Advisors to the Board

Justin Cochrane

Mr. Cochrane is President and CEO of Conic Metals Corp., a global nickel and cobalt royalty and streaming company. He has 20 years of royalty and stream financing, M&A, and corporate finance experience. Prior to Conic Metals, he served as President & COO of Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. and before that as Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Development for Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (“Sandstorm”) Mr. Cochrane’s expertise is in the structuring, negotiation, execution and funding of royalty and stream financing contracts around the world, across dozens of projects, totalling over $2 billion.  Prior to Sandstorm, Mr. Cochrane spent nine years in investment banking and equity capital markets with National Bank Financial where he covered the resource, clean-tech and energy technology sectors. In addition, Mr. Cochrane is currently a board member of Nevada Copper Corp. Mr. Cochrane is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a registered and licensed security advisor in Canada.

Martin Vydra

Mr. Vydra is currently President and Director at Giga Metals and Head of Strategy at Conic Metals, both companies are focused on delivering battery materials to the growing EV industry.

Martin Vydra is a professional engineer, recently retired after a 31-year career with Sherritt International Corporation, a leader in the mining, processing, and refining of lateritic nickel and cobalt with operations in Canada, Cuba, and Madagascar. He is widely recognized as an expert in nickel and cobalt extraction, processing, and refining – including the development and application of advanced technologies to maximize the recovery of valuable metals such as nickel and cobalt from a variety of feeds.  hile at Sherritt, Mr. Vydra’s technical accomplishments spanned four continents and over 20 operations – including postings in Australia, where he was integrated in Murrin Murrin’s refinery start up; Finland, for the design of Harjavalta’s nickel reduction circuit; and in Chile, where he oversaw the design, construction, and commissioning of a major pressure oxidation operation. Martin was a founding member of the London Metal Exchange Cobalt committee and served as chairman of the board of the Nickel Institute from 2015-2017.