Management & Directors

Jeremy Gray

CEO & Founder

Mr. Gray has been involved in mining for 26 years. He started his career at Credit Suisse in 1994 as a Mining Research Associate before moving to London to run the Mining Equity research team at Morgan Stanley. In 2001, he joined Sthenos Capital as a founding partner of a Hedge Fund with focus on Mining and Basic Materials trading. In 2005, Mr Gray returned to Credit Suisse in London to run the Mining team. In January 2009 he joined the world's largest cobalt producer at the time in DRC before it was acquired by ENRC in September 2009. In 2010, Mr. Gray joined Standard Chartered in Hong Kong to run the Mining team, and in 2014 he became a founding partner of Chancery Asset Management in Singapore. Mr Gray sits on the board of White Rock Minerals on the ASX.

Thomas Puppendahl, MSc, MBA

Founder

Thomas Puppendahl has over 28 years of experience in global capital markets as an investment banker, management consultant and strategist in London, India and Singapore. He is the founder and a managing partner of Chancery Asset Management, a Singapore-based strategic advisory firm and principal investor in the precious metals sector.

Chancery has been leading Pilar Gold’s acquisition of the Pilar mine from Equinox Gold, and the merger with Faina Goldfields. Chancery was also a co-founder of a gold streaming & royalty company and helped secure the original funding for K92 Mining Inc. (TSXV: KNT).

Prior to setting up Chancery Asset Management, Thomas worked in mergers & acquisitions, private equity and management consulting with Merrill Lynch, Ermgassen & Co and the Monitor Group in London and Mumbai, and served as a special adviser on emerging markets and precious metals investments.

Thomas holds Master’s degrees in both Physics and Business Administration from RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

Richard Crew

Country Manager / Director and Legal Representative

Richard brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of Brazilian mining industry and culture. With over 30 years of international mining experience including 18 years in Brazil and 17 years experience at senior level in the natural resource sector. Mr Crew started his career in 1983 with RTZ at wheal Jane Tin Mine in Cornwall and has since worked around the globe for mid-tier and Junior resource companies. He has held executive and non executive positions for AIM, TSX and ASX listed mining companies and is renowned for operational excellence.

Israel Oliveira

General Manager

Israel is our general manager and joined the team three years ago from NEXA. He is a mining engineer with 30 years of experience in gold mining in Minas Gerais, Bahia and  Goiás. He has also worked for Anglogold Ashanti, Orinoco Gold, Jaguar Mining, VALE, Eldorado Gold Corporation and Paulo Abib Engenharia.

Paulo Aguirre

Head Geologist

Paulo is our Chief Geologist and joined the team 2 years ago from AngloGold Ashanti.  Paulo has a deep knowledge and understanding of the geology of the Goiás region of which Pilar controls 4 of the 5 greenstone belts. Paulo is currently overseeing 3 drill programmes at Sertao, Pilar and Maria Lazara. 

Rafael Franco

Chief Financial Officer

Rafael joined the Pilar team as CFO in October 2021, bringing with him a wealth of financial experience in the gold mining industry in Brazil. His main areas of expertise include controllership, cost management, budget, FP&A, reports, leadership of multidisciplinary teams, administration and HR. Over his career he has worked for various leading multinational gold mining companies including Equinox Gold, Brio Gold, Lea Gold and Carpathian Gold.

Wallacy Arruda

Business Director

Wallacy joined the group 5 years ago. His expertise is in the day to day administration and business management of our operations with experience in both Goias and Mato Grosso regions in Brazil. Wallacy has a solid understanding of governmental and regulatory institutions in Brazil which is essential in keeping Pilar operations running at the highest standard.

Marcelo Lima

Underground Specialist

Marcelo joined the group 5 years ago, highly supportive during the run up to the PGDM acquisition in April 2021 and is one of Pilar Gold's most experienced underground miners, commissioning over 10 mines in his career. He is a narrow vein underground mining specialist with 40 years experience at AngloGold Ashanti, Rio Tinto, Orinoco Gold and Jaguar Mining. His passion and knowledge for mine engineering gives him a highly valued mindset at Pilar Gold.

Edward Balme

Head of Investor Relations

Edward joined Pilar Gold in November 2020 as Head of Investor Relations and has worked closely with the corporate management team during the fund raising processes for the initial acquisition and subsequent mine expansion. His focus has been in maintaining relations with both new and old investors aside from management of the communication channels for the company. His background in marketing and communications supports his experience in mining and exploration in Australia, Argentina and Brazil for companies such as Ord River Resources and Grimwood Davies. He has a good knowledge of South America and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. He is also director of Carter Capital Ltd, an early stage mining consultancy and investor.