Eagle Mountain taps Arizona master to head US copper play

Eagle Mountain Mining has tapped some serious experience to head up its American arm, appointing Manuel Ramos as CEO of US operations.

Ramos, best known as the former president and chief operating officer of Arizona’sprolific copper producer ASARCO LLC, will take the reins at Eagle Mountain’s (ASX:EM2) wholly-owned US subsidiary Silver Mountain Mining Operations.

Silver Mountain is the operator of the advanced stage Oracle Ridge copper-silver, gold project, which sits among a number of significant copper porphyry projects in the heart of Arizona.

The project has a JORC (2012) resource of 12.2 million tonnes at 1.5% copper, 16.3grams per tonne silver and 0.19g/t gold.

It sits in good company. Those with a regional copper presence include BHP, Rio Tinto, ASARCO, Freeport McMoRan, South 32 and Hudbay.

In Ramos, EM2 adds a veteran of the Arizona copper industry – the new CEO was president and COO at ASARCO for nine years through to 2018 and VP of metallurgical operations for more than 10 years prior.

ASARCO operates the Mission, Silver Bell and Ray copper mine complexes in Arizona, along with the Hayden and Ray copper smelters. All sit a few hours’ drive from Oracle Ridge.

Drawing on this experience, Ramos’ key objective will be to take Oracle Ridge from exploration to feasibility and potentially operations, while also identifying and assessing further growth opportunities for the company in Arizona.

Eagle Mountain CEO Tim Mission said it was great to have an experienced head on board in the US.

“We are delighted that Mr Ramos will be joining the team in Tucson to help achieve our goals of becoming a low-cost copper producer in Arizona,” he said.

“Mr Ramos’ extensive executive and operational experience, particularly in the Arizona resources industry, will bring valuable insight as we plan to transition from explorer to producer at Oracle Ridge.

“He has a proven track record in leading teams and developing resource projects, and I am confident that Mr Ramos has the right skills to lead us into the future.”