U.S.-based gold and silver development company Hycroft Mining has appointed Michael Deal as senior vice president and chief operating officer, effective August 24.
Deal brings more than 20 years of operating and technical leadership experience across complex, multi-asset gold and silver operations in North America, with a proven track record of building, scaling and optimizing operations through disciplined capital allocation, technical rigor and operational excellence.
Most recently, he served as vice president, Operations at First Majestic Silver, where he provided enterprise leadership across a portfolio of operating mines and development assets and served as executive lead for the integration of a $1 billion acquisition. Deal also directed annual capital programs exceeding $300 million while improving production, safety performance and operating discipline.
“Michael’s deep technical and operating experience is directly relevant to our strategy of advancing Hycroft to the next phase of operations. Michael will be instrumental in reviewing our many options for developing the mine with a primary focus on the two high-grade silver systems: Brimstone and Vortex,” Diane Garrett, Hycroft Mining executive chairman and CEO, said.
“His extensive background building and managing sulfide processing operations, including roasters and autoclaves in Nevada, and in building the systems, teams and discipline needed to run them safely and profitably at scale is exactly the caliber of operating leadership we need as we advance and prepare the Hycroft Mine for future development.”
Deal added, “Hycroft represents a rare opportunity to help advance one of North America’s largest gold and silver assets. The combination of a large-scale resource base, Nevada jurisdiction, and significant metallurgical and exploration upside creates tremendous potential. I have spent my career building the operating systems, technical discipline and high-performing teams required to safely advance complex assets. I look forward to working with the Hycroft team to systematically advance the project and build the foundation for long-term value creation.”
He serves on the SME Foundation Board of Directors and has previously served on the Nevada Mining Association Board of Directors and the Nevada Mineral Processing Division Board. He is a Registered Member and Qualified Person (QP) with the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME).
Deal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Economics from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from Arizona State University.
Source: Hycroft Mining