Sherritt International Corporation
Chair, Non-Executive Director
Sir Richard Lapthorne has served as Chair of Sherritt’s Board of Directors since June 2019 and as a director since September 2011. He has served as a Finance Director or as Chairman of various FTSE 100 and non-quoted companies in the United Kingdom since 1986. He was Finance Director of Courtaulds plc from 1986 until 1992 as well as Finance Director of British Aerospace plc from 1992 and Vice Chairman from 1998 until his retirement in 1999. From 1996 to 2003 he was Chairman of Amersham plc (now GE Healthcare Technologies Inc.) having joined its board as a non-executive director in 1989. After he floated Orange plc for British Aerospace plc in 1996 he was appointed a non-executive director until it was sold to Mannesmann AG in 1999. He then became a non-executive director again after it was acquired by France Telecom from 2001 until 2003. He was also the Chairman of Cable & Wireless Communications plc and Cable & Wireless plc from 2003 until 2016. He served as Chairman of CPP Group plc until 2021 and has received approval by the United Kingdom’s regulatory Financial Conduct Authority under their designation of Chief Executive Function (CF3). His non-quoted appointments have included Chairman of PWC’s Public Interest Body, the McLaren Group and New Look plc, and positions with Fleming Holdings Ltd. and JP Morgan. He is also a fellow of each of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants and the Institute of Corporate Treasurers in the United Kingdom and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from The University of Liverpool.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Leon Binedell has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since June 2021. Prior to Sherritt, Mr. Binedell served as Chief Financial Officer of Guyana Goldfields Inc. from August 2019 to August 2020 on the successful sale of the company. Mr. Binedell has over 25 years of industry experience in leading international operations, companies and joint ventures. During his career, he lived in five countries with experience across the mining sector in bulk mining, base metals and precious metals, including complex operating environments and joint ventures.
His career included an operating executive role in private equity overseeing a large portfolio of mining and mining innovation companies across the globe spanning the commodities spectrum, as well as consulting and advisory roles where he led PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Mining and Energy Financial consulting group. Mr. Binedell holds the Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant designations.
Non-Executive Director
Louise Blais has served as a director of Sherritt since March 2024. Ms. Blais was Canada’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2017 to 2021. During this time, she served as Vice President to UNICEF’s Executive Board. As a senior diplomat, she has worked closely with Canadian companies in foreign markets, specializing in trade policy, investment attraction and export promotion. Currently, she is an Associate at the Atlanta-based Pendleton Group and Senior Advisor to the Business Council of Canada. Having begun her career at Interpol, Ms. Blais joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1996. As a senior diplomat, she served abroad in Washington, Tokyo and as Minister-Counsellor in Paris. She was Consul General in Atlanta, representing Canada in six U.S. states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi), before being named Ambassador to the UN in 2017.
In 2023, she was appointed to the national Board of Invest in Canada. She is on the Advisory councils of ADC Technologies and Applied General Intelligence and she chairs the board OBVIA, an AI academic consortium based out of Laval University. She also serves as Strategic Advisor to the QG100, a network of top Quebec companies with international operations. She regularly leads business delegations to international summits, such as the Trilateral Free Trade Commission (Canada, USA and Mexico) and the Canada-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue. Ms. Blais holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, is a John Robson Lecturer at Emory University, an Expert-in-Residence at Laval University and a Non-resident lecturer at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.
Non-Executive Director
Shelley Brown has served as a director of Sherritt since August 2024. As a Senior Audit Partner with Deloitte LLP she worked with a number of the firm’s major audit clients including multi-national mining and oil and gas companies listed in both Canada and the U.S. During her time in public practice, she served as the Director for Audit Services in Saskatchewan and also as Regional Managing Partner in Saskatchewan. Ms. Brown has over 30 years of board experience including serving on the boards of Stantec Incorporated and Inter Pipeline Limited. She previously served as the Chair of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. In 2013, she was appointed as the first Chair of CPA Canada. Ms. Brown is the recipient of numerous awards recognizing her accomplished career including receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards from the CPA Institutes of British Columbia and Saskatchewan and in 2018, she was named as a member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to her profession and her community. Ms. Brown holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan, is a Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, and holds the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).
Non-executive Director
Steven Goldman has served as a director of Sherritt since March 2024. Mr. Goldman is a founding member of the Toronto law firm of Goldman Hine LLP from which he retired in 2021. He remains counsel to the firm on a limited basis. During his legal career he acted for companies in various sectors to resolve complex legal disputes as well as provide strategic business advice. Mr. Goldman was listed in Best Lawyers in Canada for approximately 15 years as well listed as in Lexpert as a leading franchise litigation lawyer. From late 2017 until 2019. Mr. Goldman was President & CEO of privately owned Speedy Auto Service and Minute Muffler (with approximately 160 franchised locations across Canada). In 2018, he became President, CEO and a director of Comstock Metals Ltd., positions that he still holds. Mr. Goldman was an advisor to Alberta based E3 Metals Corp. (now known as E3 Lithium Ltd.) from 2018 until 2022. Mr. Goldman holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University (President’s Medal) and a Juris Doctorate from Queens University.
Non-Executive Director
Dr. Peter Hancock has served as a director of Sherritt since November 2021. Dr. Hancock is a mining industry executive with more than 30 years of experience with Glencore plc overseeing nickel mining operations, developing and commercializing process technologies, and ramping up nickel projects. As vice president of Glencore’s Nickel assets in Western Australia, Dr. Hancock oversaw the Murrin Murrin Nickel-Cobalt mining operations. In his time as president of Koniambo Nickel SAS in New Caledonia from 2011 to 2016, Dr. Hancock led the completion, commissioning, and ramp-up of a US$7 billion greenfield Nickel Mine project. He previously led the Brunswick Smelter and also led Technology and Business Development for Noranda Zinc. Earlier in his career, he contributed to significant advancements in his field as a program leader and research engineer at the Noranda Technology Center. More recently, he was appointed as a director of Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. in 2024, serves as an advisor to IMX S.A., and has also served as strategic advisor to Nemaska Lithium Inc. Dr. Hancock holds a Ph.D in Metallurgical Engineering from McGill University and both a Master of Applied Science and a Bachelor of Engineering from Technical University of Nova Scotia.
Non-Executive Director
Chih-Ting Lo has served as a director of Sherritt since March 2022. She is the founder and President of EELO Solutions, a management consulting firm specializing in the development of strategic plans and technical solutions focused on reducing net greenhouse gas emissions for the industrial sector. Over the past 20 years, she has advised mining companies, public utilities, and governments globally to innovate and to improve their carbon footprint and sustainability practices. She is currently Board Vice Chair at the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Centre, a federally seeded impact investment fund to catalyze, accelerate and scale climate action innovation. She also serves on the board of directors and board of advisors of several climate tech companies in minerals and mining space. Ms. Lo holds a Professional Engineer designation from Engineers and Geoscientists BC, a Masters of Science, Chemical Engineering degree from Queen’s University, and a Bachelor of Applied Science, Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Ms. Lo also holds the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).