TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vanadium producer Largo Resources announced several management changes as it continued to improve operations at its flagship Maracás Menchen mine, in Brazil.
The TSX-V-listed company announced Monday that Paulo Misk had been promoted to president of Brazilian operations of subsidiary Vanadio de Maracas (VMSA), succeeding Kurt Menchen, after which the struggling mine was named.
Menchen retired from the position in December, but remained on as a director of Maracas and had entered into a contract for services to provide continuing assistance to the company.
Nilson Luciano Chaves had assumed the role of VP of finance and administration.
Further, Largo announced that chief legal officer John Ashburn had resigned, and Largo's COO Michael Mutchler had left the company to pursue other opportunities.
The Maracás Menchen mine started up in August 2014, but mechanical issues had hampered the ramp-up, and low vanadium prices were impeding the company’s ability to provide working capital and service existing debt obligations.
Early in March, VMSA had signed definitive agreements with a consortium of existing commercial banks in Brazil for a new debt facility, as well as to restructure the export credit facilities for the mine. The company had also closed the second tranche of a private placement of 133.47-million shares for gross proceeds of C$23.4-million, which it intended to use for ongoing working capital requirements at Maracás Menchen. This was a condition of the company's restructuring of its existing credit and export facilities with its consortium of Brazilian lenders, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
Largo had lost more than two-thirds of its share price in the last 12 months, and on Tuesday traded thinly at C$0.29 apiece.