Newmont Management

At the heart of Newmont's business is the talented team of employees and contractors around the globe who represent diverse cultures and religious backgrounds. In addition to embracing this diversity, we aim to create a workplace culture that fosters leaders and enables all to succeed in their positions and grow in their careers. Our people create the value in the metals we mine, so we invest in ensuring a safe and respectful work environment, while providing the training and tools needed to achieve our goal of eliminating all workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses. Our people are our ambassadors in the communities where they live and work. We expect everyone, at every level, to act with integrity, trust and respect, be responsible stewards of the environment, and serve as role models in safety in the workplace and in their communities.

Officers

The officers of our management team have broad experience in both mining and many other industries. They bring unique qualifications, interests and viewpoints to Newmont and operate under the direction of the Board of Directors.



Executive Leadership Team

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Tom Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer

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.

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Rob Atkinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Rob Atkinson joined Newmont in June 2019 as Executive Vice President  and Chief Operating Officer. With 30 years of mining industry experience, Rob has held a variety of roles leading operations and business improvement efforts in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Most recently, he served as Head of Productivity and Technical Support for Rio Tinto and was responsible for the company's $5 billion productivity improvement strategy. Rob also served as Chief Operating Officer for Rio Tinto's portfolio of copper interests in Mongolia, the US, Chile and Indonesia. Previously he led ASX‐listed Energy Resources of Australia as Chief Executive and Director, and served as General Manager of Weipa Bauxite, one of the world's largest bauxite operations. During his tenure with Rio Tinto, Rob oversaw the establishment of three technical centers of excellence, including Surface Mining, Underground Mining and Processing. He also has extensive operational experience in iron ore and surface and underground coal mining. Rob is a Fellow of the AusIMM and a Fellow of Ethical Leadership from Melbourne Business School. He holds a 1st Class Honors Bachelor's degree in Mining and Petroleum Engineering from Strathclyde University in Scotland.

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Jennifer Cmil, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer

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.

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Mark Ebel, Acting Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer

Mark Ebel was appointed as Acting Chief Legal Officer in July 2023. Mark has more than 30 years of experience as a transactional attorney. He joined Newmont in October 2011, and in addition to serving as the Interim Chief Legal Officer, leads Newmont’s transactional practice (M&A, financing, land, contracting) as well as several compliance functions. Previously, Mr. Ebel worked for 11 years as CFO, VP Corporate Development and General Counsel for Eyeris, Inc., a privately-held software company providing cost and profitability analysis software and services to the telecommunication, financial services and transportation industries. Mr. Ebel also spent 8 years as an associate and partner with Holland & Hart LLP, where his practice included representing public and private corporations, venture capital funds and underwriters in a variety of M&A and financing transactions.

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Dean Gehring, Executive Vice President & Chief Integration Officer & Chief Technology Officer

Dean Gehring was appointed as Chief Integration Officer in June 2023. Previously, he served as Chief Development Officer - Peru in 2023 and as Chief Technology Officer from June 2019 to January 2023. Dean joined Newmont in 2017 as Regional Senior Vice President South America and brings over 30 years of global operational experience, having lived in Canada, Indonesia, Peru, and the US. Prior to joining Newmont, he spent 14 years with global miner Rio Tinto, in a variety of executive roles including President and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Tinto Minerals, Global Head of Safety and Security and General Manager of Resource Development for the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. Dean previously worked as Manager of Technical Services at Freeport's Grasberg mine and held various operational and technical roles with BHP Billiton prior to working for Freeport. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Idaho, and his Masters of Science in Project Management from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Dean holds a Nevada Professional Engineering registration and Project Management Professional certification.

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Karyn Ovelmen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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.

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Suzanne Retallack , Executive Vice President and Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer

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.

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Peter Toth, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer

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.

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Natascha Viljoen, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

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, and 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.

Senior Officers

Alexander Bates, Senior Vice President
Workplace Responsibility

Alex Bates was appointed to Senior Vice President of Workplace Responsibility in July of 2022. Alex joined Newmont in 2015 as General Manager of Newmont Boddington Gold and was appointed Regional Senior Vice President of Newmont Australia in April 2017. Prior to joining Newmont, Alex was General Manager of Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s Brockman Region. He started in iron ore as General Manager Yandicoogina Operations in February 2011 after many years of experience in leadership roles across the resources industry all over the world including Phalaborwa, Cape Town, London, Montreal and Brisbane. Alex has 25 years of experience in the resources industry and served as a Director on the Board of the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation. Alex is a member of the Board of the Minerals Council of Australia. Raised in Wales and Namibia, Alex studied Engineering in Cape Town and moved to Australia in 2004.

Lara Bruhns, Acting Vice President
Value Assurance

Lara Bruhns currently holds the position of Group Executive, Value Assurance and is serving as the Interim Vice President, Value Assurance.

Josh Cage, Acting Vice President Controller and
Chief Accounting Officer

Josh Cage assumed the role of Acting Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer in October 2022. Josh has more than 18 years of service with Newmont in the Finance organization in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Assistant Controller, a position he has held since 2014. Previously he served as Senior Director, Business Planning, Site Controller – Indonesia and Director, Technical Accounting and External Reporting. Prior to joining Newmont, Josh worked in audit at both Ernst & Young and KPMG, respectively.

Luis Canepari, Senior Vice President
Chief Information Officer

Luis Canepari was appointed Chief Information Officer in 2019. As CIO, Luis leads Newmont’s Information Technology organization and is responsible for driving and overseeing enterprise-wide plans to further realize value from Newmont’s strategic business and technology investments. In his role, Luis has accountability for the digitalization, modernization and standardization of Newmont’s systems and applications.

Luis has over 20 years of experience in senior IT leadership roles and a history of leading major transformation and innovation initiatives. Before joining Newmont, Luis held various leadership roles at AES and ExxonMobil Corporation. In 2017, he was awarded a CIO 100 Award for Business and Technology Innovation and was a recipient of the 2014 Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 Award. Luis holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela. He is also a Certified Information Security Manager and Information Security Auditor.

Mark Casper, Senior Vice President
Tailings, Water
Closure & Legacy

Mark Casper joined Newmont in 2019 as Group Executive, Strategic Resource Development and now holds the role of Group Head Tailings, Water, Closure and Legacy. Mark has more than 33 years of experience in the resource sector and brings technical, operating, project and corporate experience from a variety of global roles with multiple major mining companies. This experience spanned various commodities, geographies, and cultures, including development and leadership of multi-disciplinary teams. Prior to joining Newmont, Mark spent 25 years with Rio Tinto in a variety of corporate, technical and operational roles across the value chain. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mine Engineering from the University of Utah.

Francois Hardy, Senior Vice President
Exploration

Francois Hardy was promoted to Regional Senior Vice President, Africa in June 2019. Prior to this role, he served as Regional Project Director for Newmont's Australia and as the General Manager of Newmont's 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 a number of Newmont's assets in Australia. Before joining Newmont, Francois held positions at Avmin Ltd and De Beers Consolidated Mines. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mine Engineering from Technikon Witwatersrand, as well as Management Certificates of Competencies for Western Australia and South Africa.

Daniel Horton, Vice President
Finance, Treasurer and Investor Relations

Daniel Horton has over 16 years of finance experience including 12 years at Newmont Corporation. At Newmont, Daniel has held various leadership positions in Finance and Accounting including overseeing the various system implementations, leading External and Internal Financial Reporting, directing the Investor Relations team and most recently being appointed Vice President, Finance, Treasurer and Investor Relations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. 

David Fry, Senior Vice President
Projects

David Fry joined Newmont as Senior Vice President, Projects in 2023. Prior to joining Newmont, David held the role of Managing Director – Projects at Rio Tinto with accountability for a $14 billion pipeline of projects in the Asia-Pacific Region across a multi-commodity portfolio, including iron ore and copper. Prior to Rio Tinto, David spent nearly 15 years in the oil and gas industry in a variety of engineering, project and operational roles, holding project leadership positions with UGL and Origin Energy, both in Australia. David holds two master’s degrees – a Master of Business in Applied Finance from Queensland University of Technology and a Master of Project Management from University of Southern Queensland.

Mark Ebel, Vice President & Associate
General Counsel

Mark Ebel was promoted to VP & Associate General Counsel in June 2019. He previously served as Associate General Counsel from October 2011 to May 2019. He is responsible for M&A, financing, and a variety of additional transactional and compliance activities. Prior to Newmont, Mark was CFO and General Counsel at Eyeris Inc., and Partner at Holland & Hart, LLP. He earned his J.D. degree from Stanford University and his B.A. in Mathematics and Political Science from Duke University.

Mia Gous, Senior Vice President
Australia

Mia Gous was appointed to Senior Vice President, Australia in July 2022. Mia joined Newmont in May 2021 as General Manager of Boddington and has more than 25 years of operational experience in the mining industry, mainly working for Anglo American and BHP across different commodities, including heavy minerals, zinc, nickel and copper. She was born and raised in South Africa, where she studied chemical engineering at the University of Stellenbosch. Her last 11 years were spent working in Chile, where she became the country’s first female to be appointed as General Manager of large-scale mining operations in 2018 at BHP`s Spence mine. Her passion is the development of young professionals and formation of top-performing teams through a diverse and inclusive culture.

Melissa Gustafson, Vice President
Talent Management

Melissa Gustafson has been with Newmont for 13 years, holding various roles in Human Resources, and currently serves as the Vice President Talent Management. She previously held the position of Group Executive for Human Resources, where her responsibilities included leading the Business Partner team; she is also a member of the Integrations Management team for Newmont focused on Change Management and Communications and Organizational Design. During her tenure at Newmont, Melissa completed an assignment leading the Business Process Full Potential project focused on outsourcing select processes and improving the operating model for Finance, IT and Supply Chain. Prior to joining Newmont, Melissa served in Leadership Development roles at Frontier Airlines and Time Warner Telecom. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Communications from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Denver in Colorado.

Logan Hennessey, Vice President
Associate General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary

Logan Hennessey was elected Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in March 2015. Ms. Hennessey previously served as Assistant Corporate Secretary to the Board since 2010 and as Associate General Counsel from 2011 to 2015 and Senior Counsel, Corporate Securities from 2010 to 2011, working in the substantive areas of federal securities law, financing, M&A and transactions, on-going corporate reporting, corporate governance, general corporate matters and support of the Board of Directors and its Committees. Logan also currently serves as the Chair of Newmont’s Disclosure Committee. Prior to joining Newmont, Logan worked in private practice in the New York office of White & Case LLP. She holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College.

Shelly Huff, Vice President
Tax

Ms. Huff joined Newmont in January 2006 as Director, Tax Compliance in the corporate office, and was promoted to Group Executive in 2009 and then Vice President, Tax in June 2017. She is responsible for leading the Company’s corporate tax group and working collaboratively across the organization to ensure coordination and governance oversight of the regional tax teams. Ms. Huff brings more than 25 years of corporate and international tax experience to her role. Prior to joining Newmont, she spent the first half of her career working at Arthur Andersen. Ms. Huff holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the states of Colorado and Nevada.

Mark Rodgers, Senior Vice President
South America

Mark Rodgers assumed the role of Senior Vice President, South America in October 2022 after previously serving as Newmont's Senior Vice President, North America. Mark is a seasoned senior executive with 30 years of experience in the resources industry, including working with both BHP and Rio Tinto. The last 15 years have been in senior operational and project roles at both the general manager and vice president/COO levels. Mark has developed a strong reputation for delivering positive business outcomes while serving on multiple boards and executive committees. He has been a Director of the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation, an Executive Director of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a board member of the Quebec & Labrador North Shore Railway and also as an executive member of the NSW Minerals Council. Raised in Scotland, he also studied in Australia, gaining a B.Sc. in mineral processing (extractive metallurgy) and post-graduate qualifications in mineral economics.

Sebastian Soria, Vice President
Total Rewards

Sebastian Soria is Vice President, Total Rewards for Newmont, overseeing $1.5B of annual investment in employee Compensation and Benefits programs. He is located in Denver, Colorado, USA, and reports to Jennifer Cmil, Executive Vice President, Human Resources. Sebastian is a member of the Global HR Leadership Team. Soria joined Newmont in 2021, after a 27-year career with Dow. He joined Dow in 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as an Accounts Payable Specialist within the Controller’s function. In 1996, he moved to payroll and in 1997, he joined Dow AgroSciences HR supporting the business in Argentina. In 2001, he accepted a geographic compensation and benefits role supporting all of Dow’s businesses, initially for the South Latin America region and later expanding to support all of Latin America. In January of 2009, he moved to Midland, Michigan, to become the Global HR Business Partner for the Basic Chemicals division. In 2010 he assumed the role of Global Compensation Director for Dow, which he held until June 2012, when he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, to take the role of Global Human Resources Director for Dow AgroSciences. From 2015 until early 2018, Sebastian was the HR Director for Dow Latin America, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He moved back to Midland in March 2018 to take on the Head of Global Rewards role. Soria received a bachelor's degree in labor relations from the University of Buenos Aires and a master's degree in business administration from IAE Business School.

Scott Sullivan, Chief Integrity & Compliance
Officer

Scott Sullivan joined Newmont’s Legal Leadership Team as Chief Compliance Officer in August 2019. Scott oversees the global Business Integrity & Compliance program and reports regularly to the Audit Committee. Prior to joining Newmont, Scott most recently served as the Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Flowserve Corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas, where he led the vision, strategy and execution for all facets of ethics and compliance. Scott previously worked in private practice in the Dallas office of Strasburger & Price, LLP. Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont, as well as a Master of Arts degree in International Relations & Comparative Politics from Simon Fraser University, and a Master of Business Administration degree and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

Brian Tabolt, Vice President
Controller and Chief Accounting Officer

Brian C. Tabolt assumed the role of Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer in July 2021. He brings 17 years of experience in U.S. GAAP accounting and reporting, SOX compliance and SEC rules and regulations. Prior to joining Newmont, Mr. Tabolt served as Vice President, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for Molson Coors Beverage Company since 2014 and in other senior technical accounting roles from 2010. He began his career in public accounting with Deloitte. Mr. Tabolt holds Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Bryan Teets, Vice President
Internal Audit

Mr. Teets joined Newmont as Vice President Internal Audit in April 2018 bringing more than 20 years of Audit and Accounting experience to the role. Prior to Newmont, he spent 11 years at MPLX as the Vice President, Internal Audit and Compliance. Mr. Teets also held several leadership roles at First Data Corp in the Audit, Compliance and Accounting departments. He started his career at Coopers and Lybrand. Mr. Teets holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Denver and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Colorado.

Dave Thornton, Senior Vice President
Africa

Bernard Wessels, Senior Vice President
North America

Bernard Wessels assumed the role of Senior Vice President, South America in October 2022, most recently serving as the General Manager at Newmont's Peñasquito mine. Prior to this, Bernard served as Vice President of Productivity for Newmont's Africa region in 2020 was the General Manager of the Ahafo mine from 2017 to 2020. As part of his role at Ahafo, he was responsible for the integration of both the Subika Underground and the Ahafo Mill Expansion projects into the Ahafo operations, reaching commercial production in 2018 and 2019. Before joining Newmont in 2017, he served as Vice President (2014–2017) for the Burnstone Underground Gold Project (Sibanye Stillwater) in South Africa. He also led two gold projects to the feasibility phase with Witsgold as the COO (2012–2014). From 2005 to 2012, he was General Manager with Harmony Gold and Anglo Platinum/Atlatsa, where he led deep-level underground gold and platinum mines as well as an open pit mine for Harmony Gold.

Mike Wundenberg, Vice President
Operational Technology &
Innovation

Mr. Wundenberg has over 20 years of experience in mining and has held various leadership positions within Newmont . He has been associated with Newmont since 1998 working at the Batu Hijau and Yanacocha operations and in the Australia region. He worked for BHP Billiton on the Olympic Dam Expansion project for two years and held the position of Manager, Mining prior to rejoining Newmont. Mr. Wundenberg successfully introduced the Full Potential program in 2013, and was appointed to lead the Asset Management function in 2015. He provided oversight on digital work conducted over 2017, including internal and external benchmarking work, digital assessments and other advancements in innovation and technology and was appointed Vice President, Operational Technology and Innovation in 2018 to define and realize the value proposition of Newmont’s technology and digital strategy and roadmap.