Maryse Belanger has been appointed interim COO of Horizonte Minerals.
Nickel development company Horizonte Minerals on Monday announced major changes to its board of directors and senior leadership, with founder and CEO Jeremy Martin and CFO Simon Rettler resigning and Maryse Bélanger coming in as COO.
Nonexecutive interim chairperson William Fisher and nonexecutive director Owen Bavinton also stepped down from the board.
These changes, Horizonte said, followed discussions for a financing solution for its flagship Araguaia nickel project, in Brazil. The project is facing a cost increase of at least 35% from the current capital expenditure budget and construction activities have been scaled back.
To progress the financing and a restructuring process, Horizonte will appoint Karim Nasr as interim CEO.
Nasr is managing partner and co-chief investment officer of La Mancha Resource Capital, which advises La Mancha Resource Fund, one of the company's major shareholders.
Horizonte also proposed the appointment of Paul Smith as nonexecutive director and chairperson.
In addition, it announced that Belanger, who until recently was chairperson of Canadian miner Iamgold, would be interim COO in a nonboard capacity. Bélanger has been a consultant to Horizonte in recent months.