Board of Directors

Mr. Paulo de Brito Filho is (i) Chief Executive Officer at Mineração Santa Elina Industria e Comercio, a company that operates on the development and operation of mineral assets in South America; (ii) Director of Quanta Geracao, a company that operates on the energy industry through generation and sale of energy from its solar and small hydroelectric plants, in Brazil; (iii) was a member of the Board of Directors of Sertrading, a company focused on the trading industry. (iv) Serves as Board member of MIS (Museum of Image and Sound).

Mr. Mauad was appointed a director of the Company in October 2020. Mr. Mauad is a partner of Kapitalo in charge of one of the equities investment strategy since 2015 and member of the executive committee since 2019. He started his career in 2005 at Patria Investimentos as an equity analyst becoming portfolio manager in 2010, responsible for long & short as well as long only strategies. In 2013 he joined Ashmore Group as a member of the Investment Committee and portfolio manager of the equity strategies. Mr. Mauad holds a Bachelor in Public Administration from FGV/EAESP and is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Brito was appointed the non-executive Chairman of the Board in May 2016. He is a businessman with over 45 years of experience in mining, energy and agricultural. Mr. Brito has worked extensively in and outside of Brazil including most of Latin America and has founded several companies including Cotia Trading. S.A. (a trading company), Mineracao Santa Elina, (a mining company focused on the development, exploration and research of various minerals) and Biopalma da Amazonia (a palm oil production company). Other than the shares owned by Northwestern Enterprises (approximately 52% of Company’s issued and outstanding), Mr. Brito does not beneficially own any additional shares of the Company.

Mr. Fenn brings to Aura 39 years of base and precious metal experience.  Mr. Fenn has extensive experience in mine engineering, mine development and valuation, maintenance and operations in North and South America, Africa and Papua New Guinea. Prior to joining Aura, Mr. Fenn was Executive General Manager for the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic, one of the world’s largest gold producing mines.  Previously Mr. Fenn held positions of increasing responsibility for Freeport McMoRan, Glencore and Barrick Gold.  Mr. Fenn holds a bachelor´s degree in mining engineering from the University of Arizona and is a registered professional engineer.

Mr. Keith was appointed a director of the Company in August 2011. Mr. Keith has worked on projects in more than 30 countries, with a concentration in Latin America. He has over 12 years of experience working with mining and energy companies, spearheading projects through feasibility studies, engineering design, project management and construction. He has engaged in over C$2 billion in financings and merger and acquisition deals for natural resource projects. Mr. Keith is currently the President of GrowMax Resources Corp. (TSX-V:GRO), a company focused on exploration and development of phosphate and potassium-rich brine resources. Mr. Keith was formerly the Managing Director of Fertoz Ltd. (ASX:FTX), President and CEO of Recife Gold, and a founder and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Verde Minerals Development Corp. (TSX:RVD), a company he took from concept to listing onto the TSX, with over $30 million completed in equity financings. Mr. Keith led Rio Verde until its acquisition by B&A Fertilizers Limited on March 13, 2013. Mr. Keith has previously held the titles of Vice President, Corporate Development at Plutonic Power Corporation; Director, Investment Banking at Thomas Wiesel Partners; Vice President, Investment Banking at Westwind Partners Mining Group; and Manager, Technical Services with Knight Piesold Consulting. He holds a BSc, Applied Science (Queen’s University), an International MBA (York University, Schulich School of Business) and a PEng (Ontario and British Columbia).

Mr. Reade was appointed a director in May 2017. Mr. Reade has over 20 years of business experience, mostly as an investor and as an entrepreneur. Currently, he invests both in the public markets as well as in private deals, mostly in equity, and he is in the process of launching a new investment company, focused in global public equities in out of favor markets. For 7 years, until February 2016, Mr. Reade was a Partner, Co-Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of the Investment Team at Tarpon Investimentos, one of Brazil´s largest independent equities fund with over USD 3 billion (as of April 2017, the fund generated a 21,7% annual return net of fees in USD, since inception in 2002). At Tarpon, Philip served as Chairman of the Board at Cremer, Somos Educação, Omega and as Board Member of Metalúrgica Gerdau and Tempo Participações. Prior to Tarpon, Mr. Reade was the Head of the Brazilian operations of the NY-based hedge fund, Marathon Asset Management, which focused on private and public equities as well as structured credit. Before Marathon, Mr. Reade worked for Goldman Sachs in Sao Paulo as part of the Investment Banking division. Prior to Goldman, he founded and ran Brasilis Seafood, a company that financed seafood processing plants in Brazil. Mr. Reade started his career at Brazilian Banco Garantia, founded by Brazilian entrepreneur and 3G founder Jorge Paulo Lemann, and then at McKinsey & Co as a business analyst at the Sao Paulo office. He holds a BS in Economics from the University of São Paulo and an MBA from Stanford University.

Fabio was appointed a director in early 2020. Fabio has 20 years of experience in positions bridging the gap between business and technology. Mr Ribeiro has led diverse teams at the dawn of the internet, helping pioneer Brazil’s iconic ISP, iG, founded and exited a successful business in the aviation industry, SOL, and went on to start Neptuno in 2005, a multi-strategy fund focused in technology and forward-thinking investing. In the last few years, Fabio led Neptuno into the VC space with a clear vision of empowering entrepreneurs working at the convergence of exponential technologies. In 2019 Fabio co-founded TUZ Ventures —  an early-stage tech VC fund focused is Central Asia.

Fabio holds a BA degree from FAAP, São Paulo, a Master in Economics from Bocconi, Milan, and an Interactive Media/Game Design MFA from the University of Miami. He currently also serves on the boards of the Miami Institute for Data Science and Computing and the School of Communications at the University of Miami. Fun fact, Fabio is a certified helicopter and airplane pilot.