Board of Directors

Mr Johnston is recognised as one of Australia’s leading mining executives and Board Directors, with more than 35 years of operational and project development experience.

Prior to joining Jervois, Mr Johnston was Interim Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Tronox Limited (“Tronox”), a NYSE-listed titanium dioxide feedstock and processing business; he remains a Non-Executive Director of the company.

Mr Johnston was Head of Global Nickel Assets for Glencore International AG (“Glencore”) from 2013 to 2015.  During this period, he was responsible for all of Glencore’s nickel-cobalt mine and processing facilities operations across Australia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, New Caledonia and Norway, as well as its undeveloped nickel-cobalt project in Tanzania.  He was a member of the Glencore Executive Management Committee.  From 2001 to 2013, Mr Johnston was Managing Director and CEO of Minara Resources Limited (“Minara”), listed on the ASX and a subsidiary of Glencore from 2005 until late 2011 when Glencore delisted it.

Mr Johnston previously held leadership positions as Executive General Manager of WMC’s Nickel and Gold divisions, Olympic Dam operations, the Queensland Fertilizers business and the WMC corporate human resources function.  He has held senior executive roles with Alcoa of Australia Limited.

Mr Johnston was previously Chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia, Chairman of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, Vice President of the Australian Mines and Metals Association and President of the Nickel Institute, the senior industry body in the global nickel sector.

Mr Johnston is also a Director of NRW Holdings.  Prior Directorships include Minara, Silver Lake Resources Limited, Emeco Holdings Ltd and Central Norseman Gold Corporation Ltd.

Mr Crocker is a seasoned mining and natural resources executive with significant experience in base metals including cobalt. Mr Crocker joined Xstrata plc shortly after its IPO in mid 2002, was based in London in business development roles until 2006, upon when he transitioned to Canada following the acquisition of Falconbridge and establishment of Xstrata Nickel headquarters in Toronto. His past nickel/cobalt roles at Xstrata plc’s nickel division include VP and Head Strategy, Marketing and Research, and GM and Head Business Development. Mr Crocker was a Director on the Xstrata Nickel Board, an Xstrata nominee Director to the Nickel Institute Board (global body representing the industry) and an Xstrata nominee to the Kabanga Shareholder Advisory Committee.

Following the sale of Xstrata to Glencore in 2013, Mr Crocker was based in Latin America focused on natural resource investments in the region. Mr Crocker holds an LLB (Honours) and BSc from the University of Melbourne and a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Australian Securities Institute.

Mr Kennedy has more than 35 years’ experience in construction and mining sectors with clients across coal, iron ore, nickel, cobalt, gold and fertilizers, both in Australia and overseas. During his career Mr Kennedy has managed large scale mining operations such as Kambalda and Mt Keith on behalf of WMC Resources, and Murrin Murrin for Glencore. Mr Kennedy has extensive experience in nickel/cobalt/base metal project startups in both construction and transition to operations.

Specific roles include Project Manager for Albidon at Munali nickel mine in Zambia, GM Dikulushi copper mine for Anvil Mining Ltd in DRC, Project Technical Manager for Vale Inco at Goro New Caledonia, Snr VP AngloGold Ashanti DRC, Director Kabali Gold Mines and Director Kabali SPRL DRC. Mr Kennedy was a founding shareholder and Director of Reliance Mining, before its takeover by Consolidated Minerals, and a founding shareholder and non-executive Director of Silver Lake Resources.

Mr Callahan is the previous Chief Executive Officer of eCobalt and an Idaho native. Mr. Callahan joined eCobalt in October 2018; prior to this, whilst an executive at Hecla Mining, he established and led numerous sizeable operations in North America and internationally.

Mr Issroff was a founding Partner with Glencore International AG, having joined Glencore South Africa in 1989. In 1992, he transferred to Glencore’s head office in Switzerland with responsibility for the marketing of ferroalloys (including nickel and cobalt). In 1997, he was appointed Head of the Ferroalloys Division at Glencore International AG, where he was responsible for the global Ferroalloys (including ferrochrome, manganese alloys, ferrosilicon and vanadium), Nickel and Cobalt Divisions of one of the world’s largest suppliers of a wide range of commodities to industrial consumers. Mr Issroff was also responsible for asset oversight within the division he operated and has extensive experience in optimizing operating assets with a trading element.

In his capacity with Glencore, Mr Issroff served as a Non-Executive Director of investment companies across South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In May 2000, Mr Issroff  joined the Board of Xstrata AG, and was subsequently appointed to the Board of Xstrata plc in February 2002 at the time of the London Initial Public Offering . Mr Issroff left Glencore and the Xstrata plc Board in 2006 for personal reasons to relocate to the United States, where he remains based today. Mr Issroff is principal at New York-based City Hall Capital LLC and has extensive experience across a wide range of asset classes and is actively involved leading the investment team at City Hall Capital.

Mr Issroff serves on the Boards of various portfolio investment companies, and several non-profit organisations.

Dr Chimisso dos Santos is a leading global mining and sustainability expert with significant international experience, including in Brazil, where she is based part-time. Dr. Chimisso dos Santos’ varied experience encompasses industry, government and non-governmental organisations.

Dr. Chimisso dos Santos has recently joined Cescon Barrieu, a full-service premier Brazilian law firm, as Of Counsel. Her previous roles have focused on ESG, primarily for the Canadian government. She is on the Board of Directors of Transparency International – Canada, and is on the United Nations’ Development Programme – Extractive Resource Expert Roster, as well as an appointed member to ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR Task Force on Addressing Issues of International Corruption in International Arbitration, representing ICC Canada.

Previously, Dr. Chimisso dos Santos was a national researcher for Mining for Sustainable Development in Canada and is a former appointed Member, Administrative Tribunals of British Columbia — Environmental Appeal Board, Forest Appeals Commission, and the Oil and Gas Appeal Tribunal.

Between 2007 and 2013, Dr. Chimisso dos Santos was a senior executive at Vale, where her last role was Deputy General Counsel, Business Development & International, leading a team of more than 45 lawyers in M&A, finance, corporate and exploration. During this time, she was based across both Vale Canada in Toronto and in the Vale head office in Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Chimisso dos Santos was a member of Vale’s Gender Equity Program Validation Committee and advised the Vale Board including its Risk Committee.

Previously, Dr. Chimisso dos Santos was employed by Hatch in Canada and spent five years with Shell in both Canada and Brazil. Prior to this she was a lawyer with Baker & McKenzie in Rio de Janeiro, and McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto.

Dr. Chimisso dos Santos holds a Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of Toronto; a Master of Laws in Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law from the University of Calgary; and a Bachelor of Laws from York University, in each case in Canada; and a Bachelor of Arts from the American University of Rome, in Italy.

Dr. Chimisso dos Santos is a global authority, academic author, lecturer and presenter on environmental sentencing, ESG, anti-corruption, business and human rights, extractive industries, responsible investment, sovereign debt and mine closures. She is fluent in five languages and admitted to the Ontario and Alberta Bars in Canada.