Management
Vernon Baker
CEO
Mr. Baker was appointed Chief Executive Officer on August 6, 2019. Mr. Baker brings over 36 years of mining industry experience. He has extensive management and operations expertise at globally focused mid-tier and senior mining companies. Most recently, he was General Manager at Goldcorp’s Cerro Negro Mine in Argentina, overseeing 3,000 tonnes per day of high-grade production and implementing programs to reduce costs, grow production and development, and leading strong safety improvement to achieve an AIFR of 0.28 in 2017. Previously, Mr. Baker held management and senior leadership roles with various mining companies including President at Duluth Metals Limited, Vice President of Operations at FNX Mining, General Manager at Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc., and General Manager of Hemlo Operations, a Joint Venture of Teck Cominco and Barrick Gold.
Alfred Colas
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Colas is a seasoned finance executive with over 20 years of experience with publicly listed mining and forestry companies and 5 years of experience in private-equity real estate. Mr. Colas spent over 13 years in progressively senior finance roles with Barrick Gold Corp, culminating in his 2007 assignment as finance manager at the Veladero Mine in Argentina, where he was a seminal part of the team that successfully turned around the operation. From 2010-2013, he was controller of junior gold explorer Rainy River Resources, following which he was VP and CFO of FNI Mining. In 2015, Mr. Colas joined as CFO of Potentia Solar, a rooftop solar company founded by a private equity group and, after its sale, he continued as CFO of a family office focusing on senior-care investments through mid-2020. From 2020 through 2021 Mr. Colas was CFO of dual-listed silver producer Excellon Resources and most recently, he was CFO of GreenFirst Forest Products. Mr. Colas holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, and he obtained his CA designation in 1995, having started his career in 1992 as an auditor with Price Waterhouse.
Jonathan Victor Hill
VP Exploration & Mine Geology
Mr. Hill joined Jaguar in July 2017 brining over 30 years of experience in global exploration, mining operational and project development experience including, Africa, Australia and the Americas. Mr. Hill spent most of his formative years as a geologist with AngloGoldAshanti, where he recently held the title of Exploration Manager, Colombia Greenfields. During his tenure at AngloGoldAshanti he was involved in the discovery of world class projects. His broad range of experience includes, exploration and development of projects including due diligence, corporate development, mine geology including coordination and liaison with mine planning and reporting of mineral resources and reserves. Mr. Hill is a Non – Executive Director of Royal Road Minerals Limited and Stratabound Minerals Corporation. He holds a BSc (Hons) Economic Geology 1988 (University of Cape Town), and a BAppSc. Applied Geology 1985 (Queensland University of Technology). Mr. Hill is a fellow of the AUSIMM an organization he has been a member of since 1986.
Eric Duarte
VP Operations
Mr. Duarte has an executive background in operations and project management with over 20 years of experience in the international mining Industry, having worked in the USA, South Africa, Australia, and Tanzania. He has in-depth knowledge gleaned from managing both underground and open-pit mining operations with an emphasis on safety, strategic planning, production, management of performance indicators, process improvement and multi-year budgeting. Mr. Duarte has shown himself to be to leader in developing multidisciplinary teams, implementing projects, managing complex production processes, negotiating contracts and overseeing high value budgets. He graduated with a degree in Geology with post-graduate degrees in Business Administration/Management from the University of Cape Town. He also attended C-Level training and Executive management courses at Harvard Business School and the Stanford Business School. Mr. Duarte joined Jaguar in 2017 as GM Operations at the CCA complex, and was promoted to VP Operations in 2019.
Marina Fagundes de Freitas
VP Finance & Projects
Ms. Fagundes De Freitas joined Jaguar's senior management team as VP Projects after almost 12 years of working in different areas within the company where she developed the Internal Audit function and implemented a Risks and Compliance program. Ms. Fagundes De Freitas has over 17 years of experience including extensive knowledge in external and internal audit gained while working at Deloitte and Holcim respectively. After participating in several process reviews and major changes in previous years, she now oversees Strategic Planning, Legal, CSR, Admin, Security, Technology, Innovation and Growth Projects.