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Board Policy

The Board shall consist of representatives of IMnI Members. It shall comprise a minimum of five members and a maximum of fifteen. A single company shall not be entitled to more than one representative, who may be represented by another member of his company. The members are elected by the General Assembly for a two year term of office, after which time they are eligible for re-election. The Chairman of any Subdivision will automatically be named to the Board.

In case of vacancy, the Board is authorized to temporarily replace its members. The final replacement is elected by the next General Assembly.

The Board is presided by the Chairman of the Association or a member of the Executive Committee designated by the Chairman. The Board is authorized to manage and supervise the affairs of the Association. The Board shall meet whenever necessary, at the Chairman’s request or of that of at least two of its members.

Resolutions

Resolutions shall be adopted by a majority vote. At least one-third of the Members of the Board must be present in order to validate resolutions.

The Board shall be helped in its task by standing or temporary committees. The Board shall decide on the formation of all committees and shall appoint their Chairmen. In the case of standing committees, the chairman shall be appointed for a period of two years, after which time he may be re-appointed. In the case of temporary committees, the Chairman is appointed for the duration of the committee.

IMnI CHAIRMAN

Patrick Sacco

IMnI Chairman and Managing Director / Assore International Holdings

Patrick joined the Assore group in 2002 after his Master’s Degree at the University of Colorado (USA).
He was appointed a Director of Ore & Metal, the selling and Marketing agent for all of Assmang’s products, in 2007, and is currently its Chairman as well as the Group Marketing Director for Assore Limited. In addition, from 1st January 2019, Patrick was appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Assore Limited. Patrick was appointed as a director of Assmang in 2008 and Assore in 2016, and is on the board of Orsteel Proprietary Limited, the ultimate holding company of Assore. In 2016 Patrick was appointed as the Chairman of Cato Ridge Alloys Ltd, a 50% owned subsidiary of
Assmang Ltd, producing Medium Carbon Ferro Manganese. On 1st July 2020, Patrick was appointed as the Managing Director of Assore International Holdings, based in Winchester, United Kingdom. From January 2021 Patrick was appointed as the Chairman of MARA the REACH Manganese Consortium and has been Vice Chairman if the International Manganese Institute since July 2018.

ASSORE IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Supervisory Board
HSE

PATRICK SACCO

Assore

Patrick joined the Assore group in 2002 after his Master’s Degree at the University of Colorado (USA).

He was appointed a Director of Ore & Metal, the selling and Marketing agent for all of Assmang’s products, in 2007, and is currently its Chairman as well as the Group Marketing Director for Assore Limited. In addition, from 1st January 2019, Patrick was appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Assore Limited. Patrick was appointed as a director of Assmang in 2008 and Assore in 2016, and is on the board of Orsteel Proprietary Limited, the ultimate holding  company of Assore. In 2016 Patrick was appointed as the Chairman of Cato Ridge Alloys Ltd, a 50% owned subsidiary of Assmang Ltd, producing Medium Carbon Ferro Manganese. On 1st July 2020, Patrick was appointed as the Managing Director of Assore International Holdings, based in Winchester, United Kingdom. From January 2021 Patrick was appointed as the Chairman of MARA the REACH Manganese Consortium and has been Vice Chairman if the International Manganese Institute since July 2018.

Board Members

Paul Desportes

IMnI Vice-Chairman and Senior Vice-President Commercial / Eramet

Paul has a combined 30 years experience working at Eramet in the sales and marketing of raw materials for the steel industry. For the past 4 years, he has been in charge of the Commercial Department of the Mining & Metals Division covering all manganese, nickel and mineral sands products.

Branislav Klocok

IMnI Vice-Chairman and Managing Director / OFZ, a.s.

Branislav started to work for the Mn industry in 1999, when he first time joined OFZ. He worked his way through the marketing organization of the company and in 2006 he has joined Vale's Mn division. While in OFZ, he represented the company in several associations including IMnI.

In Vale, Branislav was responsible for global sales of Mn (more than two millions tons of Mn ore and half a million tons of Mn alloys) and also represented the company in IMnI as the chairman of the statistic's committees, member of M&C committee and also in the board of the association. In October 2012, Branislav rejoined OFZ as its Managing Director and is responsible for the strategy of the company. He also represents OFZ in IMnI.

Sergio Romero

IMnI Treasurer and Managing Director / Autlán EMD

Sergio Romero is Autlán EMD Managing Director. He joined Cegasa in 2001 after his Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at Mondragon Unibertsitatea. Sergio held a number of different positions within Cegasa in its different businesses: Zinc Air Alkaline batteries, Lithium batteries, EMD and Cogeneration plant. He is Energía Portátil Cogeneración Chairman since 2019, a Joint Venture with Iberdrola. In 2020, Cegasa’s EMD business was acquired by Autlán, were Sergio has followed heading the EMD business.

Esteban Rivero

Corporate Vice-President / Autlan

Esteban Rivero has been involved in the manganese industry for more than 10 years. He joined Mexican-based Autlan in 2003 and has been a Board Member ever since. Esteban has held a number of different positions within Autlan. Today, he is the Corporate Vice President of the company and is in charge of the Finance, Sales, IT, Energy and Strategic Planning departments.

Wang Ning

General Manager, Carbon Steel Alloys Department / China Minmetals Corporation

Mr. Lei FeiMs. Wang Ning joined China Minmetals Corporation in 2007, after getting Master degree of Business from University of New South Wales, Australia. With more than 10 years career in Ferroalloys Industry, Ms. Wang is highly experienced in the trading of metals and minerals. In her present role as General Manager of Carbon Steel Alloys Department, she is in charge of all the manganese ore and alloys business in China Minmetals. She has comprehensive understanding of China’s ferroalloys industry and market.

CHINA MINMETALS CORPORATION IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Supervisory Board

Marco Levi

CEO of Ferroglobe

Marco Levi was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company on January 13, 2020 and to our Board of Directors on January 15, 2020.

Dr Levi previously served as President and CEO of Alhstrom-Munksjö Oyj, a global fiber materials company listed in Finland, where he led a successful transformation of the business by refocusing its product portfolio towards value-added specialty products. Prior to that, Dr. Levi was Senior Vice President and Business President of the $3 billion emulsion polymers division of chemicals manufacturer Styron, including during the period in which Styron was acquired by Bain Capital from Dow Chemical Company. Dr. Levi previously had spent over twenty-two years at Dow in various departments and roles, ultimately serving as general manager of the emulsion polymers business.

Dr Levi is also a Non-Executive Director of Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc, the leading global performance materials company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Dr Levi holds a doctorate in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan, Statale, Italy.

David Danon

Trader / Glencore International AG

David is a Trader in Glencore’s Ferroalloy-Nickel division. He joined the group in 2012 and handles Manganese.

Ngee Tong Low

Executive Chairman / OM Holdings Company

Mr Low is a qualified Mechanical Engineer, having graduated from the National University of Singapore. He has over 37 years of experience in the steel and ferro related industries globally. That experience was gained with Chiyoda Limited, a global Japanese civil engineering group, Intraco Limited, Intraco Resources Pte Limited, and Itochu Corporation, a significant Japanese metals trading house. Mr Low has demonstrated an excellent network for marketing globally and in China particularly. He was the Chief Executive Officer of OMH since its incorporation and subsequent listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1998. In October 2008, Mr Low became the Executive Chairman of OMH. Mr Low’s outstanding business relationships and reputation with several large multinational corporations in Asia have enabled OMH to successfully establish operations based in Singapore and extending to China, Australia and Malaysia.

OM HOLDINGS COMPANY IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Supervisory Board

Augenija Di Bucci

Commercial Director, Mn Ore & Alloys / Omni

Augenija has extensive experience in Commodities Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining Omni, Augenija has worked for more than 16 years at global mining group BHP, managing sales and sustainable long term supply of natural resources in EMEA, CIS, Americas regions, identifying and implementing synergetic opportunities, building and fortifying business relationships across range of commodities.

OMNI IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Statistics Committee

James Jin Shik Choi

Chairman & CEO / Simpac Metal

Mr. James Jin-Shik Choi is currently in charge of the Chairman of SIMPAC Group and C.E.O. of SIMPAC Metal.

Selected as one of Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion in 2009 by Forbes, SIMPAC has proven its bright prospects with outstanding performances in the Asia Pacific region. Furthermore, Forbes also named SIMPAC Metal as Asia's 100 Best Under A Billion in 2011.

SIMPAC Metal has accomplished a mutual growth with its global steel manufacturing clients including POSCO and Hyundai Steel Co., Ltd. and contribute to the development of steel industry in Korea. SIMPAC Metal became one of the globally renowned comprehensive metal alloy manufacturers within a short period of time, despite its lack of manganese mine. Now, SIMPAC Metal can stand beside many of world’s most successful manufacturers.

Furthermore, SIMPAC Metal has further reinforced its capabilities to develop itself as the global comprehensive metal alloy manufacturer through its successful M&A with SIMPAC Metalloy in 2016.

Meanwhile, Mr. Choi strives to raise Korea’s status in international steel and metal alloy industries to a higher level. He also has endeavored to foster development in the industry and promote to exchange information with other members of International Manganese Institute (IMnI). He not only served as a board member of IMnI, but also participated in the 18th Asian Ferro-Alloys Conference held in Hong Kong on May 2017 as a speaker.

SIMPAC METAL IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Supervisory Board

Rosa Ye Lujing

General Manager Mn Ore / South32

Rosa Ye was appointed General Manager, Manganese Ore, responsible for global Manganese Ore sales, on 1 Feb. 2023.

Rosa was the Regional Marketing Manager of Manganese Ore since October 2021. She has held various Marketing Manager roles within South32 front office, and more recently assumed the role of Acting General Manager for Aluminium and Derivatives.

Li Weijian

Chairman & General Manager / South Manganese Group Limited

Mr Li Weijian was the Manager of Guangxi Daxin Manganese Mine, Vice General Manager of Guangxi Manganese Mine Co., Ltd., General Manager of Guangxi Dameng Manganese Industry Co., Ltd.
Mr Li Weijian has the experience of Management, Mining, Metallurgical and Chemicals Technology in Manganese Industry for more than 30 years.

Ezekiel Lotlhare

CEO / Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd

Ezekiel Lotlhare holds a Master of Business Leadership (MBL) through the University of South Africa and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering. He was appointed as the General Manager for Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd (Tshipi) since inception of the mine in 2011 and assumed his most recent role of Tshipi Chief Executive Officer in 2016. He has spent most of his career in the manganese industry.

Malcolm Curror

CEO / United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK)

A Chemical Engineering Leadership Professional, Malcolm has more than 25 years of dedicated industry expertise and an exemplary track record of commercial and technical performance merit.

A prudent manager and inspiring leader, with a big picture commercial mind set, Malcolm is expertly skilled in enhancing cash flow, while keeping the human factor in clear perspective. He retains a robust record of accomplishment in developing and guiding a diversity of business interests towards long-term success.

UNITED MANGANESE OF KALAHARI (PTY) LTD IS REPRESENTED IN THESE COMMITTEES
Superboard

Aloys D’Harambure

Executive Director / IMnI

Aloys d’Harambure joined the IMnI in December 2014. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (BBA), with a major in Information Technologies Management and a Master’s of Science in Administration (M.Sc.), majoring in Business Intelligence from l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Montreal’s prestigious business school. Prior to joining the IMnI, he was the Business Analyst at the International Chromium Development Agency (ICDA).