Board at Copper 360

Shirley Ann Hayes
Shirley Ann Hayes Executive Chairperson
Shirley is a mining entrepreneur by profession and has built the
SHIP mining Company over the past 15 years from a start-up
company to a mining company with a Net Asset Value more than
ZAR3bn. Her key strengths are being practical and pragmatic with a
strong focus on strategic and systems thinking underpinned by a
deep appreciation of ethics. She is a qualified miner with a blasting
certificate. She holds 32 years of hands-on experience in ideating
and developing entrepreneurial ventures.
Rupert Smith
Rupert SmithNon-Executive Deputy Chairperson
Rupert is a lawyer by profession and holds a BA LLB degree. He has over 40 years of experience and is the founder of the Tabacks legal firm, one of South Africa’s premier law firms. He has many years of experience in mining specific deals and structuring with most of the major South African Mining Houses. Rupert is also a mining entrepreneur who has been instrumental in the building of several junior mining companies. Rupert’s key strengths are being structured, logical, disciplined with a strong focus on negotiation and strategy.
Jan Nelson
Jan Nelson Chief Executive Officer
Jan is a geologist by profession and holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Earth Sciences. Jan has over 28 years of practical experience in management, mine production, exploration and team building. Jan has been the CEO of companies listed on the JSC, London’s AIM market and the Canadian TSX-V. Jan has been instrumental in building several junior companies most notably Pan African Resources which he started with a market capitalization of less than ZAR250m and grew it to a company with a market capitalization in excess of ZAR5 billion with over 5,000 employees. Jan was also instrumental in listing Pan African Resources on the JSE Alt-X and later Main Board with it being the first dual primary AIM listing. Jan’s key strengths being goal driven, an opportunity spotter and driver and motivator of people.
Gordon Thompson
Gordon ThompsonChief Operating Officer
He is an engineering focused mining executive with 30 years of hands-on operational experience in both major and junior categories, holding both senior leadership and CEO positions. Successful experience in large project engineering design, definitive study, project development and operations. International experience in mechanised surface (open cut) and shallow to ultra-deep underground mining operations expertise developed in Western Australia, West Africa, Mali, DRC, Brazil and Southern Africa. He is a proven results driven leader with direct technical and commercial work experience in the international mining industry.
Stephan Du Plessis
Stephan Du PlessisChief Financial Officer
Stephan has 33 years of practical experience and holds a M Com (Management Accounting) degree and is a Chartered Accountant (SA). He has, inter alia, served as the head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merryll Lynch in South Africa and has extensive international corporate advisory experience. He has a particularly strong background in the mining sector, having advised several global mining corporations.. Stephan has been involved in the listing, building and structuring of several companies on local and international exchanges. Over the last 8 years, he has been acting both as investor principal and advisor in the mineral resources field. Stephan’s key strengths are being logical, solution driven, practical and having an aptitude for working with numbers.
Dr. Mbendeni Humphrey Mathe
Dr. Mbendeni Humphrey Mathe Independent Non-Executive Director
Humphrey has over 47 years of experience and holds a Ph.D. in geology. Humphrey is the chairman of a large South African listed coal company and has served on the Board of many South African companies. Humphrey is also part of the parliamentary oversight committee for Mineral Resources. Humphrey’s key strengths are that he is a good listener, firm yet fair, pragmatic and conciliatory.
Anel Van Niekerk
Anel Van Niekerk Independent Non-Executive Director
Anel has over 22 years of experience and holds a B. Com Accounting (Hon) degree and is a Chartered Accountant. She is the Chief Financial Officer of a large manganese producer and has local and international experience in listed and unlisted companies. Her strengths are that she is logical, pragmatic, goal orientated and has an affinity for numbers.
Quinton Adams
Quinton Adams Independent Non-Executive Director
Quinton has over 25 years of experience and is in the process of completing a P.HD, is a psychologist and ethnographic researcher. Quinton has been a lecturer at the university of Stellenbosch, and is also known as the shack builder delivering on building houses in his personal capacity for the poor in the townships. Quinton is responsible for driving strategic planning for several large international companies. His strengths are his social network knowledge, compassion for people, strategic thinking and pragmatic approach.
Marcel Golding
Marcel GoldingNon-Executive Director
BA (Hons)

Major external positions, directorships or associations:

Non-executive Chairperson of Texton Property Fund Limited, executive director of Rex Trueform Group Limited and African and Overseas Enterprises Limited, non executive director of Tsogo Sun Limited, Vunani Limited, Vunani Capital Partners Limited, and Chairperson of Geomer Investments Proprietary Limited.

Key skills and experience:
Marcel served as the executive Chairperson of HCI and Chief Executive Officer of e-tv until 2014. Prior to this, he was a member of Parliament and Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers. Marcel currently runs a private family investment portfolio.

Copper 360 News

PWC lists copper at the top of its Big Six critical metals in its Mine 2023 report, Copper 360 noted as key role player

October 9th, 2023|

The PWC Mine 2023 report, themed Adapt To Thrive, has ranked copper at pole position in its critical metals list. In addition, South Africa was ranked highest amongst critical energy metal reserve listings, vis-à-vis copper producing nations, ahead of Zambia, Botswana and Angola. PwC’s 'SA Mine 2023’ report notes that we have entered the era of critical minerals. To make the energy transition real, the world must dramatically ramp up the use of low-emission green energy technologies. What unites all these technologies, whether they’re well-established or cutting edge, is their reliance on metals and minerals.