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Chief Executive Officer

Shaun Usmar

Shaun Usmar joined Vale Base Metals in October, 2024, as CEO, focused on driving growth and unlocking the full value of the Vale Base Metals business. Shaun is an international mining executive with over 30 years of global experience in operational, financial, and executive leadership roles across some of the world’s largest mining companies. He has served in senior leadership roles at Barrick Gold, Xstrata, BHP Billiton, and most recently was the founder and CEO of Triple Flag Precious Metals, a role that he held for eight years. He has served as a director on several boards, including Peabody Energy, Triple Flag and the World Gold Council, and is currently a non-executive director of Alamos Gold. 
Since 2010, Shaun has worked as a senior volunteer with Make-A-Wish Canada and currently serves as the National Board Chair, driven by his passion for making a meaningful impact in the lives of children facing critical illnesses. 

Shaun holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Metallurgy and Materials from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Chief Operating Officer

Alfredo Santana

Alfredo Santana joined the Vale Base Metal’s North Atlantic Operations team in February 2022 as Chief Operating Officer overseeing mining operations in Canada, UK and Japan which includes seven underground mines, three mills, one smelter and five refineries. Alfredo began his career at Vale in 2005 as a trainee and has since held a variety of roles. Prior to joining the North Atlantic team, he held the role of COO of Vale’s Base Metals South Atlantic Operations. He also served as Head of the largest iron ore pelletizing complex in the world and Head of Railroad EFVM, both located in Vitória, Brazil, as well as CEO of Nacala Operations in Mozambique.​
Alfredo holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Fundação Dom Cabral, a post-graduate in Railway Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais as well as a Civil Engineering degree from the Federal University of Viçosa.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Human Resources Officer 

Nara Sousa

Nara Sousa is interim Chief Human Resources Officer responsible for managing all aspects of human resources for Vale Base Metals including strategy, culture, talent management, and compensation. She joined the company in 2015 and served as Head of Total Rewards & HR Solutions and Head of Global Organizational Design & Effectiveness prior to taking on her current role. 
Nara has nearly 20 years of human resources management experience. Prior to joining Vale Base Metals, she worked as a Senior Associate at Mercer and as a Human Resources Business Partner at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. Nara holds an Executive MBA in Program Leadership Development from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sao Paulo.   

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Technical Officer

Christopher McCleave

Christopher McCleave is Chief Technical Officer responsible for driving the extraction and asset management strategy for Vale Base Metals as well as the company’s low-carbon and circular mining agenda. Anglo American, based in South Africa. He joined Anglo American in January 2021, and was then seconded from Anglo American’s Technical and Sustainability function to the role of Executive Head of Technical and Operational Excellence at Anglo American Platinum. Prior to that he worked for Glencore and Rio Tinto.
Christopher graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Mining at the University of South Australia in 2001. He further augmented his qualification with an MBA from Deakin University in 2010, Australia, and an International Masters for Practicing Managers at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Canada, in 2018.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Technology Officer

Luke Mahoney

Luke Mahony is the Chief Technical Officer (interim), Vale’s Global Base Metals. Prior to this role Luke was the Head of Technology & Innovation including leading the Low Carbon Agenda for Vale Base Metals. Prior moving to Canada in 2019, Luke was the Technical Executive for Vale’s Coal Business based in Mozambique for 5 years leading the Exploration, Planning and Engineering group.
Prior to working for Vale, he worked 10 years for BHP in various managerial roles covering technical, operational and financial leadership positions. Luke holds three Masters’ Degrees in Mining Engineering, Geomechanics and Finance, a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining Engineering plus other Executive and Technical statutory qualifications​.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Commercial Officer

Tina Gauthier

Tina Gauthier is the Chief Commercial Officer of Vale Base Metals.  Tina joined Vale in 2021 as the Head of Nickel Sales West, overseeing the team and commercial relationships for nickel and cobalt sales across Europe, the Americas, India, and the Middle East. 
Before joining Vale, Tina was Vice-President of Sales & Marketing at Sherritt International Corporation, where she led the global strategy for sales of nickel, cobalt, fertilizers, and sulfuric acid. 
 
Tina has also served as Vice Chairperson of the Board of the Cobalt Institute and was the first female Chairperson for the Board of Directors of the Nickel Institute. She currently chairs the Nickel Committee of the London Metal Exchange and represents Vale on the Executive Committee of the Nickel Institute and the Board of Directors of the International Copper Association. 

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Human Resources Officer​

Sebastian Garside

Sebastian is a versatile Senior HR Executive and Business Partner with considerable senior management experience across oil and gas, mining, engineering, and professional services industries. He recently joined Vale, bringing the solid business acumen and pragmatic thinking needed to drive the success and culture of global organizations.
Sebastian is skilled in developing, implementing and managing worldwide human capital programs, talent operations and people strategies to deliver key resourcing needs across geographical, legal and cultural boundaries​.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer

Emily Olson

Emily Olson is Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer of Vale Base Metals. Previously, she worked as Vice-President, Global Strategic Relations at Freeport-McMoRan, responsible for driving global strategic initiatives inclusive of governments, partners, and various external organizations.​
Prior to joining Freeport, Emily spent nearly 15 years with BP in both the US and London, most recently as Senior Vice President for Europe and Russia managing BP’s corporate interests across the regions. She has a degree in Political Science from Loyola University of Chicago and a Masters’ Degree in International Strategy & Diplomacy from the London School of Economics.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Legal and Governance Officer

Nils Engelstad

Nils Engelstad is Chief Legal and Governance Officer, responsible for Vale Base Metals’ global legal function and managing corporate governance services to the Vale Base Metals’ Board of Directors. Before joining VBM, he spent nearly a decade as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Alamos Gold, an intermediate gold producer listed on the TSX and NYSE. Prior to Alamos, he served as Vice President, General Counsel at McEwen Mining. Nils started his career in the Toronto office of a leading national business law firm. He has served on a number of charitable and junior exploration company boards.
 Nils holds a BA from the University of Toronto, an LLB from the University of Windsor, and graduate degrees in law and international relations from the University of Toronto and Queen Mary University of London, respectively. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.

Chief Legal & Governance Officer

Peter Brady

Peter joined Vale from McCarthy Tétrault where he was a partner and co-head of the firm’s National Environmental, Regulatory & Aboriginal Group. Before re-joining McCarthy Tétrault in 2014, Peter worked for several years in-house, as Deputy General Counsel for a multinational mining corporation. Having both external and in-house legal counsel experience has given Peter a client-centric perspective and the ability to analyze issues, weigh and balance risk and contribute to major business decisions. ​
Peter has advised and represented clients in all legal aspects of regulatory litigation, with a particular emphasis in mining law and environmental law. He has advised clients with regards to obtaining permits, environmental assessments, contaminated sites and, capital and resource project.

Photographer: Arindam Banerjee

Chief Financial Officer

Murilo Muller

Murilo Muller is Chief Financial Officer at Vale Base Metals, responsible for a wide range of strategic and operational functions that support the growth and sustainability of the organization, including Corporate FP&A, Capital Allocation, Accounting, Tax, Treasury, ERM, Procurement, and IT.
With more than 25 years of experience in finance and mining, he has held various leadership roles, including positions in accounting, performance, tax, and investment management. In 2013, Murilo joined Vale S.A., and served several different functions, including a short-term period as the Interim Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Vale S.A., Murilo spent 18 years as a partner at the global consulting and auditing firm PwC.
 
Murilo holds a degree in Accounting from the Federal University of Paraná and a degree in Business Administration from Universidade Positivo. He also served as member of the board of directors for MRS Logistica S.A., Fundação Renova, and California Steel Inc.

Photographer: Vale's Archive

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is responsible for defining the company’s general policies and guidelines, analyzing plans and projects proposed by the Executive Committee and evaluating results.​​
The board will meet ordinarily every month and extraordinarily whenever convened by its chairman, vice chairman or two other members. Its decisions require a quorum representing the majority of members and they are made by majority vote. ​
Emily Olson is Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer of Vale Base Metals. Previously, she worked as Vice-President, Global Strategic Relations at Freeport-McMoRan, responsible for driving global strategic initiatives inclusive of governments, partners, and various external organizations.​

Read about all our board members

Mark Cutifani is a Director and Executive Business Advisor after retiring from Anglo American plc. in April 2022. He has more than 46 years of experience in the mining industry in various parts of the world, covering a broad range of products. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti Limited. Before joining AngloGold Ashanti, Mr. Cutifani held senior executive positions with Inco and Vale, the Normandy Group, Sons of Gwalia, Western Mining Corporation, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines and CRA (Rio Tinto).  
Mr. Cutifani has a degree in Mining Engineering (with honors) from the University of Wollongong in Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in the United Kingdom. Mr. Cutifani received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wollongong in Australia in 2013 and an honorary doctorate from Laurentian University in Canada in 2016.

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Jerome Guillen spent his career in the automotive industry. At Tesla, he oversaw massive growth between 2010 and 2021. There, Jerome led various critical areas, such as engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, sales, service, and program management, culminating as president of Automotive. Prior, Jerome spent 8 years at Daimler, first leading the development of a new Class 8 truck for the North American market. He then created and led the Business Innovation department for the group.
Mr. Guillen has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and started his career at McKinsey & Co. A French citizen, he is a US permanent resident and lives in the Bay Area, where he is involved in various causes, including the board of the San Francisco Symphony.

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Gustavo Pimenta is Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations at Vale, He previously worked at AES, for three years as global CFO. In addition to his roles as CFO in Brazil and abroad, he has already taken on roles as Planning and Strategy Director and Vice President of Performance and Services of the same company. ​He led AES's global repositioning to a company focused on ESG and low carbon footprint and also participated in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives within the group.
Earlier in his career, he worked as an Auditor at KPMG for three years and subsequently took over as Vice President of Strategy and M&A at Citibank in New York. ​He also is a member of several Boards of Directors of companies such as AES Gener in Chile and AES Clean Energy in the USA, he holds a degree in Economics from Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and a Master's degree in Finance and Economics from Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).

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Mr. Manuel (Ollie) Oliveira graduated in Accounting and Business Economics in 1973 and earned a specialist degree in Theory of Accounting in 1975 from University of Natal-Durban, in South Africa. He also holds specialist degrees as Chartered Accountant and Chartered Management Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of South Africa and the U.K.’s Institute of Chartered Management Accountants, respectively.
An executive boasting more than 35 years’ experience in corporate finance and strategy, primarily in the mining industry, at companies like Anglo American and De Beers, including some experience in Brazil. A recognized independent board member, having served on several international boards in the manufacturing sector. He has experience in institutional relations, finance and mining.  

Since May 2021 he is an Independent Member of Vale’s Board of Directors, Chair of the Audit and Risks Committee, and Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee. Previously at Vale, he was the Chair of the Audit Committee, Member of the Nomination Committee, and Member of the People, Remuneration and Governance Committee.

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Robert (Bob) Wilt was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, in February 2022. Ma’aden is the largest mining company in the MENA region, with $11B in sales in 2022. It is the fastest growing mining company in the world over the last five years and is among the largest by market capitalization.
Mr. Wilt has over 30 years of executive and operational experience globally in metals and mining. He worked for Alcoa for 17 years, culminating in leading the entire upstream segment of the business as EVP and President of Global Primary Products. As such, he was responsible for the entire portfolio of mining, refining, smelting and energy businesses globally.

After Alcoa, he managed two aerospace and industrial metals companies for Precision Castparts, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. Most recently, he was CEO of Sofina Foods, one of Canada’s leading food manufacturers. 

Mr. Wilt is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point. He served as a combat engineer officer in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. Mr. Wilt has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

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Douglas Upton was a partner at The Capital Group, one of the world’s leading asset managers, from August 2004 to December 2022. He served as a specialist investor in the metals and mining industry and developed a deep understanding of all major mining companies, their markets, customers and key strategic challenges. A critical element of his work has been a focus on the structural and cyclical issues within the Chinese economy. More recently the energy transition has been an additional focus. 

Prior to The Capital Group he served as an analyst at JP Morgan Asset Management (1999-2004), also focused on the metals and mining industry. And prior to that he spent two years with HSBC Investment Bank as Head of Commodities Research. 

Before joining the finance industry he worked with Western Mining Corporation (1989-1997) in various financial, commercial, planning and business development functions. He also spent four years (1991-1995) working as a geophysicist with Hosking Geophysical. 

He has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics, and an MBA, both from the University of Western Australia. 

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Internal Rules

The Board of Directors has internal rules to govern its activities and relations between it and the company’s other entities.​