Marimaca Copper Corp.(TSX: MARI) announced changes to its executive management team, with Petra Decher stepping down from her role as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, and the appointment of José Antonio Merino as Managing Director, Chile and Interim CFO.
Decher has served as CFO since April 26, 2021, and prior to that as a member of the Board of Directors of Marimaca. Decher provided integral leadership during the Company’s progress toward the development of the Marimaca Copper project.
Merino, who will be based in Chile, brings over 15 years of international and in-country experience to the Marimaca team. Prior to joining Marimaca, he served as General Manager of Business Development and M&A at SQM.
As Managing Director, Chile, Merino will oversee all in-country commercial, finance, administrative and site-based workstreams during the company’s path to development of the Marimaca project. Merino will serve as Interim CFO during the Company’s search for a full-time appointee. Merino is a Civil Engineer by training and has served in various senior roles in the natural resource industry across Project Development, M&A, Corporate Finance and Advisory.
“We would like to thank Petra for her valuable contributions as a member of Marimaca’s executive team over the last 2 years and, prior to that, as a member of the Board. She has been a core member of the team as the Company has commenced its transition from explorer to developer, and leaves behind an excellent foundation for Marimaca’s next phase of development,” chairman Michael Haworth said in the statement.
“We are very pleased to welcome José Antonio to the Team,” Haworth said. “His experience and commercial acumen will be exceptionally valuable during this next, critical phase of Marimaca’s journey to becoming a high-quality copper producer.”
“The company is rapidly de-risking the Marimaca Project and José Antonio’s leadership will be instrumental in the delivery of our next key milestones including permitting submissions, the planned Definitive Feasibility Study and strategic financing discussions.”