Gerard Barron is on a mission to help wean humanity off fossil fuels and transition to a circular resource economy. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building global companies in battery technology, media and future-oriented resource development both as a chief executive and strategic investor. He became involved in the early strategic development and financing of DeepGreen during its formation in 2011 and stepped into the role of Chairman & CEO in 2017.

Gerard is leading The Metals Company’s three-part strategy to first inject a sufficient supply of four virgin metals (Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) into the system to enable the green transition, then track and recycle the four metals that The Metals Company injects, and ultimately work through the rest of the periodic table to circularize the remaining metals. If The Metals Company succeeds, mining virgin ores—whether in land or in the ocean—will become a marginal human activity as we meet most of our metal needs by recycling a shared common stock of metals.

Anthony O’Sullivan has over 30 years mining experience with a track record of delivering innovative solutions across multiple continents both in the terrestrial and marine environments. He is an innovator in mining, who is part of The Metals Company because of his proven commitment to sustainable and ethical mining. As Chief Operating Officer of Nautilus he led exploration, engineering and design, project development, permitting and product marketing culminating in the declaration of 43-101 compliant resources, grant of the environmental permit and mining lease from the Government of Papua New Guinea, ore sales agreement with one of China’s leading copper producers Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group and the completion of project design and commencement of project construction. He was previously part of the BHP Billiton Global Exploration Leadership Team with responsibility for the company’s iron ore, bauxite, coal and non-porphyry base metal exploration portfolios. He is the named co-inventor on 5 subsea mining patents.

Dr. Stone is an ocean scientist and explorer with over 10,000 dives throughout Earth’s ocean down to 18,000 feet using submarines, SCUBA, underwater habitats and robotics. Greg is widely known as a global thought leader who finds ways for humanity and the ocean to co-exist and support each other in the modern world. He was a catalyst at the genesis of the Ocean Health Index and specializes in sustainable fishing, aquaculture, climate adaptation and seamount ecology. Greg’s ability to communicate complex science is illustrated by his compelling TED and Davos talks, and his appearances in documentaries for Discovery and National Geographic. Greg’s numerous accolades and professional associations include the Explorers Club, Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, National Geographic Hero, Order of Kiribati Medal, and the U.S National Science Foundation/Navy Antarctic Service medal. In 2008, The Boston Globe named him “Bostonian of the Year”. Previously, Greg was Senior Science Advisor to the Special Envoy for Ocean and the World Economic Forum Ocean Program, and served as Chief Scientist for Conservation International and head of their Global Ocean Program. He currently calls Los Angeles his home and looks out at his beloved Pacific Ocean.

Craig has over 15 years combined experience in public investing, metals research and investment banking in New York. He spent 12 years at King Street Capital Management, most recently as senior analyst in charge of recommending investments in the global metals & mining space. He analyzes electrification trends, battery chemistries and the resulting impacts on supply & demand for critical base metals, with particular expertise in nickel and copper. Craig also has significant experience navigating complex, legal-driven investments around the world, as King Street was one of the largest creditors in over a dozen global Lehman Brothers entities. He worked closely with administrators, creditors, lawyers and advisors to reach settlements, form JVs and accelerate recoveries, particularly in the US, UK, German, Swiss and Dutch Lehman administrations. He also spent two years as the top-tier analyst on the insurance & asset management investment banking team at Morgan Stanley.

Craig was raised in an iron mining family in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, working as a production truck driver in Cleveland-Cliffs iron mines during college summers, becoming intimately familiar with open pit operations as well as the environmental and social challenges of terrestrial mining. Craig graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Andy Jones brings over 30 years in technology and software development experience to The Metals Company and is a specialist in large-scale, business-critical and data-driven applications with a focus on security and technical excellence. Andy joins The Metals Company from healthcare data business Pavilion Health/PKS. He was previously at media services provider AdStream, where he oversaw growth from start-up to global adtech platform. Andy brings extensive experience as a hands-on technologist, systems architect, and a technology thought leader who provides advice and guidance to technology companies within media, legal, agri-tech and health-tech sectors.

Ms. Ocampo comes to The Metals Company from global metals and electronics recovery company, Sims Limited, where she led the development of a company-wide sustainability strategy— including materiality assessments, goals and KPIs development, reporting and development and implementation of data collection systems. Prior to her role at Sims, Ocampo spearheaded sustainability projects across various business units at Dow, including as Global Sustainability Strategy Manager for its Consumer Solutions business. As CSO, Ms. Ocampo will be responsible for ensuring that company strategy is grounded in sustainability principles, both in its macro approach—across the value chain and customer base—and in its micro approach of addressing ESG impacts in offshore and onshore operations. She will also develop partnerships with customers, sponsoring states and other key regional and global stakeholders to advance the company’s sustainability goals.

As The Metals Company’s Chief Accounting Officer, Claude is responsible for the oversight of internal and external reporting compliance and oversees financial matters and internal controls for the Company. He is a professional accountant (CPA, CA) with almost 25 years of progressive global mining experience leading the accounting and controllership function at multiple publicly-traded companies. Claude began his career at Canadian base-metals giants, Inco Limited and Noranda Inc, both public Canadian and US dual-listed entities, where he progressed to the Group Controller role reporting for the Noranda group of companies. He joined Centerra Gold Inc. in 2004, following its IPO, where he built the accounting and reporting function, as well as developed and implemented strong financial controls early in Centerra’s life. Claude managed Centerra’s early adoption of Sarbanes-Oxley controls and the company’s compliance with similar rules in Canada. He has played a key role in integrating finance organizations and navigating highly complex accounting issues related to Centerra’s various acquisitions. Over his 16 plus years at Centerra, he has proven to be highly skilled at implementing systems and building strong highly performing teams. His expertise spans IFRS and US GAAP, having managed the reporting of these public companies with Canadian and US regulators.

Erika Ilves is an entrepreneur and seasoned strategy lead dedicated to creating the systems and conditions required to secure a safe future for the human species. She was co-founder of Offworld, an industrial robotics company, where she led a team of machine learning engineers to develop teachable mining robots, and was also co-founder of Shackleton Energy, where she developed an international public-private consortium to create technologies to extract water ice from the moon in order to fuel deep space missions from low Earth orbit, drastically reducing the costs of such missions. Erika’s 15 years of strategy consulting experience started with McKinsey & Company, where she served global and emerging markets financial institutions on strategy, performance and operational transformations; and later advised GCC governments and investors on transitioning to a green economy. Previously, Erika was an executive at videoconferencing technology firm TANDBERG (acquired by Cisco), where she was responsible for developing leadership and sales capability for the firm’s global sales force. At The Metals Company, Erika is working to build the world’s first vertically integrated clean energy ecosystem by establishing alliances with like-minded leaders in offshore, electric vehicles and renewable energy technology, as well as developing our transparent provenance strategy to enable The Metals Company to establish Clean Metals as a new purchasing category. She is fluent in English, Estonian, Russian and proficient in Danish and French.

Jon Machin has 30 years experience at the forefront of oilfield engineering and technology and has worked extensively in the deep-water sector. He has held senior management positions in the technical and commercial departments within market leading organizations Fugro, Technip and Schlumberger. He was a co-founder of deep-water geotechnical engineers UTEC Geomarine. Mr Machin has a remarkable track record of design and build of numerous Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV’s) and ‘extreme’ machines engaging the seafloor, including trenchers for pipelines and cable laying and deep-water dredgers. With DeepGreen Resources Director David Heydon, he jointly conceived the ROVdrill to overcome limitations of conventional drill ships in the marine minerals industry. Mr Machin holds a masters degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford. He is a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, is accredited with over 20 published peer-reviewed papers and lectures widely on deep-water engineering. He holds at least 6 patents.

Dr. Jeffrey Donald has over 20 years of international experience in the mining & metallurgy business. Dr. Donald is a specialist in the interface between business strategy, capital project scoping, technology and operational excellence. He is an expert at managing the business case development of complex strategic projects in challenging international environments with multiple stakeholder interests. Dr. Donald has a broad knowledge of all aspects of the mining industry; nickel in particular, with a basis in metallurgy and process engineering. Dr. Donald has extensive project development experience, having managed portfolios of complex, strategic projects including greenfield developments, major expansions, environmental improvement & compliance, commercialization of novel technologies and operations improvement programs during his tenures at Hatch, Inco, Vale, PT Vale Indonesia and SNC Lavalin. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and degrees from Queen’s University at Kingston, ON.

Grant Lindner brings extensive experience in delivering complex resource projects in the construction and mining industries and has delivered over $26 billion in project value during his 25-year career at leading engineering and construction group, Bechtel, and mining major, BHP. He has held senior executive roles for large-scale mining, smelter and refinery, material handling and marine projects and has a record of building high-performing teams to ensure efficient project delivery, with a focus on building safe and capital-efficient greenfield and brownfield projects. As NORI Project Director, Grant oversees the delivery and scaling of the Company’s first polymetallic nodule project.

Michael has a PhD from the University of Texas and completed post-doctoral studies at Queen Mary University in London. He has 25+ years of experience in the field of environmental management and impact assessment with a focus on the mining and renewable energy sectors. With certifications as an Environmental Practitioner and Environmental Impact Assessor from the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ), he has successfully delivered highly complex Environmental Impact Assessments for large infrastructure projects in all corners of the globe. Michael is also an accomplished marine biologist, he led a team to map marine turtle nesting and migration patterns on the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula as part of a Darwin Initiative for the Conservation of Species project and has conducted marine conservation programs and baseline studies in Egypt, Indonesia, Vanuatu and Australia.

Corey is an experienced community and social performance manager with experience working in the South Pacific and in Canada’s North. Corey began his career working in government before transitioning to the mining industry where he worked with Rio Tinto leading their community relations team at the Diavik Diamond Mine. While at Diavik, Corey developed sector leading practices for Indigenous business development and renegotiated modern industry leading benefit agreements. Outside of work, Corey enjoys spending time with family in the mountains and sits on the Squamish Waldorf School Board.

Scott is an offshore project manager with over 20 years’ experience in the offshore industry having worked in the oil & gas, renewables and deep-sea mining sectors. He has spent his entire career working on large EPIC projects for global market leaders BP, Subsea 7, Acergy & Maersk Supply Service. Scott has held project management positions at both BP and Maersk Supply Service, with a track record of delivering projects safely, on schedule and within budget. For the past 4 years, Scott has successfully led over 13 offshore campaigns conducting deep-sea mining exploration surveys in the Clarion Clipperton Zone.  As Head of Offshore Campaigns, Scott oversees all aspects of the Company’s efforts to develop a rigorous environmental baseline as well as itspilot integrated polymetallic nodule collection system trial. Scott holds a Bachelor of Mechanical and Offshore Engineering from Robert Gordon University in Scotland.

Kristin is a seasoned business development strategist with combined expertise in materials research, renewable energy, and sustainability. Most recently, Kristin served as Director of Business Development at Edison Energy, an independent energy consulting firm, helping commercial and industrial clients build decarbonization strategies across energy procurement including power purchase agreements (PPAs), distributed generation and efficiency projects, and impactful sourcing of global renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets. Prior, Kristin spent 4 years facilitating energy conversion and storage technology research at manufacturing multinationals, startups, national laboratories, and universities. Kristin started her career working in project development and key account management at a solar startup, now part of Engie North America, aligning business cases across policy, finance and engineering. She also worked with PV Evolution Labs to create a PV Module QA process in the midst of the US-China Solar Trade Case

Agnes is a well-versed finance professional with over 20 years of internationally-gained experience. She started her career in public accounting at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, serving clients across various industries and countries. Agnes’ first job in mining was as corporate controller at a publicly-listed Canadian gold mining company where she worked in different finance fields at both head office and two mine sites in West Africa during her ten-year tenure. Gaining extensive operational experience in a multi-cultural environment and, as an acknowledged mentor, Agnes helped build robust cost controls and established systems and processes to support a well-oiled finance function. Prior to joining The Metals Company, Agnes was Head of the Operations Finance Team and her responsibilities included oversight of the financial planning and analysis function, ERP system management and functional improvement of reporting capabilities. She was also accountable for the full financial control of a new mining project from exploration through development and construction to operation. Agnes has a master’s degree in economics with majors in finance and marketing and a special law diploma for economist. She is a chartered accountant in Canada and Hungary and also a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the UK. 

With a degree in Law (Hons) and Business Management from the University of Queensland, Australia, Robert Heydon has played an important role in pioneering 21st century private sector mineral exploration in the International Seabed Area. He has been involved in the deep sea mining industry for over a decade, including assisting to progress the development of national and international legal frameworks regulating seafloor mining. Along with overseeing successful seafloor mineral exploration and metallurgical processing programmes, Mr. Heydon has pioneered deep sea mineral ventures with Pacific Island countries. Previously, he worked for Nautilus Minerals Inc., and was a member of the UNEP/GRID-Arendal Steering Committee for the Pacific Marine Minerals and Deep Sea Mining Assessment.

Toby Buckley is a robotics and control engineer who has overseen projects taking robots around the globe and into outer space. He previously was senior robotics and controls engineer for innovative robotics startup OffWorld Inc., leading the software and controls team in development of robotic systems. Toby earned a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University, and completed internships at Boeing, where he simulated and analyzed space-launch system vehicle trajectories; at Stanford’s Autonomous Systems Lab, where he helped implement decision-making algorithms for autonomous cars; and at The SpaceShip Company, where he programmed software for the suborbital vehicle SpaceShipTwo.

Rachel is an experienced communities practitioner with a passion for achieving sustainable social performance outcomes for both companies and communities. She has a decade of experience in the mining industry supporting major mining operations and exploration projects. Having lived and worked in North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, she is a multilingual communicator who can operate in diverse social contexts. She earned her MA in cultural anthropology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. As part of her MA research, she undertook three ethnographic field trips to investigate how rapid socioeconomic changes in post-socialist Tanzania were experienced locally, through the perspectives of a group of single mothers. Outside of work, Rachel is passionate about sustainable urban place making and her hobbies include ikebana and experimenting in the kitchen.

Dan has over 15 years of experience in international development, renewable energy and media ventures. He founded Planetwize Strategies in 2006 and has worked with clients around the world to develop brands, strategy and programs for making, measuring and communicating impact. He was VP of Impact and Communications at solar mini-grid pioneer Powerhive, in East Africa, where he leveraged communications and media to increase uptake of solutions to the global energy access challenge. Dan served as Communications Officer for The Christensen Fund where he led the foundation’s strategic communications initiatives in support of Indigenous communities around the world, and was previously the VP of Sustainability for Better Energy Systems where he developed strategy, marketing and social entrepreneurial applications in East Africa with Solio, one of the world’s first commercial micro-solar technologies. Dan received his Masters degree in environment and development from the London School of Economics and is an accomplished filmmaker and musician.

Matt has spent his career working in the mineral processing and metallurgy industry. Beginning his career focusing mainly on gold projects in Vietnam, Guatemala and Northern Canada, Matt quickly found himself with a moral dilemma – he understood the necessity of metals for our world’s future but had hesitations about contributing to the mining industry’s potential negative impacts on both the environment and within social communities. Right at this time he began working with The Metals Company’s onshore processing team and felt he was now contributing to a solution: continue to put necessary metals into circulation while reducing the social and environmental impact of doing so. Since joining TMC, Matt has contributed to the design of our near-zero waste flowsheet and has supported the completion of 4 pyrometallurgical pilot scale testing campaigns. Matt received a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 2019. Outside of work, Matt enjoys sports and traveling – having visited over 35 countries.

Rory has over 4 years of experience in public relations and communications, having worked as a consultant for the London-based outfit, The Cape Partnership. As a consultant, Rory developed communications packages and strategies for the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, as well as Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege. His work also included various C-suite speech-writing activities, including for the CEO of Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned port operator. Rory has a passion for politics and led The Cape Partnership in its Brexit-related analysis for Gulf-based clients. He earned an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford, where his research focussed on the Ugandan government’s policies towards the challenges and opportunities presented by artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Prior to his Master’s degree, Rory pursued a BA in English at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Patrick holds a PhD in Marine Biogeochemistry from the University of Bristol and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, where he is a visiting postdoctoral research fellow. Patrick is an experienced marine researcher whose Doctoral research formed part of the UK’s flagship Changing Arctic Programme where he studied the effects of changing sea ice conditions on organic carbon cycling in the Arctic Ocean, chapters of which have now been published as research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Patrick has participated in several offshore research expeditions and also brings expertise in molecular ecology, microbiology, and remote sensing, among other areas. Prior to his PhD, Patrick completed an MSc. at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, where he participated in a research cruise to the oligotrophic South Pacific gyre to investigate pelagic phosphorous cycling.

Sandra is an Accounts Payable Specialists with over 10 years’ worth of combined experience in accounts payable management, banking operations, financial reporting, and bookkeeping functions for various publicly traded companies with global operations in the energy, mining, and automotive sectors. Sandra began her career analysing sales trends and consumer behaviour patterns, providing actionable insights to the management team responsible for the operations in Latin America at Honda Motors Co. In 2017, Sandra joined Frontera Energy Corporation as an accounts payable analyst, before transitioning into the role of finance coordinator, where she acquired valuable experience implementing best-in-class practices in accounts payable and multinational banking operations. She was actively involved in the accounting cycle and financial reporting process for the business, while acting as an effective bridge of communication for the operations team overseas. At TMC, Sandra is responsible for maintaining the accounting workflow of TMC vendors activity and employee expenses in compliance with internal controls. Sandra graduated as an engineer, majoring in Operations Management, and has completed various professional accounting courses.

Tom is an experienced trader of commodities and equities and has worked at firms that include Paul Morgan & Co, Barclays Bank and UK stockbroker Cazenove, where he ran the Australian Sales Desk into Asia. At the turn of the century Tom focused on the Australian stock market with Tolhurst, where he ran their Institutional Desk. During this time Tom extended his responsibilities beyond sales and trading in to corporate services with a focus on the resources sector. He began working with Nautilus Minerals to raise the initial funds for the company’s IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Tom has also worked privately as a corporate advisor to select companies with big ideas. He believes in The Metals Company’s mission to move humanity toward carbon-free energy and applies his efforts and experience to the areas of finance, investor relations and business development

William Li is an experienced senior manager and entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience working between Australia and China in both the private and public sectors. He has been active in the minerals and mining industry since 2002, developing product off-take agreements; project development strategy and financing; engineering and research development and procurement of a number of global commodities. William has been an active participant in the evolution of deep sea mining over the last eight years, playing a key role on a team that initiated one of the world’s first deep sea minerals offtake agreements in a multi-year, international negotiation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Nankai University, China, an MBA from QUT, Australia and has completed course work toward a certificate of extractive metallurgy. He currently lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Fuka has extensive experience working in both Government and private sector in the Kingdom of Tonga. During his years with government he participated in a Japanese cruise onboard “Hakurei Maru” on a survey for manganese nodules North of the Hawaiian Islands. Fuka later graduated as a Geologist with a MSc (Hons) in 1987 from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. On his return to Tonga, he left Government to work for BP Oil as a Manager in 1988 and in 1990, before leaving for Fiji to work for SOPAC (South Pacific Geoscience Commission). He later returned to Tonga with a Master in Business Administration to manage Shell Fiji Company in 2000. At the end of 2003, Fuka left Shell to start his own business focusing on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of major projects in Tonga, including both coastal and on-land projects. He joined Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML) on 10 August 2022.

Peter Jacob joined The Metals Company in 2020 and brings decades of experience from his work within the Government of the Republic of Nauru. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation and recently served as the Chief of Staff for the Office of the President. From 2012-2013, Peter acted as the Director of Trade for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He also served as the First Secretary for the Nauru High Commission in Suva, Fiji Islands, and previously as the Chief Executive Officer for the Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority (NFMRA) where he helped develop the Nauru Aquaculture Plan with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). Peter brings a wealth of knowledge of the Pacific region and international diplomacy to his role as Country Manager for TMC. He holds a masters degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Fiji, as well as several Post-Graduate Diplomas and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the South Pacific (USP).

Lisa brings strong managerial experience following a 5 year tenure as Deputy CEO of Nauru Post, where she helped the corporation establish networks with other international postal corporations and work collaboratively to regional and international standards. Having served as Director for the Youth Affairs Department at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Lisa’s deep knowledge of community and stakeholder groups on the island means she is well placed to support the development and implementation of the range of community, social, capacity building and educational programmes we support in country.

Having spent his professional career contributing to unique environmental and resource undertakings in the Pacific Islands, Indonesia and Australia, Pat Clarke provides operational and project management support to The Metals Company. An engineer by training, Pat enjoys working with multidisciplinary teams to overcome complex project development challenges. With a passion for all things related to the ocean, Pat is focused on progressing the Metals Company’s vision and developing solutions for the sustainability challenges of tomorrow.

Katie is an earth and environmental scientist by training with over a decade of experience in marine geoscience and offshore marine management projects. Katie has participated in and assisted the planning and coordination of numerous offshore multidisciplinary mineral exploration and mapping campaigns across the South West Pacific and is an accomplished offshore environmental team leader. She has also participated in academic research cruises in the Mediterranean and a resource campaign in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. Katie’s expertise in the use of GIS platforms to analyse and present spatial data significantly enhances the capacity of the environmental team. As a Project Geoscientist, Katie has worked on deep-sea mineral exploration projects for Neptune Minerals, and as a marine scientist on coastal marine management projects undertaken by the Government of New South Wales in Australia.

Nicolas has over 10 years of experience in sustainability strategy, ESG reporting and institutional relations. He is dedicated to tackle the most pressing sustainability challenges of our time. Before joining TMC, Nicolas was responsible for the sustainability strategy area of Grupo México’s mining division, where he led the development of sustainability targets, KPIs, monitoring systems, and the company’s ESG-related disclosures. Nicolas held several other sustainability-related positions in the private and public sectors in Mexico, and as an entrepreneur. He is a seasoned traveller fluent in English, French and Spanish. He holds a MSc in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh, and a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the University of Maastricht.