exploration projects, and development of capital and operating plans for proven development assets. Darin held senior roles at Nyrstar, the global multi-metals business, from 2012-2017, latterly as Vice President, Zinc Smelting. He has also served as COO of Talvivaara Mining Company (Finland) where he worked with the Finnish government, creditors and investors to secure financing options during their restructuring. Darin started his career at the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation. He obtained a BEng in Metallurgy from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and an MBA from the Open University Business School, Great Britain.

Skills, experience, and contribution

A qualified lawyer and chartered accountant by background with over 20 years’ experience in senior positions in the mining sector, Hussein brings to Chaarat a wealth of experience in accounting, internal control, governance, risk management, and compliance.  Hussein has significant FTSE-50 senior executive experience, gained over 15 years as UK-based CFO at Antofagasta plc, where he led its UK presence through a period of change and growth as the UK-based chief financial officer.  He has also had earlier careers in professional services and academia.

Board committees

Hussein chairs the Board’s Audit Committee and is a member of its Remuneration and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Hussein is an independent non-executive director and the audit chair of Atalaya Mining plc.  He is also a principal at Barma Advisory where he has worked on various assignments within the natural resources and other sectors.  He is a governor of the University of the Arts London.

Skills, experience, and contribution

A civil engineer with over 45 years’ experience in gold mining, Bob brings invaluable technical knowledge to Chaarat.  During his 45-year career, Bob has taken three greenfield gold developments into production, including Alacer Gold Corp.’s Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey, which has produced over one million ounces as one of the lowest cost producers in the world. 

Board committees

Bob chairs the Board’s Technical Committee and is a member of its ESG and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Bob is a Director of Powderhouse Gulch LLC (Colorado).

Skills, experience, and contribution

A mining engineer by training, Warren was Chairman and CEO of CEF Holdings Ltd, a mining focused investment company jointly owned by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from 2011 to 2019. He co-and founded CIBC’s Global Mining Group in 1988 and during his 25 years at CIBC, he ran the mining investment banking teams in Canada, Australia, and Asia, serving as managing director and head of the Asia Pacific region for 10 years, and latterly as vice chairman for CIBC World Markets.  He has acted as advisor to the largest mining companies in the world including BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Noranda, Falconbridge, Meridian Gold, China Minmetals, Jinchuan, and Zijin and was responsible for some of the largest equity capital markets financings in Canadian mining history.

Board committees

Warren is a member of Board’s Audit, Remuneration, and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Warren founded Queen’s Road Central Capital Ltd, where he is Chairman and CEO.  He is also a board member of NYSE/TSX-listed NexGen Energy Ltd, a uranium exploration and development company, and private mining company, Niobec Inc, which jointly owns the niobium mine in Canada.

Skills, experience, and contribution

A mining engineer with a degree from the Camborne School of Mines, Robert is the former chairman of Global Mining at Renaissance Capital and has also worked for HSBC and the Royal Bank of Canada.  He has worked in the natural resources industry for 28 years primarily in frontier and emerging markets, advising the managements of numerous companies on a range of industrial issues.  Robert brings to Chaarat his deep sector knowledge of the FSU mining sector.  Robert has played a central role in multiple IPOs, capital raisings and M&A transactions and is a well-known figure across the global mining investor base.

Board committees

Robert chairs the Board’s Remuneration Committee and is a member of its ESG, Technical, and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Robert is currently an independent non-executive director and a member of the corporate governance, remuneration, and audit committees of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel and an adviser to several private natural resource companies.

Skills, experience, and contribution

A geologist by training, Gordon has more than 45 years’ experience in the mining industry and directly relevant experience of growing companies from exploration to production.  During his eight years as a member of AngloGold Ashanti’s senior management team, Gordon was responsible for their global exploration programme, part of which included moving into new prospective, higher risk, geographical regions.  Gordon has been a non-executive director of numerous junior exploration companies operating globally since leaving AngloGold Ashanti.  He was previously the chairman of Lydian International which was constructing a mine at the Amulsar open pit, heap leach, gold project in Armenia.

Board committees

Gordon is a member of ESG, Technical, Audit and Nominations Committees.

External commitments

Gordon is a director of Silverton Metals Corp., the TSX-listed silver exploration and development company.

Past roles
From 2003 to 2013 Artem was a key executive in the Russian aluminium and energy sectors, including CEO of En+ Group, Deputy CEO and Director for Corporate Strategy at UC RUSAL, and SVP Strategy at SUAL International. In 2009 and 2010 he also served as Chairman of the International Aluminium Institute. From 1997 to 2003, Artem was a management consultant and corporate finance advisor with Monitor Group in London. Artem also served as independent director of Norilsk Nickel in 2018-19.

Brings to the Board
Mr Volynets’ leadership drive to build Chaarat into a leading gold company in the FSU region. His hands-on experience in managing large mining businesses in the region, track record of M&A-led sector consolidation, combined with his local knowledge and network, together with global industry and investor connections, will be invaluable to the execution of Chaarat’s growth strategy.

Other commitments
Mr Volynets founded ACG Amur Capital Group Ltd which is an advisory and investment management firm in 2014.

Past roles
A graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics and HEC Paris, Martin worked in mergers and acquisitions at Booz Allen Hamilton and advised the Russian Government on its privatization programme. In 1993 he co-founded Brunswick Brokerage – a Moscow based investment bank that was later sold to UBS – initially holding the position of CEO and from 1999 as Chairman of the joint venture, Brunswick UBS Warburg. Between 2006 and 2013 he was a shareholder and served on the Board of Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), one of the largest thermal coal producers in Russia.

Brings to the Board
Mr Andersson first invested in Chaarat in 2011 and he intends (via Labro) to be a long term and supportive shareholder.

Mr Andersson chairs Chaarat’s Nominations Committee.

Other commitments
Mr Andersson manages an active portfolio with an interest in real estate, financial services and information technology.[:ru]Company’s largest shareholder and since becoming Chairman, has reset the strategy under a new management team. Co-founded Brunswick Brokerage – a Moscow based investment bank that was later sold to UBS …

Mr Eger has extensive financial, M&A and commercial expertise in the metals and mining sector, gained over a 20-year career in investment banking, metals trading and private equity. He was previously the chief financial officer of Nyrstar NV, where he played a major role in developing and implementing the Company’s transformation strategy in addition to strengthening the balance sheet. Prior to that, he was M&A director at Trafigura AG and a member of the investment banking group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he worked with metals and mining companies on debt and equity financing and M&A. He also worked as a director in the global metals and mining group at BMO.