Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (ASCU), an emerging copper developer and near-term producer, continues to build the development and production team onsite at the Cactus Mine Project. The firm has appointed Harold (Bernie) Loyer as Senior VP Projects, replacing Ian McMullan as COO and Christopher White as Chief Geologist to support Doug Bowden, VP Exploration. McMullan will stay with ASCU for six weeks to assist with leadership transition.
What do the appointments mean for Arizona Sonoran?
George Ogilvie, Arizona Sonoran President and CEO commented, “As the development of Parks/Salyer and the Cactus Mine Project progress towards PFS in Q1 2024, we have been focused on building a locally-based technical operations and development team.”
“We have made hires such as Victor Moraila (Chief Mine Engineer), Graeme Hendricks (Senior Mine Engineer), Dan Johnson (Projects Director), Greg Phillips (Project Superintendent), John Peterson (Senior Environmental Professional) and now Bernie and Christopher.”
“With the substantial growth to the size and scale of our Cactus Mine Project, the building blocks are in place to deliver a clear and streamlined path to construction and development, pending decision post-Feasibility Study in late 2024,” George Ogilvie further commented.
“Bernie’s experiences building complex mining projects, including BHP’s Escondida and Torex Gold’s, Morelos and Media Luna, will fare well with our two proposed underground projects and one open pit project at Cactus and Parks/Salyer, while Christopher’s mine geology experience with major mining projects will complement our current management team.”
Ogilvie further continued, “I would also like to thank Ian for his invaluable contribution over the last several years, placing the Company on a solid foundation and primed for future successes. The Board, ASCU team and I wish Ian well with his future endeavors and appreciate him working with the new incumbent Bernie through a transitionary period.”
What do the appointees bring to Arizona Sonoran?
Bernie Loyer
Bernie Loyer is a Project Mining Executive with over 35 years of international mining experience including over 20 years in LATAM, having worked in Peru, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. As SVP Projects, he will lead the engineering, procurement and management resources in the development and execution of Arizona Sonoran’s project portfolio.
Arizonan Bernie Loyer joins Arizona Sonoran Copper Company from SolGold where he held the position of Vice President Projects leading the development of the Porvenir and Cascabel projects in Ecuador. A mechanical engineer, fluent in English and Spanish, Mr. Loyer holds multiple patents for the design of process and material handling equipment.
Bernie Loyer has a proven track record in delivering large scale mining projects having done so with Goldcorp‘s Penasquito Project in Zacatecas, Mexico, Goldcorp’s Cerro Negro Project in Santa Cruz, Argentina and Torex Gold‘s Morelos Project in Guerrero, Mexico.
Mr. Loyer spent five years at FLSmidth Minerals based in Copenhagen serving as VP, Minerals Technology and CPO where he was responsible for all global process tech, manufacturing and material handling. Prior to that he served 15 years with BHP Billiton, spending the last 10 years in Peru and Chile where he held operational, maintenance and project leadership positions. Bernie will be based at our project site and our Tempe, Arizona office.
Christopher White
On the other hand, Christopher White brings 15 years of progressive experience leading mine geology programs, including ore assurance and technical manager roles within technical studies. Mr. White joins from the Moss Mine in Arizona (open pit) as Chief Geologist where he was responsible for mine geology, ore control, drilling programs, including near mine exploration and infill drilling, greenfield exploration, planning, analysis and modelling.
Prior to that, he held progressively senior roles as Senior Mine Geologist at Goldstrike, Nevada Gold Mines, focused on open pit geology and mapping, Geology Manager at Albemarle Corporation’s Kings Mountain and Senior Geologist / Acting Chief Geologist at Freeport McMoRan’s Bagdad Mine. Christopher White earned his B.Sc Geology from the University of Wisconsin, and M.Sc Geology from the University of Minnesota.
