TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Brazilian fertiliser development company Verde Potash on Monday appointed Antônio Schettino as COO, replacing Pedro Ladeira, who would continue with Verde as a technical adviser focusing on the company's pyro process.
Schettino joined Verde from MMX Mineração e Metálicos, where he was COO responsible for managing and expanding iron-ore production facilities, producing about eight-million tonnes a year in Minas Gerais state.
Having more than 30 years of experience in project development and construction, including more than two decades as the operations director of significant iron-ore, nickel, limestone and coal mining operations in Brazil, Chile and Colombia, Schettino was considered ideally suited to advance Verde’s Cerrado Verde project, in Brazil’s agricultural heartland.
During June, Verde had also strengthened its management team by appointing Leonardo Moretzsohn as chairperson, and Fernando Coura as a director. Moretzsohn is an accomplished mining and finance executive, who served 24 years with mining giant Vale, including as CFO of Vale Inco and five years with the EBX Group.
Coura is the CEO of the Brazilian Mining Association, Brazil's largest nongovernmental organisation articulating the concerns of and representing the mining industry, and he is VP of the Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais.
Cerrado Verde is the source of a potash-rich deposit from which the company intends to produce potassium chloride (KCl). In addition, it is developing its Calcario limestone project, limestone being a key raw material in the production of KCl.