Tristan Pascall is to replace Philip Pascall as CEO of First Quantum Minerals in May 2022, the copper producer announced today.
Philip Pascall co-founded First Quantum Minerals in 1996 when he was also appointed its CEO. He is one of the world’s longest serving major mining company CEOs.
Tristan Pascall is currently the firm’s COO and was previously head of strategy. The appointment will be made effective when First Quantum holds its annual general meeting. Tristan Pascall holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Western Australia.
The company is the world’s sixth largest copper producer with assets in Zambia, Panama, Spain and Turkey. Philip Pascall will remain as Chairman of First Quantum Minerals.
First Quantum said the company’s board had voted unanimously to accept the nomination committee’s recommendation following an independent executive search in which internal and external candidates were reviewed. Philip Pascall abstained from the board vote.
“Tristan’s previous hands-on leadership experience of eight years in Zambia and four years in Panama has given him a deep knowledge of our assets, operating teams and local partners,” said Robert Harding, First Quantum’s lead independent direction and chairman of the firm’s nominating and governance committee.
First Quantum recently reported third quarter total copper production of 209,859 tons, a 5% improvement over second quarter output. The group narrowed full year production guidance to between 785,000 and 850,000 tons compared to previous guidance of 800,000 to 835,000 tons.
Shares in the company have gained 73.5% on a 12-month basis, an appreciation largely informed by the improvement in the copper price which at about $9,900/t is about 48% higher over the same period.
Pascall told Bloomberg News in an interview during December 2020 that the company intended to cut debt in order to undertake “… new growth projects, return money to shareholders through dividends, and then be in a strong position to contribute to the new economy.
“Our DNA is on developing projects and we’re always looking in that area,” Pascall who has been at the company for 13 years and whose father is Philip Pascall, told the newswire.
Global copper demand is forecast to grow by 11 million tons (Mt) in the next ten years, according to Goldman Sachs. “The forward deficits this market is facing are the largest ever,” said the bank’s analyst, Nicholas Snowden, at the Financial Times Mining Summit last month.
“The long-term supply gap is about 8.5Mt against a 20 year historical average of four million tons. That figure just gets larger and larger through time due to the combination of EV demand growth and the limited level of investment in new supply,” he said.
The scale of demand is expected to far outgrow the demand triggered by China urbanisation at the turn of the century.
