Sherritt Announces the Retirement of its Chairman

Globe and Mail

a day ago

Sherritt International Corporation ('Sherritt' or the 'Corporation') (TSX:S) today announced that Sir Richard Lapthorne, Chairman of the Board of Directors (the 'Board'), has advised the Corporation that his previously announced retirement will be effective today due to personal reasons.
Sir Richard has served as Chairman of the Board since June 2019. Over that time, the Corporation has undergone significant transformation, strengthening its balance sheet, advancing operational capabilities, and navigating an extended period of commodity price volatility.
'Serving as Chairman of Sherritt has been a profound responsibility and privilege,' said Sir Richard. 'With the Corporation now well-positioned for long-term growth, this is the right time to begin a leadership transition. I have every confidence in the Board and executive team to continue building on the momentum we have established.'
During Sir Richard's tenure as Chairman, Sherritt completed two major debt restructurings, implemented a disciplined capital strategy, and made critical investments to extend the life of key operations. These efforts have enabled the Corporation to deliver improved future cash flow, enhance operational efficiency, and position itself as a reliable supplier of critical minerals.
'On behalf of the Corporation, I want to thank Sir Richard for his leadership,' said Leon Binedell, President and CEO of Sherritt. 'His guidance helped steer Sherritt through market turbulence and into a position of great potential. We are deeply grateful for his service.'
About Sherritt
Sherritt is a world leader in using hydrometallurgical processes to mine and refine nickel and cobalt – metals deemed critical for the energy transition. Sherritt's Moa Joint Venture has an estimated mine life of approximately 25 years and is advancing an expansion program focused on increasing annual MSP production by 20% of contained nickel and cobalt. The Corporation's Power division, through its ownership in Energas, is the largest independent energy producer in Cuba with installed electrical generating capacity of 506 MW, representing approximately 10% of the national electrical generating capacity in Cuba. The Energas facilities are comprised of two combined cycle plants that produce low-cost electricity from one of the lowest carbon emitting sources of power in Cuba. Sherritt's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'S'.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of statements that include such words as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'intend', 'plan', 'forecast', 'likely', 'may', 'will', 'could', 'should', 'suspect', 'outlook', 'potential', 'projected', 'continue' or other similar words or phrases. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding strategies, plans and estimated production amounts resulting from expansion of mining operations at the Moa JV and dividend growth from the Power division.
Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations, assumptions and projections about future events, including commodity and product prices and demand; the level of liquidity and access to funding; share price volatility; nickel, cobalt and fertilizer production results and realized prices; current and future demand products produced by Sherritt; global demand for electric vehicles and the anticipated corresponding demand for cobalt and nickel; revenues and net operating results; environmental risks and liabilities; compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations; advancements in environmental and greenhouse gas ('GHG') reduction technology; GHG emissions reduction goals and the anticipated timing of achieving such goals, if at all; statistics and metrics relating to Environmental, Social and Governance ('ESG') matters which are based on assumptions or developing standards; environmental rehabilitation provisions; risks related to the U.S. government policy toward Cuba; current and future economic conditions in Cuba; the level of liquidity and access to funding; Sherritt share price volatility; and certain corporate objectives, goals and plans for 2025. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Corporation to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that the assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections.
The Corporation cautions readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement as a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, commodity risks related to the production and sale of nickel cobalt and fertilizers; security market fluctuations and price volatility; level of liquidity of Sherritt, including access to capital and financing; the ability of the Moa JV to pay dividends; the risk to Sherritt's entitlements to future distributions (including pursuant to the Cobalt Swap) from the Moa JV; risks related to Sherritt's operations in Cuba; risks related to the U.S. government policy toward Cuba, including the U.S. embargo on Cuba and the Helms-Burton legislation; political, economic and other risks of foreign operations, including the impact of geopolitical events on global prices for nickel, cobalt, fertilizers, or certain other commodities; uncertainty in the ability of the Corporation to enforce legal rights in foreign jurisdictions; uncertainty regarding the interpretation and/or application of the applicable laws in foreign jurisdictions; risk of future non-compliance with debt restrictions and covenants; risks related to environmental liabilities including liability for reclamation costs, tailings facility failures and toxic gas releases; compliance with applicable environment, health and safety legislation and other associated matters; risks associated with governmental regulations regarding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; risks relating to community relations; maintaining social license to grow and operate; uncertainty about the pace of technological advancements required in relation to achieving ESG targets; risks to information technologies systems and cybersecurity; risks associated with the operation of large projects generally; risks related to the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; the possibility of equipment and other failure; potential interruptions in transportation; identification and management of growth opportunities; the ability to replace depleted mineral reserves; risks associated with the Corporation's joint venture partners; variability in production at Sherritt's operations in Cuba; risks associated with mining, processing and refining activities; risks associated with the operation of large projects generally; risks related to the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; the possibility of equipment and other failures; uncertainty of gas supply for electrical generation; reliance on key personnel and skilled workers; growth opportunity risks; uncertainty of resources and reserve estimates; the potential for shortages of equipment and supplies, including diesel; supplies quality issues; risks related to the Corporation's corporate structure; foreign exchange and pricing risks; credit risks; competition in product markets; future market access; interest rate changes; risks in obtaining insurance; uncertainties in labour relations; legal contingencies; risks related to the Corporation's accounting policies; uncertainty in the ability of the Corporation to obtain government permits; failure to comply with, or changes to, applicable government regulations; bribery and corruption risks, including failure to comply with the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act or applicable local anti-corruption law; the ability to accomplish corporate objectives, goals and plans for 2025; and the ability to meet other factors listed from time to time in the Corporation's continuous disclosure documents.
The Corporation, together with its Moa JV, is pursuing a range of growth and expansion opportunities, including without limitation, process technology solutions, development projects, commercial implementation opportunities, life of mine extension opportunities and the conversion of mineral resources to reserves. In addition to the risks noted above, factors that could, alone or in combination, prevent the Corporation from successfully achieving these opportunities may include, without limitation: identifying suitable commercialization and other partners; successfully advancing discussions and successfully concluding applicable agreements with external parties and/or partners; successfully attracting required financing; successfully developing and proving technology required for the potential opportunity; successfully overcoming technical and technological challenges; successful environmental assessment and stakeholder engagement; successfully obtaining intellectual property protection; successfully completing test work and engineering studies, prefeasibility and feasibility studies, piloting, scaling from small scale to large scale production, procurement, construction, commissioning, ramp-up to commercial scale production and completion; and securing regulatory and government approvals. There can be no assurance that any opportunity will be successful, commercially viable, completed on time or on budget, or will generate any meaningful revenues, savings or earnings, as the case may be, for the Corporation. In addition, the Corporation will incur costs in pursuing any particular opportunity, which may be significant.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and should be considered in conjunction with the risk factors described in the Corporation's other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities, including without limitation the 'Managing Risk' section of the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the Annual Information Form of the Corporation dated March 24, 2025 for the period ending December 31, 2024, which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
The Corporation may, from time to time, make oral forward-looking statements. The Corporation advises that the above paragraph and the risk factors described in this press release and in the Corporation's other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities should be read for a description of certain factors that could cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those in the oral forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any oral or written forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information and statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.