Supervisory Board
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
Paul Desportes
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.
Paul is currently the Chairman of the International Manganese Institute .
Board Members
Branislav Klocok
IMnI Vice-Chairman and Managing Director
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.
Adrian Low
IMnI Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of OM Materials Singapore
Adrian Low has worked at OM Holdings, a vertically integrated manganese ore and ferroalloys company, for over 10 years and currently serves as the Managing Director of OM Materials Singapore, the group marketing and procurement arm.
Throughout his tenure, Adrian has held various positions and currently assumes responsitility for general sales and procurement, market research, and business development, with a secondary function in corporate strategy and relations.
Adrian holds a Master's in Finance from Princeton University and a bachelor's in Mathematics from the University of Chicago
Sergio Romero
IMnI Treasurer and Managing Director
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
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
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
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
David is a Trader in Glencore’s Ferroalloy-Nickel division. He joined the group in 2012 and handles Manganese.
Rorie Wilson
Managing Director: International Marketing
B Com: Economics
Honours (International Trade and Finance)
Insead AMP
Rorie started his career in Investment Banking, joining the Standard Bank Group as part of the Investment Banking and Investment Banking Coverage teams focusing on Telecoms and Media across African and other emerging markets, with a focus on M&A, debt and financing options in various jurisdictions. In 2010 Rorie spent a year in London with Standard Bank Plc in Investment Banking Coverage.
In 2011 Rorie joined Assore Limited (Assore) as part of the Iron Ore Team. Rorie was appointed Managing Director for the marketing business in 2018, predominantly looking after Manganese Ore and Alloys. Was Chairman of CatoRidge Alloys one of the Assmang JV operations and a non-executive director for Assore International Holdings ( AIH) based in the UK. Rorie was then appointed as Managing Director of Ore & Metal International.
Augenija Di Bucci
Commercial Director, Mn Ore and Alloys
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
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.
Rosa Ye Lujing
General Manager Mn Ore
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.
Zhan Haiqing
Chairman
Zhan Haiqing is the Chairman of South Manganese Group Co., Ltd. and a senior engineer with a professor-level title. He has dedicated 30 years to the development planning of the manganese industry and the research and development of deep-processing manganese products, gaining extensive experience in mining infrastructure, manganese ore extraction, and related deep-processing operations. His expertise also encompasses corporate management and operations.
He serves as the Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the National Manganese Industry Technology Committee, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Manganese Industry Branch of the China Mining Association, the President of the Guangxi Manganese Association, and an external mentor for graduate students at Guangxi University. He has received numerous accolades, including Outstanding Enterprise Manager and Golden Phoenix Award, and recognition as one of the Top 10 Figures in the Electrolytic Manganese Industry and a Young or Middle-aged Expert in Intellectual Property in Guangxi.
Additionally, he is a senior technical expert in China’s metallurgical mining industry, a technical expert in the manganese sector, and a high-level expert in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He has actively transformed Guangxi’s manganese industry, upgraded manganese products, extended the industrial chain, and enhanced the added value of manganese resources. Under his leadership, his research team has developed and produced various manganese-based new energy materials, including power battery-grade electrolytic manganese dioxide, lithium manganese oxide, and manganese tetroxide. This team has filled critical gaps in Guangxi’s manganese industry; and many of its members have become top-notch technicians in the field.
Ezekiel Lotlhare
CEO
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
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.
Aloys d'Harambure
Executive Director
Aloys d’Harambure joined the IMnI in December 2014. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with a Master’s of Science in Administration from l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Montreal’s prestigious business school. Prior to joining the IMnI, he was the Business Analyst at the International Chromium Development Association.
