Newmont Management

Tom Palmer became President and Chief Executive and joined the Board of Directors of Newmont effective October 1, 2019. He served as President since June 2019 and as President and Chief Operating Officer from November 2018 until June 2019. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since May 2016. Mr. Palmer was elected Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific in February 2015 after serving as Senior Vice President, Indonesia since March 2014. Prior to joining Newmont, he was the Chief Operating Officer, Pilbara Mines at Rio Tinto Iron Ore. Over a 20-year career with Rio Tinto, Mr. Palmer worked in a variety of roles across a number of commodities, including General Manager, Technology for the Bauxite and Alumina business; General Manager, Operations at Hail Creek coal mine; and General Manager, Asset Management at Palabora Mining Company in South Africa. Mr. Palmer brings extensive experience leading teams and delivering production while implementing safety culture programs and improving diversity. He earned a Master of Engineering Science degree and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Jen Cmil was appointed Executive Vice President, Human Resources in October 2019 and as Senior Vice President, Human Resources in June 2019 after having previously served as Vice President, Talent Management since February 2018. Jen joined Newmont in 2010 and has held the roles of Group Executive, Human Resources and Senior Director, Human Resources. Prior to Newmont, Jen held leadership positions in human resources across multiple industries, including Vice President of Human Resources at Level 3 Telecommunications, Senior Human Resources Director at KB Home and Human Resources Business Partner at Sun Microsystems, where she began her career in 1994. She has a proven track record of partnering with senior leaders to increase performance and engagement through partnership with Human Resources and she is passionate about developing individuals and teams. Jen received her Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University and her Master’s of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Peter Wexler joined Newmont in March 2024 leading the company's legal, compliance and regulatory affairs globally. Peter is a seasoned legal and risk management leader with more than three decades of international experience, including managing legal, risk, compliance, M&A, antitrust, litigation and corporate governance affairs within the industrial, technology, energy management, engineering, manufacturing and construction sectors. Before joining Newmont, he served as Chief Legal Officer at Schneider Electric, a Global 500 business, for 15 years and earned numerous accolades, including M&A Advisors Top Business Development Professionals of the Year in 2020 and Financial Times Top 20 General Counsel in 2022. Prior to that, Peter served as in-house counsel overseeing legal, risk and compliance at various companies, including American Power Conversion Corporation. Peter holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and a B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of Vermont. 

Karyn Ovelmen joined Newmont in May of 2023 and is a highly experienced financial professional, responsible for maintaining a robust and flexible balance sheet to support Newmont’s capital allocation strategy and oversee Newmont's Global Finance Functions. Karyn brings extensive global leadership experience to the role, having previously held Chief Financial Officer roles for highly complex and capital intensive companies in the resource and energy sectors, including Flowserve, LyondellBassell Industries NV, and Petroplus Holdings AG. Most recently, Karyn has been fully dedicated to Board of Director roles at Hess Corporation and Arcelor Mittal. Karyn has a strong commitment to developing high performing teams, continuous improvement and performance in global organizations having worked in the United States and the United Kingdom. Karyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas.

Suzanne joined Newmont in 2019 and appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer in June 2023 after previously serving as Vice President for Health, Safety and Security. Prior to joining Newmont, Suzanne held senior roles in Health and Safety, Environment and Security with Rio Tinto. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Western Australia, in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy and a Master of Business Administration from Curtin University in Australia.

Natascha Viljoen joined Newmont in October 2023 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, bringing over 30 years of experience across a diverse range of commodities.

Previously, Natascha served as the CEO of Anglo American’s platinum business in South Africa since 2020, the world’s largest primary producer of platinum. At Anglo American, she was responsible for managing a team of more than 25,000 employees and six owned and joint venture mining operations with an integrated value chain and down-stream processing across two countries. Prior to her CEO appointment, Natascha held a series of operating and technical positions within the organization, including as Group Head of Processing. Prior to joining Anglo American, Natascha spent six years at Lonmin, where she served on the executive committee as Executive Vice President of Processing, also with responsibility for several wider corporate functions, including sustainability. Natascha is a metallurgical engineer and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from North West University in South Africa and an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Peter brings to Newmont more than 25 years of leadership experience working in the resources industry across various commodities. Peter has held senior strategic, commercial, and operational roles across Europe, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom with Rio Tinto, BHP, and OM Holdings. Most recently, Peter led Rio Tinto’s corporate strategy as Group Executive, Strategy and Development, with accountability for business development/M&A, strategic partnerships, climate and sustainability strategy, closure, and exploration. Toth joined Rio Tinto in 2014 as Global Head of Strategy and became Head of Corporate Development in 2015. He established Rio’s current corporate strategy team, streamlined Rio’s commodity and asset portfolio, and led the development of Rio’s 10-year climate strategy, supporting the company’s ambition of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Prior to joining Rio Tinto, Toth was Chief Executive of the ASX-listed OM Holdings Ltd. (OMH), an integrated manganese and ferro-silicon company with global mining, smelting, and trading operations. He is noteworthy for strengthening OMH’s operational and financial performance. Toth began his career with BHP in 1994, where, over the course of 15 years, he held a series of roles of increasing responsibility and scope. Peter holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Monash University, a Graduate Certificate in Management from Deakin University, and a Master of International Business degree from the University of Melbourne, in addition to executive development programs at INSEAD, Stanford and Oxford University.

Francois Hardy was promoted to Chief Technology Officer in May 2024, after previously serving as Senior Vice President, Exploration since February 2022. Prior to this role he served as Regional Senior Vice President, Africa since 2019. Prior to that he served as Regional Project Director for Newmont Australia and as the General Manager of Tanami gold mine where he led a team responsible for improving the operation into a Tier 1 asset. He joined Newmont in 2002 and over his tenure has held a number of roles in Global Program Management, Business Excellence, Technical Services and Senior Site leadership roles at several Newmont assets in Australia. Prior to Newmont, Francois held positions at Avmin Ltd and De Beers Consolidated Mines. Francois holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mine Engineering from Technikon Witwatersrand, as well as Management Certificate of Competencies for Western Australia and South Africa.