Alfred Colas
McEwenAbout Alfred Colas
Alfred Colas is a trilingual finance executive with 30+ years of public-company leadership across mining, forestry, renewable energy, and private equity, with expertise in M&A, integrations, and financings in North America and Latin America. He is currently CFO of Jaguar Mining Inc. (TSX) and was nominated in 2025 to join McEwen Mining’s (to be renamed McEwen Inc.) Board; he was recommended by an executive officer (not the CEO), signaling an external network channel into the slate . Credentials include CA/CPA designations, the Canadian Securities Course, a Mining Business Administration diploma (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago), and a B.Comm (University of Toronto, 1992) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguar Mining Inc. (TSX) | Chief Financial Officer | Current (start date not disclosed) | Senior finance leadership for a gold producer |
| GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX:GFP) | Chief Financial Officer | Apr 2022 – Sep 2023 | Led financial strategy during forestry sector operations |
| Excellon Resources Inc. (NYSE:EXN, TSX:EXN) | Chief Financial Officer | Oct 2020 – Mar 2022 | Mining finance, public-company reporting |
| Barrick Gold | Corporate/Operations Finance | Dates not disclosed | Advanced through finance teams at a major gold company |
| J.P. Morgan Canada; Pricewaterhouse | Early-career finance roles | Dates not disclosed | Banking and audit foundations |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Public/Private | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguar Mining Inc. | Chief Financial Officer | Public (TSX) | Current | Executive role; no MUX-related transactions disclosed |
No other current public company directorships disclosed for Mr. Colas in the 2025 proxy .
Board Governance
- Status at MUX: 2025 director nominee; no committee assignments disclosed yet .
- Independence: The proxy states all directors named on the current board except the CEO-Chair (Rob McEwen) and the Interim COO (William Shaver) are independent; the independence determination for 2025 nominees (including Colas) is not explicitly stated in the document .
- Attendance: In 2024, the Board met six times; no director serving in 2024 attended less than 75% of meetings. Colas did not serve in 2024; attendance data not applicable to him .
- Majority voting policy: Nominees receiving more “withheld” than “for” votes must tender a resignation; the CNG Committee recommends action and the Board decides within 90 days—heightened accountability for nominees .
Committee structure (context for potential assignment):
| Committee | Chair | 2024 Members (as disclosed) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit | Richard Brissenden | Brissenden, Dunbar, Ball | Audit Financial Expert designated (Brissenden) |
| Compensation, Nominating & Corporate Governance (CNG) | Allen Ambrose | Ambrose, Dunbar, Sanchez | Evaluates nominees; considers independence/time/skills/conflicts |
| Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) | William Shaver | Shaver, Ambrose, Brissenden | Four meetings in 2024 |
| Disclosure | Ian Ball | Ball, Makori | Formed Aug 4, 2024; four meetings in 2024 |
Board leadership: CEO also serves as Chair; Board cites benefits of CEO-Chair structure and holds non-management director sessions (4 in 2024) .
Fixed Compensation
Director compensation program (for non-executive directors; 2024 schedule):
| Component | Amount/Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Annual retainer (cash) | $40,000 | |
| Committee service fees | $2,000–$10,000 annually depending on committee and chair duties | |
| Special committee/extra duties | Discretionary cash bonuses possible |
2024 director compensation table shows cash fees only; no stock or option awards were granted to directors in 2024 .
Performance Compensation
- No performance-based director compensation structure (e.g., PSUs, options) disclosed for 2024; directors were paid cash retainers and committee fees only .
- MUX identifies operational performance measures for executives (AISC, reserve/resource replacement, production vs. guidance), but these are not tied to director pay .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current public company boards | None disclosed for Colas in the proxy |
| Executive roles at public companies | CFO, Jaguar Mining Inc. (TSX) |
| Interlocks or overlaps with MUX competitors/suppliers/customers | None disclosed; no Colas-related related-party transactions reported |
| Prior public company boards | Not disclosed in the proxy |
Expertise & Qualifications
- CA/CPA; Canadian Securities Course; Mining Business Administration diploma (UAI, Santiago); B.Comm, University of Toronto (1992) .
- Deep mining finance background (Barrick; CFO roles at Excellon and Jaguar); cross-sector exposure (forestry at GreenFirst) and Latin America experience; trilingual .
- Nomination channel: recommended to the CNG Committee by an executive officer (not CEO), indicating network-based candidate sourcing beyond the CEO .
Equity Ownership
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| MUX beneficial ownership | Not disclosed for Colas; security ownership table as of Apr 28, 2025 lists current officers/directors and >5% holders, and does not include Colas (a 2025 nominee) . |
| Ownership guidelines | Company encourages equity ownership but does not require directors or NEOs to own shares . |
| Hedging/pledging | Insider Trading/Disclosure Policy prohibits short sales and hedging; policy applies to directors . |
| Shares pledged | No Colas disclosures; not listed in ownership table (N/A) . |
Governance Assessment
-
Strengths
- Extensive mining finance and M&A credentials (Barrick, Excellon, Jaguar) enhance Audit/Finance oversight capacity .
- Trilingual and LatAm experience may aid cross-border risk oversight and capital markets access .
- Majority voting policy raises accountability threshold for new nominees like Colas .
-
Watch items
- Time commitments: Concurrent CFO role at Jaguar Mining could constrain availability; CNG evaluation criteria explicitly include “sufficient time” .
- Board leadership: CEO-Chair structure persists; while mitigated by independent sessions, it concentrates power (board-level context, not Colas-specific) .
- Related parties: No Colas-linked related-party transactions disclosed; existing related-party items involve CEO affiliate (Evanachan loans) and General Counsel’s firm (REVlaw)—areas Audit Committee oversees and investors will monitor for independence optics .
-
Attendance/Engagement baseline
- Board met 6 times in 2024 with all then-directors ≥75% attendance; future assessment of Colas will depend on 2025–2026 disclosures .
-
Director pay alignment
- Cash-heavy director pay in 2024 (no equity awards), modest fee levels, and no ownership guidelines could limit alignment; however, hedging is restricted and equity may still be granted via broader equity plans in other years .
RED FLAGS (contextual)
- CEO-Chair combined role (board structure, not specific to Colas) .
- Related-party financing with controlling shareholder affiliate (Evanachan) persists, though not tied to Colas; governance relies on Audit Committee oversight .
Citations:
- Nomination, biography, credentials, and recommendation source for Colas .
- 2025 slate and nominee status .
- Current board roster and independence statement for sitting directors .
- Board meetings and attendance, leadership structure, non-management sessions .
- Committee mandates, composition, and chairs: Audit ; CNG ; EHS ; Disclosure .
- Majority voting policy .
- Director compensation program and 2024 director fee table .
- Ownership table (Colas not listed) .
- Ownership guidelines (no mandatory ownership for directors/NEOs) and insider trading/hedging policy .
- Related-party transactions disclosed (Evanachan; REVlaw) .