Manuel Paolo A. Villar
Director, Chairman of the Board
Mr. Villar has been a member of the TVI Board since June 2023. His leadership journey is marked by significant roles such as the Chairman and President of Prime Asset Ventures Inc., which is a major shareholder in TVIRD through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Prime Resource Holdings Inc. He concurrently serves as Chairman and CEO of St. Augustine Gold and Copper Limited, as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. – after previously holding the Chief Financial Officer position – as well as Director of Starmall Inc.
Prior to assuming his previous role as consultant for McKinsey & Co. in the U.S., Mr. Villar earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics as well as his Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.
Yolanda Coronel-Armenta
Director
Ms. Yolanda Coronel-Armenta is currently the Accountant and Finance Officer for Cahan Properties, Inc. Prior to this, she was the Operations Manager for Pacific Property Management, Inc. and Corporate Real Estate Broker of California. She has over 30 years of experience in Finance and Operations Management.
Ms. Coronel-Armenta received her degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accountancy from the University of the Philippines. She also holds two Certificates in Real Estate: from UCLA and the state of California. In addition, she is qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in both the Philippines and the State of Texas.
Eugene T. Mateo, BBA, MBA, LLB, LLM
Director
Atty. Mateo is a lawyer and a certified public accountant with over 40 years of experience as senior finance and management executive in various companies.
He joined the TVIRD as vice president for finance and administration in 1995. At this time, TVI was pursuing a number of projects in the Philippines, including the Canatuan Mining Project, the drilling operations of its subsidiary company and a number of exploration activities. In January 2005, Atty. Mateo was appointed President of TVIRD – a position he held until his retirement in 2019. He was also elected president of various subsidiaries under the TVI Group of Companies.
From 1998 to 2004, Atty. Mateo served as a member of the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission and as chairman of the PRC Accounting Licensure and Regulatory Board from 2001 onwards.
Johnny C. Felizardo
Director
Mr. Johnny C. Felizardo graduated with a Metallurgical Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines and started his career in a lead-acid battery plant. He served as a Senior Project Evaluator in a government institution, setting up large-scale industrial projects. He later managed price-risk and hedged metals at a major copper smelter and refinery. He co-founded Minercon International, Inc., a consulting company, where he’s involved in various aspects of local and foreign mines and smelters, including feasibility studies, investment analysis, due diligence, contract negotiations, and administration. His expertise lies in copper concentrates, nickel ores, gold ores, and other metal by-products.
Edsel M. Abrasaldo
Director
Mr. Edsel Abrasaldo is a Licensed Geologist and the current President of MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc. (MNPI) – a Canadian company and one of the JV partners that operates the Agata Nickel Laterite mine in Agusan del Norte, Mindanao Island, Philippines. Mr. Abrasaldo is one of the pioneer employees of MNPI when the company started exploring in the Philippines in 1997. He worked as a project geologist in the MNPI’s Pan de Azucar copper-gold, Agata gold, and Tapian-San Francisco copper-gold projects.
Nicolaos Paraskevas
Director
Nico Paraskevas was employed by the Glencore International Group from 2006 until 2021 in a variety of executive roles moving to Glencore International AG in Switzerland in January 2013. He assumed the position of Head of Copper Marketing in 2018. In his role as Head of Copper, his areas of responsibility included the following:
- Supervising major operational, financial, investment and business development activities of the copper department across multiple countries and assets and 25,000 employees.
- Managing the trading of all Copper, Cobalt and Molybdenum products.
- Developing measures for P+L optimisation, operational cost savings, capital expenditures savings, and reduction of working capital.
- Supervising operational improvement initiatives, including large-scale productivity improvement and asset commissioning programmes.
Before joining Glencore, Nico held various roles in the investment banking and private equity industry in South Africa. Nico is a qualified Chartered Accountant having studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa receiving his degree with distinction and passing the CA (SA) qualifying exam with honours.
Andrew J. Russell
Director
Andy is one of the original founders of St. Augustine, and has more than 20 years’ experience in acquisition, financing and management of major mining projects, the most recent being the acquisition and IPO of the Santa Cruz project under Ivanhoe Electric. Andy will take on the executive role of Project Director of the Kingking project. Andy leads Russell Mining Corporation, a major shareholder of St. Augustine.
