About

Trent Mell is the Founder and CEO of Electra Battery Materials Corporation, driving its mission to establish North America's first fully integrated and environmentally sustainable battery materials park. Under his leadership, Electra is building the continent's first battery grade cobalt sulfate refinery, a critical step in advancing U.S. efforts to onshore key components of the battery supply chain and reduce reliance on foreign imports.

With 25 years of international business and operational experience, Trent has a proven track record in corporate finance, M&A, mine development, and operations. His leadership roles span industry leaders such as Barrick Gold, Sherritt International, and North American Palladium. Trent holds an EMBA from the Kellogg School of Management and Schulich School of Business, an LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a B.A., B.C.L., and LL.B. from McGill University.

Mark Trevisiol is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in mineral processing, mining, capital projects and executive management. He spent over 20 years with Glencore predecessor companies Falconbridge Ltd. and Xstrata Nickel, where he was General Manager of Business Development and Strategy, General Manager of the Sudbury Smelter Business Unit, Manager of Smelter Operations and Superintendent of the Kidd Creek Zinc Plant. More recently, Mark held a number of executive leadership and board positions, including CEO positions at Crowflight Minerals and Silver Bear Resources.

During his career, Mark has had responsibility in mining and mineral processing for teams of up to 300 people, with responsibility for operations, safety & environment, custom feed, engineering, maintenance and technology. He has a demonstrated track record of increasing plant efficiency and margins, notably in treating third party feeds. With Falconbridge Ltd., he championed a new recycling facility primarily designed to handle spent cobalt-based lithium batteries. He has worked across several commodities, including nickel, cobalt, zinc, copper, lithium, gold, and silver.

Mark has an Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.

David Allen is a senior finance executive and business leader with over 30 years of experience, David has worked in the manufacturing, natural resources, shipping, real estate and financial services industries. He has extensive experience in CFO and senior finance roles with complex international companies and Fortune 250 Canadian companies, including TAAL, Canada Goose, Anaergia Inc. and Algoma Central Corporation. Over his career, David has demonstrated a strong ability to formulate and drive organizational strategies in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

As Chief Financial Officer, David will manage all aspects of financial management at Electra, including the completion of the financing package for construction of North America’s first cobalt sulfate facility.

David is an accredited Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant in the province of Ontario.

Michael Insulan has nearly 20 years of experience across oil and gas, bulk commodities, base and minor metals. He has worked for Royal Dutch Shell, CRU, and Eurasian Resources Group. Over the past four years, Michael has been primarily focused on the cobalt market where he has built a reputation as an industry expert.

As Vice President, Commercial, Michael will have overall responsibility for marketing of the Company’s refined cobalt sulfate production to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and battery cell makers. He will also be responsible for marketing recycled cobalt, nickel, lithium and other battery materials produced by Electra Battery Materials’ Canadian refinery under a proposed Phase 2 expansion to refine black mass recovered from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.

Michael holds a PhD in Economics, focused on the extractive industries.

Heather Smiles is a seasoned professional with nearly 15 years of expertise in investor relations, capital markets, strategic planning, and communications. Her career includes strategic roles with global metals and mining organizations including Electra (as First Cobalt), Baffinland Iron Mines, Golden Star Resources, and North American Palladium.

She is skilled at working alongside boards, executive teams, and operations and has a proven track record in analyzing business situations and implementing practical, strategic investor and stakeholder programs. Heather holds an Honours BSc. from the University of Toronto and carries the designation of a Certified Professional in Investor Relations (CPIR).

Dr. George Puvvada, P.Eng., PMP, PhD, is a highly qualified metallurgist with over 25 years of industrial metallurgical experience. Over his career, Dr. Puvvada built a reputation developing flowsheets for difficult ores and delivered projects for some of the world’s largest mining companies, including Vale, Xstrata and Barrick Gold.

As Electra Battery Materials Vice President, Metallurgy and Technology, Dr. Puvvada will be a key member of the senior leadership team tasked with executing on Electra refinery expansion and commissioning strategy and qualifying the Company’s cobalt sulfate product for inclusion in Western automaker electric vehicle batteries.

Prior to joining Electra, Dr. Puvvada was employed with Northern Sun Mining, overseeing all aspects of feed evaluation, metallurgical processing, lab supervision and project development. He previously spent several years as a metallurgist at the Peko Mine in Australia, testing, developing and piloting for the recovery of base and precious metals. Dr. Puvvada has also worked with some of the world’s leading metallurgical and engineering firms, including SNC Lavalin, Tetra Tech, Ortech and SGS.

Dr. Puvvada holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mineral Processing from Andhra University in India and a PhD in Extractive Metallurgy from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Sabrina Gunness has more than a decade of office management experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Electra Battery Materials, she held a dual role as an Institutional Trading Desk Sales Assistant and oversaw the daily office administration at Jennings Capital Inc. Sabrina is an experienced Branch Administrator for Retail Boutique Brokerage firms where she was responsible for the daily branch administration and direct supervision of sales assistants and support staff at MacDougall, MacDougall and MacTier and Blackmont Capital Inc.

Sabrina holds an Honours BSc. from the University of Toronto.