Sherritt Announces Planned Retirement of COO and Promotions to its Senior Leadership Team to Accelerate Growth Strategy
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Sherritt Announces Planned Retirement of COO and Promotions to its
Senior Leadership Team to Accelerate Growth Strategy
TORONTO, December 15, 2021 – Sherritt International Corporation (“Sherritt”) (TSX:S), a world leader in
the mining and hydrometallurgical refining of nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores , today announced the
planned retirement of Chief Operating Officer Steve Wood, effective April 30, 2022. Mr. Wood has worked
in the mining industry for more than 40 years, including the past seven as Sherritt’s COO.
“Steve has provided in valuable guidance on Sherritt’s operations over the years, and I am grateful for his
support and the many contributions he has made as a key member of the senior leadership team,” said
Leon Binedell, President and CEO of Sherritt International. “As a driving force behind our Purpose and
Promises, Steve’s legacy at Sherritt will be remembered for his commitment to safety, sustainability,
operational excellence, and growth. On behalf of everyone at Sherritt, I would l ike to extend Steve best
wishes for his upcoming retirement and look forward to his active role in the pending transition period.”
Under Mr. Wood’s leade rship, the Moa Joint Venture consistently ranked as a low -cost HPAL nickel
producer, Sherritt steadily improved its health and safety metric s, becoming peer -leading, and recently
launched ambitious sustainability targets to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.
As a result of Mr. Wood’s planned retirement, Sherritt made a number of promotions to its leadership team
to accelerate the Corporation’s multipronged growth strategy, naming:
- Dan Rusnell as Senior Vice President, Metals;
- Elvin Saruk as Head of Growth Projects in addition to his accountabilities as Senior Vice President
for Oil & Gas and Power; and
- Greg Honig as responsible for Marketing a nd the Technologies group in addition to his
accountabilities as Chief Commercial Officer.
As disclosed recently, Sherritt is embarking on an expansion strategy to capitalize on the growing demand
for high purity nickel driven by the accelerated adoption of electric vehicles . The strategy, which will build
on the 26-year successful track record of the Moa Joint Venture, centres on growing annual finished nickel
and cobalt production by 15 to 20% from the 34,876 tonnes produced in 2020 and extending the life of mine
at Moa beyond 2040 through the conversion of mineral resources into reserves using an economic cut -off
grade. This expansion strategy supplements Sherritt’ s focus on growth through commercializing solutions
developed by its Technologies Group.
“Dan, Elvin, and Greg have the right skills, experience, and expertise in their respective roles to drive our
growth strategy forward,” said Mr. Binedell. “The promotions, which are effective January 1, 2022 and will
report to me directly, will help us to better align the organization to our growth initiatives while maintaining
strong relationships with our key stakeholders, including our Cuban partners, customers around the world,
and the local communities in which we operate.”
Dan Rusnell will be resp onsible for the complete Metals portfolio of operations – from mining at Moa to
finished nickel, cobalt and fertilizer production at the refinery in Fort Saskatchewan . Mr. Rusnell joined
Sherritt in 2018 as the General Manager of Fort Site Operations where he focused on maturing the safety
culture, building a continuous improvement mindset and modernizing business processes. Mr. Rusnell has
more than 20 years of engineering and leadership experience, including 14 years at Syncrude Canada Ltd.
and 5 years at Nexen Energy ULC (now CNOOC International). Mr. Rusnell is a Professional Engineer
registered with APEGA and holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Chemical Engineering) from the
University of Saskatchewan.
Elvin Saruk is currently the Senior Vice -President, Oil & Gas and Power where he is responsib le for all
operational matters and also oversaw the construction of historical projects . Mr. Saruk has more than 30
years of experience in the Oil & Gas and Power businesses with Sherritt. Under his leadership, Sherritt’s
Oil & Gas and Power business es have worked closely with various Cuban partners, produced more than
240 million barrels of oil and 43,680 gigawatt hours of power, and contributed mo re than $3. 5 billion of
EBITDA over the years. Mr. Saruk was also responsible for leading the construction of all Sherritt’s power
generating as sets in Cuba, which currently have a capacity of 506 megawatts of electricity and were
completed over eight phases. He is a professional engineer, with a Ba chelor of Engineering (Chemical )
from the University of Alberta, and a member of APEGA.
Greg Honig is Sherritt’s Chief Commerc ial Officer, and has diverse international experience spanning
private equity, corporate development, and investm ent banking. Since joining Sherritt in August 2021, Mr.
Honig has worked closely with each of Sherritt’s Technologies and Marketing groups to advance market
development of the Corporation’s proprietary solutions and identify opportunities for long -term supply
agreements within the electric vehicle supply chain. Previously, he was Principal, Director of Canada for
Resource Capital Funds . Mr. Honi g’s experience also includes business development and strategy,
marketing and research at Xstrata Nickel. Mr. Honig holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from
Queen’s University, and is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Rotman Directors Education Program.
About Sherritt
Sherritt is a world leader in the mining and re fining of nickel and cobalt – metals essential for the growing
adoption of electric vehicles. Its Technologies Group creates innovative, proprietary solutions for oil and
mining companies around the world to improve environmental performance and increase economic value.
Sherritt is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba. Sherritt’s common shares are listed on
the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “S”.
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For more information, please contact:
Joe Racanelli, Director of Investor Relations
Telephone: 416-935-2457
Email: [email protected]
www.sherritt.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified
by the use of statements that include such words as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “forecast”, “likely”,
“may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “suspect”, “outlook”, “potential”, “projected”, “continue” or other similar words or phrases.
Specifically, forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements set out in the
“Outlook” section of this press release and certain expectations regarding net zero emission targets, production growth,
life of mine extension and commercialization of Technologies solutions.
Forward looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations, assumptions and
projections about future events, including commodity and product prices and demand; the level of liquidity and access
to funding; production results; realized prices for production; global demand for electric vehicles; the commercialization
of certain proprietary technologies and services; advancements in environmental and greenhouse gas reduction
technology; ***; and certain corporate objectives, goals and plans. By their nature, forward looking statements require
the Corporation to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that
predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that those assumptions may not be correct
and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections.
The Corporation cautions readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on any forward looking statement as
a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets,
expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the global price for nickel, cobalt,
oil and gas, fertilizers or certain other commodities; level of liquidity; access to capital; access to financing; the risk to
Sherritt’s entitlements to future distributions from the Moa Joint Venture; uncertainty about the pace of technological
advancements required in relation to achieving ESG targets; risk of future non-compliance with debt restrictions and
covenants and mandatory repayments; Sherritt’s ability to replace depleted mineral reserves; risks associated with the
Corporation’s joint venture partner; variability in production at Sherritt’s operations in Cuba; risks related to Sherritt’s
operations in Cuba; risks related to the U.S. government policy toward Cuba, including the U.S. embargo on Cuba and
the Helms-Burton legislation; potential interruptions in transportation; uncertainty of gas supply for electrical generation;
the Corporation’s reliance on key personnel and skilled workers; the possibility of equipment and other failures; risks
associated with mining, processing and refining activities; uncertainty of resources and reserve estimates; the potential
for shortages of equipment and supplies, including diesel; supplies quality issues; risks related to environmental liabilities
including liability for reclamation costs, tailings facility failures and toxic gas releases; risks related to the Corporation’s
corporate structure; political, economic and other risks of foreign operations; risks associated with Sherritt’s operation of
large projects generally; risks related to the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; foreign exchange and
pricing risks; compliance with applicable environment, health and safety legislation and other associated matters; risks
associated with governmental regulations regarding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; risks relating to
community relations and maintaining the Corporation’s social license to grow and operate; credit risks; competition in
product markets; future market access; interest rate changes; risks in obtaining insurance; uncertainties in labour
relations; uncertainty in the ability of the Corporation to enforce legal rights in foreign jurisdictions; uncertainty regarding
the interpretation and/or application of the applicable laws in foreign jurisdictions; legal contingencies; risks related to the
Corporation’s accounting policies; identification and management of growth opportunities; uncertainty in the ability of the
Corporation to obtain government permits; risks to information technologies systems and cybersecurity; failure to comply
with, or changes to, applicable government regulations; bribery and corruption risks, including failure to comply with the
Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act or applicable local anti-corruption law; the ability to accomplish corporate
objectives, goals and plans; and the Corporation’s ability to meet other factors listed from time to time in the Corporation’s
continuous disclosure documents. In addition to the risks noted above, factors that could, alone or in combination, prevent
us from successfully achieving growth, expansion and extension opportunities may include, without limitation: identifying
suitable commercialization and other partners; successfully advancing discussions and successfully concluding
applicable agreements with external parties and/or partners; successfully attracting required financing; successfully
developing and proving technology required for the potential opportunity; successfully overcoming technical and
technological challenges; successful environmental assessment and stakeholder engagement; successfully obtaining
intellectual property protection; successfully completing test work and engineering studies, prefeasibility and feasibility
studies, piloting, scaling from small scale to large scale production, commissioning, procurement, construction,
commissioning, ramp-up to commercial scale production and completion; and securing regulatory and government
approvals. There can be no assurance that any opportunity will be successful, commercially viable, or will generate any
meaningful revenues, savings or earnings, as the case may be, for the Corporation. In addition, the Corporation will incur
costs in pursuing any particular opportunity, which may be significant. Additional risks, uncertainties and other factors
include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Corporation to achieve its financial goals; the ability of the Corporation to
continue to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities and commitments; the Corporation’s future liquidity position, and
access to capital, to fund ongoing operations and obligations (including debt obligations); the ability of the Corporation
to implement and successfully achieve its business priorities; and the ability of the Corporation to comply with its
contractual obligations, including, without limitation, its obligations under debt arrangements. Readers are cautioned that
the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and should be considered in conjunction with the risk factors described in
the Corporation’s other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities, including without limitation the
Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three months and nine-months ended September 30, 2021 and the
Annual Information Form of the Corporation dated March 17, 2021 for the period ending December 31, 2020, which is
available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The Corporation may, from time to time, make oral forward-looking statements. The Corporation advises that the above
paragraph and the risk factors described in this press release and in the Corporation’s other documents filed with the
Canadian securities authorities should be read for a description of certain factors that could cause the actual results of
the Corporation to differ materially from those in the oral forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no
obligation to update publicly or revise any oral or written forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking
information and statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.