Torngat Metals

Trust, respect

At Torngat Metals we are a group of people who have mutual trust, respect, and concern for one another.

Our success as a rare earth company is built on the strength and dedication of our personnel, our communities, and our financial and technical partners.

We can accomplish anything when we work together.

The core team

Dr. Dirk Naumann

President & CEO

Dirk leads Torngat Metals and oversees the technical development of the Strange Lake Project. He has extensive experience in the chemical and mining industries, including working at TH Goldschmidt, Bayer, VALE’s nickel division, and Juniper Associates, an international consulting firm.

Dirk has a Bachelor degree in chemistry and a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry from the University of Göttingen.

Christine Burow

Chief Marketing Officer

Christine leads Torngat Metals’ ESGI (Indigenous) (Environmental Social Governance and Indigenous), marketing, business development and government relations. She has almost 30 years of senior-level industrial experience. She has been working in the rare earths industry since 2013. As the President of her consulting firm, she has supported global clients in mining, technology, environment, and manufacturing industries. She has previously worked for Resolute Forest Products, Trojan Technologies, Rayonier, and VALE’s nickel business.

Christine has a BSc from the University of Waterloo and an EMBA from Western University.

Alain Wilson

Chief Financial Officer

Alain oversees the company’s finances, with over 30 years of experience as a CFO and management consultant, focusing on strategy and financial management in industries such as mining, metals, and chemicals.

He has been a Mercer Management Consulting VP, Toronto Office Head and founding partner of Revelstoke Partners.
Alain holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from Queen’s University and an MBA from IMD.

Samantha Doig

Vice President, Human Resources

Ms. Doig is leader in human resources management with extensive experience in the mining and education sectors. She is knowledgeable in talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, organizational development, team building, and labour relations. Previous roles include talent recruitment at Glencore (formerly Xstrata Nickel), and Director of HR at Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (the School Board of Nunavik)

Samantha earned a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology and Women’s Studies and a Certificate in Human Resources Management from the University of Toronto, as well as a certificate in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator psychometric testing. Samantha is an Inuk beneficiary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Mauro Ferrara

Vice-Président, Finance

Mauro has over 30 years of progressive experience in financial management and reporting for public companies. Previous roles include Chief Financial Officer of Adacel Technologies (in the air traffic control industry and traded on ASX), Chief Financial Officer of Bitfarms (a Bitcoin mining company traded on NASDAQ), Chief Financial Officer of Savaria Inc. (traded on the TSX serving the accessibility industry) and Senior Director, Financial Reporting at WSP Global Inc (a large engineering firm traded on the TSX). He is qualified in financial reporting, developing and implementing financial controls and processes, as well as implementing productivity improvements and change management.

Mauro is a CPA-CA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Graduate degree in Public Accounting from McGill University.

Éric Luneau

Vice-President Community
Engagements and Partnerships

Eric has more than 27 years experience mainly in senior managerial roles in human resources, health and safety and Indigenous relations. He has worked primarily in the mining industry, as well as for pulp and paper, and manufacturing companies. His focus has been community and employee management at the facilities and in the regions where the companies operate. In his early career this included Falconbridge’s Raglan Mine in Nunavik, and Domtar in Cornwall, Ontario. Later he worked with Noranda at the Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, New-Brunswick. He then went overseas with Xstrata to start the Koniambo Project in New Caledonia (South Pacific).He then returned to Canada to join Canadian Royalties Inc. for their Nunavik Nickel Project in Nunavik. Most recently, Eric was with Tata Steel Minerals Canada in their Timmins Mine in Schefferville, Quebec.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Industrial Relations (1993),coupled with an Occupational Health and Safety Certificate (1997), both obtained at Montreal University, Canada.

Dr. Sylvie St-Jean

Vice President, Environment

Dr. St-Jean has over 25 years of experience in the mining space, with a focus on water and biodiversity management, permitting and rehabilitation, and prioritizes Indigenous and First Nations communities as partners. Sylvie started her career at the Government of Canada where she was involved in developing an alternative to the fish survey for the Canadian Metal Mining Environmental Effect Monitoring (EEM) Program. She served as a member of the Canadian National EEM Science Committee and on the Board of Directors of National Nearshore Monitoring Committee. Dr. St-Jean has over 15 years of operational experience including five years as Canadian and USA Compliance Manager in the energy sector, and a range of mines including Teck, Ambatovy (Africa), New Gold Rainy River, Osisko and now Torngat Metals.

Sylvie led the industry’s first environmental certificate for an open pit mine situated in a world hot spot for biodiversity under the rigorous IFC 2012 standards, an award-winning accomplishment. During her tenure at Ambatovy, the company restored 854 Ha of rice fields, developed and implemented a rehabilitation plan for of 220 kilometers of pipeline, developed a plan to replant 5,000 Ha of primary forest and protect another 18,000 Ha of primary forest. She also led the plans and the river restoration to protect and enhance two species of endangered fish. In North America, Sylvie has led reclamation projects for sites situated from subarctic to desert climates, including restoring wetlands and prairies. She recently led the restoration of an abandoned tailings facility, which has been nominated for two awards, and led the design and permitting phases on an initiative that will transform a tailings storage facility into a mine waste infrastructure, thus considerably reducing risk.

Clinton Swemmer

Vice President, Project Management

Clinton is a seasoned senior professional having managed the delivery of large mineral processing and infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, Russia, USA, Central and South America, and Canada. He has deep expertise developing successful solutions to complex projects in remote locations with temperatures ranging from -50°C to +40°C, and large infrastructure projects including dams, ports, towns, villages, roads, hospitals, and pipelines. He is experienced in the full spectrum of projects, from preliminary economic assessments to complete nameplate commissioning of facilities.


Clinton has a BEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, UK.

Marilyn Butland

Stakeholder Relations,
Newfoundland and Labrador

Marilyn is a strategic advisor to Torngat Metals for stakeholder relations, project planning, and corporate communications in Newfoundland and Labrador. Marilyn has extensive experience with mining and natural resources projects ranging from exploration to production, operations to closures, and restarts.

Her extensive experience with Impact and Benefit Agreements, development agreements, community consultations and environmental assessments is invaluable for advancing Torngat Metals’ commitment to partnerships, respect, and shared benefits.

Her connections in Labrador run deep from her experience supporting negotiators with the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement and the executive team of the Nunatsiavut Government, as well as her engagement in Indigenous relations in Labrador and Quebec.

Her business acumen is honed by over thirty years as an executive and partner in government, business, and communications agencies. With a Bachelor of Commerce from Memorial University, she is also a certified public participation practitioner, management consultant and accredited partnership broker. Her volunteer work with business organizations provides a deep network throughout eastern and Arctic Canada.

Butland Communications has a proven reputation for advising and supporting leaders and executive teams in developing solid relationships in demanding situations. Working directly with planners, negotiators and implementing teams, from concept to start-up to operations, Marilyn has led and contributed to teams in developing and activating strategic plans to secure the trust of beneficiaries, regulators, funders, partners, members, employees, and the public.

Navid Rohani

Process Engineer

Navid is a process engineer with more than 10 years of experience in the chemical production industry, energy sector and biorefining. He specializes in process development, integration and optimization with a focus on development and use of renewable energy and chemicals. Prior to joining Torngat Metals, Navid was involved in the development of several capital projects in the energy and chemicals sectors.

He has a Master of Science in process engineering from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and an undergraduate degree in process management from McGill University.

Susan Sheehan

ESGI (Indigenous)
and Communications

Susan is a dedicated ESGI (Indigenous) (Environment, Social, Governance) professional with over 25 years of experience across cleantech and traditional industries, having focused  on sustainability planning, communications,
and reporting throughout much of her career.

She has consulted to global organizations such as Dow Chemical, Algonquin Power, ConocoPhillips and Masonite. Susan has worked with early-stage cleantech companies, as well as government agencies and NGOs. Early in her career, Susan led a project in remote areas of the Amazon rainforest in collaboration with the UNEP (UN Environmental Program), local partners, and Indigenous communities. The project aimed to revive the natural rubber industry and preserve the rainforest canopy through sustainable economic development.

Susan holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Ed Walker

Vice-President Resource
Geology and Minerology

Ed is an accomplished geologist with 30+ years in resource development and exploration of precious, base, and rare metals, as well as industrial mineral deposits.
He is a qualified NI 43-101 technical person (QP) and registered with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.
He holds a BSc in Geological Sciences from Brock University and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario.

Philippe Wattel

Metallurgy Engineer

Philippe is a highly experienced metallurgy engineer with 40 years of experience in non-ferrous metals and 25 years in the industry and since 2015 involved in rare earths.
He has held various manager positions at companies such as UMICOREG, riset, and Zincox and currently serves as a European representative and consultant for Torngat Metals.

The Board of Directors

The following individuals are world-class in their fields of expertise, providing technical and strategic guidance to the Torngat Metals executive team.

Tom Gilman

Chairman

Mr. Gilman has over 40 years as a senior executive and entrepreneur within the global automotive industry. He has unique experience having worked in automotive manufacturing, retailing, financial services and supply chain. Tom spent 22 years at Chrysler Corporation, then five years as CFO at Chrysler Financial during a period of double-digit growth and 16 consecutive quarters of record profits.  He then joined and oversaw the Asbury Automotive Group’s IPO on the NYSE. In 2006, Tom joined Cerberus Capital Management as a Senior Advisor, directing multiple deals including the acquisitions of GMAC, Chrysler Financial and Chrysler. He then became the Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Financial and facilitated its sale to TD Bank Group, becoming President and CEO of TD Auto Finance and an Executive Vice President of TD Bank Group, Canada. From 2014-2018, he founded and sold Automotive Capital Services (ACS) which financed automotive dealership inventories. From 2019-2021, Mr. Gilman was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration for the U.S. Department of Commerce, directing financial, management, administrative and personnel functions for about 47,000 employees and a multi-billion-dollar budget. He speaks four languages, has lived in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is on several automotive company boards and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Villanova University.

Nicholas P. Robinson

Managing Director,
Cerberus Capital Management

Mr. Robinson is a Managing Director on the Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities team, and previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corporation until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless in 2021. Prior to that, he served as the firm’s Head Trader. Nicholas has led public and private deals in 5G, telecom, and next-generation technologies. He was involved in risk management for the firm globally. He joined Cerberus in 2011 from Morgan Stanley where he was an Executive Director and credit trader on the high-yield and distressed desk. He started his career in 2004 as a Credit Analyst in Goldman Sachs’ Leveraged Loan Group after graduating from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

John P. Gallagher

Managing Director,
Cerberus Capital Management

Mr. Gallagher is a Managing Director on the Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities team. Prior to joining Cerberus, he was a Managing Director of Tracker Capital, a venture capital-oriented family office investing in emerging technologies. Previously, he was Special Assistant to the Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Following nearly 30 years in the U.S. Army, and as recipient of numerous miliary awards, John served as the Chief Executive Officer for an NGO working in the Middle East and Asia.

Prior to this he was an advisor to several military commanders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the Pentagon, the Commander of U.S. Central Command, and the Commander of all coalition forces in Afghanistan. From 2007 to 2009, he was a White House Fellow and Director for Iraq and Afghanistan affairs at the National Security Council. A former airborne infantry officer and army strategist, he graduated from and taught at West Point and holds two master’s degrees with distinction from The University of Chicago in public policy and political science.

Alberto Galeone

President, CEO, Treasurer
and Director, Sherbrooke Capital

Mr. Galeone joined Sherbrooke Street Capital (“SSC”) as CEO, Treasurer, and Director in October 2004 and added the role of President in March 2008. Alberto has over 30 years of experience in brokerage dealings with Canadian and international institutional accounts. Prior to joining SSC, he spent five years at Canaccord Capital, where he was part of the Institutional Fixed Income Team. Previously, he was a Partner, Director, and President of the institutional brokerage arm of the Republic National Bank of New York-Canada.

Elias Hage

President,
Hagecor International

For over 25 years, Mr. Hage has executed on his vision to pursue economic growth that promotes social and environmental long-term sustainability and security. Elias has founded or presided over international and national maritime, land, rail, and transportation companies as well as a waste-to-energy plant, beverage processing plants in Québec and companies in the real estate sector including a hotel and workers’ cam development company. Elias pursued a general business degree from Vanier College Montreal, and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce. He also pursued graduate studies in maritime management at Maine Maritime Academy in the United States.

Cerberus Capital Management

Our cornerstone investor and strategic partner

  • As a global leader in alternative investing with approximately US$ 60 billion in assets, Cerberus provides not only financial strength but also access to world class expertise, and extensive senior relationships with government, industry and influencers.
  • Cerberus has a long-term investment horizon and a commitment to the Strange Lake project, having invested US$ 50 million in Torgnat Metals, the single largest rare earths investment in Canada.
  • Cerberus’ ESG values for its portfolio companies directly aligns with Torngat’s commitment to IESG leadership.
  • Torngat is the first critical minerals investment within Cerberus’ Supply Chain Opportunities Platform.