South Star Battery Metals Corp. (TSX-V:STS, OTCQB:STSBF) revealed that it has hired key team members for the Phase 1 construction and subsequent operations of its bellwether Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based battery metals project developer has appointed Julio Jose Da Silva as the General Mine Manager, Marcia Cota as the Controller and Finance Manager, Antonio de Assis as the Sales and Marketing Director, Marcelo Castro as the Construction Project Manager and Luciano Lazaro as Supply Chain/Procurement Manager.
Da Silva, who has been hired as the General Mine Manager, is a mechanical engineer and project manager with over 22 years of experience in the mining and mineral resource sector in Brazil. His expertise includes operations, maintenance, engineering, construction, open-pit mining, metallurgy, mine start-up, inventory controls, security, logistics and the general operations of mine management. He has held senior positions at Mineracao Morro Verde, Luna/Trek/Equinox Gold, Yamana, and Aura Minerals. He has mechanical engineering and project management degrees and is a native Portuguese speaker with intermediate English.
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Cota, who will control the purse strings, has over 20 years of experience in treasury, finance, data analysis, tax, audits, cash flow management, logistics, budgeting and forecasting. She has held several senior positions in Brazil and overseas with Net Brasil, W Torre, Genea Angola, Locar Guindastes e Transportes, and Mineracao Morro Verde. She has an MBA and specialization in Advanced Finance Analysis. She is a native speaker of Portuguese and fluent in English.
Antonio de Assis, who will look after sales and marketing has 30 years of experience, especially in the natural flake and synthetic graphite markets. He has held senior sales, marketing and business development positions with Syrah Resources, Nacional de Grafite, Technografit GmbH and Grupo Unimetal. He has degrees in Business Administration as well as Marketing and is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
Castro, the new project manager, is a mechanical engineer with 25 years of engineering, design, construction, and project management experience, mostly in the mining and mineral resource space in Brazil. He has been involved with large construction projects and overseen big teams. He has held senior positions with Lyon Engineering, Beadell, Luna/Trek, and Ausenco. He has degrees in mechanical engineering, business administration for engineers, and workplace safety engineering. He is a native Portuguese speaker and is fluent in English.
Lazaro, the new procurement manager, has over 30 years of experience with supply chain, procurement, logistics, contracts and planning, and controls. He has worked with Vale, Ericsson Telecommunications, Brazilian Pipeline Carriers, Anglo Ferrous, Aura Minerals, Ferrous Resources, Luna/Trek/Equinox, and Mineracao Morro Verde. He has degrees in Economic Sciences, Urban and Regional Planning as well as Project Management. He is fluent in Portuguese and English.
"We are excited and fortunate to have these talented key members on board at a critical time for the future success of South Star and the Santa Cruz Graphite Mine as we move from development into production," South Star President Richard Pearce said in a statement. "I have personally known Julio, Marcelo, Marcia and Luciano for many years and had the privilege to work together on the construction and subsequent operations of a couple different projects over the years. Antonio is a fantastic new addition to the team and key to us getting our products introduced into the marketplace.”
The new team has its work cut out to build the new mine and to make it the first new graphite mine put into production in the Americas in over a decade.
“We now have the core nucleus of a talented team in place to be very successful at getting Phase 1 built and into operations,” said Pearce. “Construction and operations bring a new challenge every day, and I am proud to have very capable people."
South Star Battery Metals is focused on the acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. The Santa Cruz Graphite project, in southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of battery metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with over 80 years of continuous mining.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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