REG - Horizonte Minerals - BOARD AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Horizonte MineralsAnnouncement

27/11/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 6732U  Horizonte Minerals PLC  27 November 2023

NEWS
RELEASE

27 November 2023

 

BOARD AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES

 

Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM/TSX: HZM) ("Horizonte" or the "Company") the
nickel development company, announces the following changes to its board of
directors (the "Board") and senior leadership team. These changes have been
made as the Company advances discussions for a financing solution for its
flagship Araguaia Nickel Project ("Araguaia" or "the Project") and the
completion of construction of the Project.

 

Jeremy Martin, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Company ("CEO")
will step down as  CEO and as a member of the Company's Board alongside Simon
Retter, Chief Financial Officer of the Company who will step down as CFO and
as a member of the Company's Board. In addition, in accordance with best
practice corporate governance William Fisher, Non-Executive Interim Chair and
Owen Bavinton, Non-Executive Director, will step down from the Company's Board
having served as directors since 2011 and 2012 respectively. These director
and officer changes are effective today with all departing directors and
officers agreeing to assist the Board with an orderly handover.

 

Jeremy is a founding director of Horizonte and has led the business as CEO
since 2010. Under his leadership, Horizonte discovered, acquired and
consolidated its interests in the Company's two tier-one nickel assets in
Brazil. Jeremy oversaw the development of these assets and took Araguaia from
a greenfield project through the feasibility stage and onto construction. The
Board is appreciative of his significant contribution to the Company.

 

New Management and Board Appointments

 

The Company is pleased to announce the following proposed appointments
(subject to receipt of the usual director certifications where applicable in
accordance with the AIM Rules) with further proposed Board directors expected
to be announced in the coming weeks.

 

Appointment of interim Chief Executive Officer:

The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Karim Nasr as interim CEO
and his proposed appointment as a Board director. Mr. Nasr will lead the
financing and restructuring process and will work with the Board to appoint a
new senior leadership team.

 

Mr. Nasr is Managing Partner and Co-Chief Investment Officer of La Mancha
Resource Capital LLP ("La Mancha"), which advises La Mancha Resource Fund
SCSp, one of the Company's major shareholders. Mr. Nasr has over 25 years of
experience in corporate finance and investments, including experience of
restructurings in Brazil. Mr. Nasr will step down from his day-to-day
executive role within La Mancha to devote himself to Horizonte and put in
place a financing plan to restart construction.

 

Proposed appointment of Paul Smith as Non-Executive Director and Chair:

Mr. Smith is a corporate finance professional and senior board member with
extensive experience in driving industry-leading performance at natural
resource focused companies.  Upon his appointment taking effect, Mr. Smith
will act as the Chair of the Board.  Pending such appointment taking effect,
Non-Executive Director, Vincent Benoit has agreed to act as interim Chair.

 

Appointment of interim Chief Operating Officer ("COO"):

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Maryse Bélanger as
interim COO in a non-board capacity. Ms. Bélanger was recently Chair of
IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG) (NYSE: IAG). Ms. Bélanger has been a
consultant to the Company in recent months. Ms. Bélanger has more than 30
years of experience in the global mining sector with proven strengths in
operational excellence and turnaround, technical services and organizational
efficiency, including in Brazil.

 

The proposed new Board appointments of Karim Nasr and Paul Smith are subject
to the standard AIM director due diligence procedure. Once completed, these
appointments will become effective with a further announcement to be released
in due course.  Mr. Nasr will act as interim CEO in a non-board capacity with
immediate effect.

 

Non-Executive Director John MacKenzie commented, "Firstly, we would like to
thank Jeremy for his leadership and contributions to the Company. Jeremy was a
founding director of Horizonte and has led the Company since 2010. We are
grateful for his dedication to the business and wish him well for the future.

 

I would also like to thank Simon Retter, William Fisher and Owen Bavinton, who
are also stepping down today as part of a restructuring of the senior
leadership team, for their contribution to the evolution and growth of the
business.

 

I am pleased to welcome Karim Nasr as interim Chief Executive Officer. Karim
is a highly respected senior leader and it is a credit to Horizonte as a group
that we are able to call on someone of his calibre. The Board is grateful that
Karim has agreed to lead the Company through this financing and restructuring
process.

 

I am also very pleased to welcome Paul Smith to our Board, which he will chair
after the usual  onboarding procedures are completed."

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
EU Regulation 596/2014, as retained in the UK pursuant to the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018.

 

 

For further information, visit www.horizonteminerals.com
(http://www.horizonteminerals.com) or contact:

 

 Horizonte Minerals plc                                                     info@horizonteminerals.com (mailto:info@horizonteminerals.com)

 Patrick Chambers (Head of IR)                                              +44 (0) 203 356 2901

 Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)                           +44 (0)20 7418 8900

 Ross Allister

 David McKeown

 Bhavesh Patel

 BMO (Joint Broker)                                                         +44 (0) 20 7236 1010

 Thomas Rider

 Pascal Lussier Duquette

 Andrew Cameron

 Barclays (Joint Broker)                                                    +44 (0)20 7623 2323

 Philip Lindop

 Richard Bassingthwaighte

 Tavistock (Financial PR)                                                   +44 (0) 20 7920 3150

 Jos Simson

 Cath Drummond

 

 

ABOUT HORIZONTE MINERALS

Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM/TSX: HZM) is developing two 100%-owned, Tier 1
projects in Pará state, Brazil - the Araguaia Nickel Project and the Vermelho
Nickel-Cobalt Project. Both projects are high-grade, low-cost, with low carbon
emission intensities and are scalable. Araguaia is under construction and when
fully ramped up with both Line 1 and Line 2, is forecast to produce 29,000
tonnes of nickel per year. Vermelho is at feasibility study stage. Horizonte's
combined production profile of over 60,000 tonnes of nickel per year positions
the Company as a globally significant nickel producer. Horizonte's top three
shareholders are La Mancha Investments S.à r.l., Glencore Plc and Orion Mine
Finance.

 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain
information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking
information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
information includes, but is not limited to, the ability of the Company to
complete any planned acquisition of equipment, statements with respect to the
potential of the Company's current or future property mineral projects; the
ability of the Company to complete a positive feasibility study regarding the
second RKEF line at Araguaia on time, or at all, the ability of the Company to
complete a positive feasibility study regarding the Vermelho Project on time,
or at all, the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing
of future exploration, production and development; the costs and timing for
delivery of the equipment to be purchased, the estimation of mineral resources
and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of
growing its mineral resources; the realization of mineral resource and reserve
estimates and achieving production in accordance with the Company's potential
production profile or at all. Generally, forward-looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate",
or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that
certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will
be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on
the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management
made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current
conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management
believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that
such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information,
including but not limited to risks related to: the inability of the Company to
complete any planned acquisition of equipment on time or at all, the ability
of the Company to complete a positive feasibility study regarding the
implementation of a second RKEF line at Araguaia on the timeline contemplated
or at all, the ability of the Company to complete a positive feasibility study
regarding the Vermelho Project on the timeline contemplated or at all,
exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater
capital; the Company's lack of experience with respect to development-stage
mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks;
environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other
licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential disputes with
respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining concessions;
the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the
future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with third parties; the
Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political
or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency
exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to manage its growth effectively;
the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with
respect to the Company's plans to continue to develop its operations and new
projects; the Company's dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of
interest of directors and officers of the Company, and various risks
associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company
operates, together with the risks identified and disclosed in the Company's
disclosure record available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com, including without limitation, the annual information form of
the Company for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the Araguaia and
Vermelho Technical Reports available on the Company's website
https://horizonteminerals.com/. Although management of the Company has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there
may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from
those anticipated in such statements.

 

Proposed new Board Directors:

Karim Nasr

Karim is Managing Partner and Co-Chief Investment Officer of La Mancha
Resource Capital LLP ("La Mancha"), which advises La Mancha Resource Fund
SCSp, one of the Company's major shareholders. Karim has over 25 years of
experience in corporate finance and investments. He joined La Mancha in 2018
as CFO and became Managing Partner & co-CIO in 2019. From 2011 to 2017, he
was CEO of Digital World Capital LLP, an alternative asset manager managing
the Cross Comms fund, a long/short equity & credit fund investing in
Telecom & Media securities, and advised clients on special situation
investments. From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Nasr was a member of the Executive and
Investment Committee, Audit & Risk Committee, and Remuneration &
Nomination Committee of Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom, in charge of
Corporate Finance, raising US$68bn in capital and closing US$67bn in M&A
transactions. In particular, he led the 2011 US$25bn merger with VEON, the
2005 US$17bn Wind Telecom Leveraged Buy-Out and managed the 2009 EUR3.8bn debt
restructuring of Wind Hellas in Greece.

 

Mr. Nasr also serves on the board of Elemental Altus Royalties Corp
(TSX-V:ELE) (AIM:ALS) and G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:GMIN). He holds a
Master's in Management from the University of Paris IX. He is fluent in
English, Arabic and French

 

Paul Smith

Paul Smith is a corporate finance professional and senior board member with
extensive experience of driving industry-leading performance at natural
resource focused companies. Mr. Smith is a co-founder of Voltaire Minerals
Partners, which provides innovative solutions to the critical minerals supply
chain, and is also a Non-Executive Director at Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL), a global
offshore drilling business for the oil and gas industry, Echion Technologies,
the world's leading supplier of niobium-based anode materials and Bunker Hill
Mining Corp TSXV:BNKR. He was until recently Executive Chairman at Trident
Royalties (LON:TRR), a mining royalty business.

 

Mr. Smith worked for Glencore plc ("Glencore") from 2011 to 2020 where, as
Head of Strategy, his principal areas of focus were capital markets, M&A
and capital allocation. During this period, Glencore successfully completed
numerous large scale corporate and capital markets transactions, most notably
a US$90 billion merger with Xstrata Plc.

 

He was also the CFO of Katanga Mining Limited, Glencore's TSX-listed and
DRC-based subsidiary from 2019 until its de-listing in 2020. He represented
Glencore as a non-executive director of Lonmin plc and Glencore Agriculture
Ltd, and chaired Glencore Technology from 2013-2015.

 

Prior to Glencore, Mr. Smith was an analyst and fund manager at Marshall Wace
Asset Management, where he focused on cyclical sectors, including mining. He
qualified as a Chartered Accountant and has an MA in Modern History from
Oxford University.

 

 

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