Tacora at a Glance
Who We Are
What We Do
Our History
Our Values
Leadership
Board of Directors
Our
Company
Tacora at a Glance.
Tacora Resources Inc. is an iron ore mining and development company focused on the acquisition and revitalization of iron ore assets. Dedicated to the local communities in which we operate, Tacora strives to offer equitable employment to women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities or differences, and people from visible minority groups.Â
Our mining and processing facility, Scully Mine is located in Wabush, NL, Canada. Tacora is servicing high demand from customers throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to provide high-grade and high-quality iron ore products.
While promoting and seeking the use of local labour, suppliers, contractors and organizations majority owned by members of designated groups, Tacora encourages business development wherever we operate; we work hard to ensure that local suppliers can be competitive in areas of cost effectiveness, without negatively impacting business objectives or performance.
Our core values of Teamwork, Safety, Determination, Sustainability and Winning provide a framework for building and sustaining a highly engaged team that prioritizes personal and workplace safety. These values function as the foundation of our Canadian operations, and establishing a high-performance organization is essential. Tacora is passionate about innovation and is excited about the future demand for premium iron ore produced in both of our locations. We have a collaborative approach to projects, and offer many performance improvement initiatives; the entrepreneurial mindset of our company is a driving force in developing growth opportunities. The highest priority is zero harm, allowing our operations and our organization to reach high performance, so that they are sustainable in the long term and will provide economic benefits for the communities where we do business.
The Company is privately owned by a collection of world-class mining investors including Proterra Investment Partners, Cargill, Aequor Holdings, Orion, MagGlobal, and the Tschudi group.
Who we are
Since 2017, Tacora Resources has taken a safety-first approach to mining and processing iron ore.
Our customers span the globe; from Europe, to the Middle-East, to Asia, we supply the world with premium iron ore concentrate. We believe that through sustainable practices, commitment to transparency, and creating a positive work environment, our company has taken an innovative approach to business.
We do more than extract and produce high grade iron ore. We change the lives of our employees, and become a part of the community fabric wherever we operate. Â
Who we are
Since 2017, Tacora Resources has taken a safety-first approach to mining and processing iron ore.
Our customers span the globe; from Europe, to the Middle-East, to Asia, we supply the world with high-quality iron ore concentrate. We believe that through sustainable practices, commitment to transparency, and creating a positive work environment, our company has taken an innovative approach to business.
We do more than extract and produce high grade iron ore. We change the lives of our employees, and become a part of the community fabric wherever we operate.Â
What we do
Tacora works closely with stakeholders, governments, and community leaders to enhance the lives of our employees and bring prosperity to the locations where we operate. Tacora’s entrepreneurial nature, our appetite for new technology, and our dedication to the environment are key factors in our success.
We work in progressive jurisdictions, and offer meaningful, rewarding employment to members of the community. Our innovative approach while mining, transporting materials, sorting product, and shipping our ore allows us to reduce our environmental impact, ensuring that our operations are sustainable, and that we provide high-quality product to all our customers.
What we do
Tacora works closely with stakeholders, governments, and community leaders to enhance the lives of our employees and bring prosperity to the locations where we operate. Tacora’s entrepreneurial nature, our appetite for new technology, and our dedication to the environment are key factors in our success.
We work in progressive jurisdictions, and offer meaningful, rewarding employment to members of the community. Our innovative approach while mining, transporting materials, sorting product, and shipping our ore allows us to reduce our environmental impact, ensuring that our operations are sustainable, and that we provide high-quality product to all our customers.
Our history
 In July 2017, Tacora purchased the Scully Mine, with a 6 million tonne per year iron ore concentrate capacity. During the course of the 2019 fiscal year, we restarted mining operations and commercial production at the Scully Mine. On May 25th, 2019, ore was delivered to the crusher and the first mill was successfully started up on May 28th, 2019. During June 2019, Tacora successfully commissioned its concentrator and produced its first batch of wet concentrate, undertook its first mine blast and celebrated its first loaded train. On August 30th, 2019, we announced that our first seaborne vessel shipment of iron ore concentrate produced at the Scully Mine departed the Port of Sept-Iles, Quebec, with a payload of 69,770 wmt of premium concentrate bound for a customer in Europe. Throughout the remainder of the 2019 fiscal year, Tacora continued the process of ramping up commercial production (including bringing all six mills into operation).
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During the 2020 fiscal year, Tacora continued its focus on ramping up production at the Scully Mine. Our short-term strategy is to improve the Scully Mine and achieve nameplate production capacity of six Mtpa of high-grade iron ore concentrate in the first half of 2022, on a run rate basis. Scully mine produces product with a concentrate grade as set out in the initial feasibility study at 65.9% Fe, a level that exceeds the specifications of both the industry’s standard 62% benchmark as well as the industry’s high grade 65% benchmark, with respect to both grade and quality.
Tacora worked with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) to bring mining jobs back to Labrador West and restart the Scully Mine in Wabush, NL. Today, over 350 employees are a part of the Tacora family worldwide.
Our history
 In July 2017, Tacora purchased the Scully Mine, with a 6 million tonne per year iron ore concentrate capacity. During the course of the 2019 fiscal year, we restarted mining operations and commercial production at the Scully Mine. On May 25th, 2019, ore was delivered to the crusher and the first mill was successfully started up on May 28th, 2019. During June 2019, Tacora successfully commissioned its concentrator and produced its first batch of wet concentrate, undertook its first mine blast and celebrated its first loaded train. On August 30th, 2019, we announced that our first seaborne vessel shipment of iron ore concentrate produced at the Scully Mine departed the Port of Sept-Iles, Quebec, with a payload of 69,770 wmt of premium concentrate bound for a customer in Europe. Throughout the remainder of the 2019 fiscal year, Tacora continued the process of ramping up commercial production (including bringing all six mills into operation).
Read More
During the 2020 fiscal year, Tacora continued its focus on ramping up production at the Scully Mine. Our short-term strategy is to improve the Scully Mine and achieve nameplate production capacity of six Mtpa of high-grade iron ore concentrate in the first half of 2022, on a run rate basis. Scully mine produces product with a concentrate grade as set out in the initial feasibility study at 65.9% Fe, a level that exceeds the specifications of both the industry’s standard 62% benchmark as well as the industry’s high grade 65% benchmark, with respect to both grade and quality.
Tacora worked with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) to bring mining jobs back to Labrador West and restart the Scully Mine in Wabush, NL. Today, over 325 employees are a part of the Tacora family. Â
Our vision
At Tacora our culture is unique in the mining industry.
We are driven to create a work environment where employees can utilize their individual skills and knowledge while maintaining a team-based, inclusive approach to meeting greater challenges. We strive to maintain straight lines of communication between our operations and management, so we can move collectively toward achieving our goals. These practices separate Tacora from the competition, and allow us to execute projects efficiently and effectively, while constantly discovering new ways to improve our operations.
We are a responsible mining company that works hard to build our corporate citizenship, earn the respect of the regions in which we operate, and meet customer expectations.
Aligned with our values, Tacora’s vision is to be recognized as a development platform in mining of new and existing mine sites, applying modern mining techniques and an entrepreneurial mindset to achieve:
» The highest levels of safety and environmental performance,
» Delivery of high-quality products at costs which are sustainable long term,
» Earning the respect from all its stakeholders and being recognized as a model in the industry.
Our values
Tacora passionately believes in our key core values: Teamwork, Safety, Determination, Sustainability and Winning.
These five core values provide a framework for building and sustaining a high performance, highly engaged team that prioritizes personal and workplace safety. Besides these pinnacles of our operations, we also believe in sustainable practices, lessening our environmental impact, transparency, and a deep bond with communities wherein we operate.Â
SAFETY
We are SAFE. We prioritize the personal safety of our employees. We empower our employees to take safe work practices into their own hands and urge them to stop any unsafe act or operation quickly. The duty each employee has regarding safety is a deep-rooted value that everyone at Tacora uses, on or off our mine sites. Our mission is that everyone goes home safe, every day.
SUSTAINABILITY
We are SUSTAINABLE. We are focused on keeping positive relations with our neighbours, thorough ecological stewardship, environmentally responsible mining of the lands where we operate, and honest communications with all area stakeholders. We aim to earn the respect of the regions in which we operate, meet customer’s expectations, and be sustainable by producing a premium product while maintaining a low-cost structure. We see these duties as critical, and these values are embraced and enforced by our leadership.
TEAMWORK
We are a TEAM. We mandate a flat, team-based organization that empowers our team members to take initiative as problem solvers and make decisions. Our ‘One Team’ mindset eliminates silo mentality where everyone is equal and strongly focused on achieving our health, safety, environmental, and production goals.
DETERMINATION
We are DETERMINED. We are passionate and excited about the future of iron ore. We are focused on our goal of producing Tacora Premium Concentrate for our customers and achieving nameplate capacity annually. We are determined to build the best mining Company in the world where all our employees know they are valued and treated with the upmost respect and appreciation.
WINNING
Together, we will WIN! Our key differentiator for sustainable success and profitability is our Tacora Operating System (TOS). We believe in winning which requires hard work, dedication, determination, creativity, efficient execution, and a ‘One Team’ mindset, all while maintaining safety as a top priority. These principles define what drives Tacora’s business.
Our values
Tacora passionately believes in its key core values: safety, teamwork, innovation, winning and sustainability.
These four core values provide a framework for building and sustaining a high performance, highly engaged team that prioritizes personal and workplace safety. Besides these four pinnacles of our operations, we also believe in sustainable practices, lessening our environmental impact, transparency, and a deep bond with communities wherein we operate.Â
SAFETY
We are SAFE.
We prioritize the personal safety of our employees. We empower our employees to take safe work practices into their own hands and urge them to stop any unsafe act or operation quickly. The duty each employee has regarding safety is a deep-rooted value that everyone at Tacora uses, on or off our mine sites. Our mission is that everyone goes home safe, every day.
SUSTAINABILITY
We are SUSTAINABLE.
We are focused on keeping positive relations with our neighbours, thorough ecological stewardship, environmentally responsible mining of the lands where we operate, and honest communications with all area stakeholders. We aim to earn the respect of the regions in which we operate, meet customer’s expectations, and be sustainable by producing a premium product while maintaining a low-cost structure. We see these duties as critical, and these values are embraced and enforced by our leadership.
TEAMWORK
We are a TEAM.
We mandate a flat, team-based organization that empowers our team members to take initiative as problem solvers and make decisions. Our ‘One Team’ mindset eliminates silo mentality where everyone is equal and strongly focused on achieving our health, safety, environmental, and production goals.
DETERMINATION
We are DETERMINED.
We are passionate and excited about the future of iron ore. We are focused on our goal of producing Tacora Premium Concentrate for our customers and achieving nameplate capacity annually. We are determined to build the best mining Company in the world where all our employees know they are valued and treated with the upmost respect and appreciation.
WINNING
Together, we will WIN!
Our key differentiator for sustainable success and profitability is our Tacora Operating System (TOS). We believe in winning which requires hard work, dedication, determination, creativity, efficient execution, and a ‘One Team’ mindset, all while maintaining safety as a top priority. These principles define what drives Tacora’s business.
Leadership
JOE BROKING
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
Joe Broking has more than 23 years of combined experience in the areas of executive management, operations management, human resources management, corporate finance, treasury, capital fundraising, investor relations, compliance, risk management and information technology management.
As Chief Financial Officer of Tacora Resources Inc. and Magnetation LLC., Mr. Broking helped raise over $1.5 billion in capital and implemented world-class business systems to support the build-out of five iron ore mines and a pellet plant. Mr. Broking’s prior experience includes work with several large multi-national corporations, international assignments, manufacturing management as well as economic development, including Chief Financial Officer of Magnetation LLC., President and CEO of Itasca Economic Development Corporation, Director of Operations at Bucyrus, Director of Finance at Terex, and Director of Financial Accounting, among other positions at Stora Enso.
Heng Vuong
Chief Financial Officer
Heng Vuong joined Tacora in September 2022 with more than 18 years of global investment banking and capital markets experience, mostly focused on the metals and mining sector.
Mr. Vuong’s prior experiences include working for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Toronto, Beijing and New York, spending over 7 years focused solely on global M&A transactions within the metals and mining industry. In his most recent role as a Managing Director, Investment Banking Services Canada, he acted as lead underwriter for initial public offerings and debt financings as well as lead advisor in M&A transactions for companies in the natural resources, industrial, technology and real estate sectors.
Mr. Vuong holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montréal, is originally from Montreal and is fluent in English and French and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.
Dale Ekmark
Executive Vice President & General Manager
Dale has 33 + years in international mining and mining management experience in various senior leadership roles up to being COO as well as President and CEO/Chairman of the Board. Â
He began his career, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a Mechanical Engineering degree, as an US Air Force officer flying strategic reconnaissance missions during the Cold War. Dale has successfully and safely led mining operations in Iron Ore, Gold, Diamonds, Coal, Copper, Nickel, Silver, Graphite, Antimony and Lithium. He is also an adjunct professor at Minnesota State University, where he developed and teaches industrial maintenance and reliability engineering courses. He is a firm believer in that a reliable operation is safe and a safe operation is successful. Dale is very excited to be returning to Iron Ore and joining the team at Tacora and the Scully Mine.
HOPE WILSON
Chief Accounting Officer
Hope Wilson has more than 23 years of combined experience in the areas of certified public accounting, SEC compliant reporting, corporate finance, compliance, audit, corporate tax, information technology and financial system implementations.
Hubert Vallée
VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Hubert Vallée graduated from Laval University in Engineering. He joined Québec Cartier Mining as Project Engineer and was promoted to Director of Operations for its Pellet Plant in 2001.
Leadership
JOE BROKING
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
Joe Broking has more than 23 years of combined experience in the areas of executive management, operations management, human resources management, corporate finance, treasury, capital fundraising, investor relations, compliance, risk management and information technology management.
As Chief Financial Officer of Tacora Resources Inc. and Magnetation LLC., Mr. Broking helped raise over $1.5 billion in capital and implemented world-class business systems to support the build-out of five iron ore mines and a pellet plant. Mr. Broking’s prior experience includes work with several large multi-national corporations, international assignments, manufacturing management as well as economic development, including Chief Financial Officer of Magnetation LLC., President and CEO of Itasca Economic Development Corporation, Director of Operations at Bucyrus, Director of Finance at Terex, and Director of Financial Accounting, among other positions at Stora Enso.
Heng Vuong
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Heng Vuong joined Tacora in September 2022 with more than 18 years of global investment banking and capital markets experience, mostly focused on the metals and mining sector.
Mr. Vuong’s prior experiences include working for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Toronto, Beijing and New York, spending over 7 years focused solely on global M&A transactions within the metals and mining industry. In his most recent role as a Managing Director, Investment Banking Services Canada, he acted as lead underwriter for initial public offerings and debt financings as well as lead advisor in M&A transactions for companies in the natural resources, industrial, technology and real estate sectors.
Mr. Vuong holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montréal, is originally from Montreal and is fluent in English and French and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.Â
Dale Ekmark
Executive Vice President & General Manager
Dale has 33 + years in international mining and mining management experience in various senior leadership roles up to being COO as well as President and CEO/Chairman of the Board. He began his career, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a Mechanical Engineering degree, as an US Air Force officer flying strategic reconnaissance missions during the Cold War. Dale has successfully and safely led mining operations in Iron Ore, Gold, Diamonds, Coal, Copper, Nickel, Silver, Graphite, Antimony and Lithium. He is also an adjunct professor at Minnesota State University, where he developed and teaches industrial maintenance and reliability engineering courses. He is a firm believer in that a reliable operation is safe and a safe operation is successful. Dale is very excited to be returning to Iron Ore and joining the team at Tacora and the Scully Mine.
HOPE WILSON
Chief Accounting Officer
Hope Wilson has more than 23 years of combined experience in the areas of certified public accounting, SEC compliant reporting, corporate finance, compliance, audit, corporate tax, information technology and financial system implementations.
Mrs. Wilson’s prior experiences include work as Chief Accounting Officer for Magnetation LLC and Accountant for Laserex Systems, Ceridian Employer Services and Boyum and Barenscheer. Mrs. Wilson has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and is a CPA (inactive).
Hubert Vallée
VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Hubert Vallée graduated from Laval University in Engineering. He joined Québec Cartier Mining as Project Engineer and was promoted to Director of Operations for its Pellet Plant in 2001.
He managed the Iron Ore Company of Canada’s Pellet Plant in Sept-Iles before joining Domtar Inc. as Mill Manager of its pulp mill in Lebel-sur-Quévillon. He joined Consolidated Thompson in 2006 and was one of the key people who made this project happen. After the sale of Consolidated Thompson Cliffs, Mr. Vallée acted as Vice President Project Development for Phase II of Bloom Lake operation. He has also been involved as Senior Vice President, Project Development, at Century Iron Mines. From February 2014 to September 2016, Mr. Vallée acted as President and CEO of Lamelee Iron Ore Ltd. From 2017 to 2018, he was CEO of Canadian Metals. He is now acting as V.P. development for Tacora Resources and Vanadium One Iron and independent Director for Genius Metals.
Board of Directors
Joe BrokingDirector, President and CEO |
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Leon Davies
Director
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Trey JacksonDirector |
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Joe Broking
Director, President & CEO
- 23+ years experience in operations management, human resources management, capital fundraising, investor relations, corporate finance and information technology management.
- Prior experiences include work with several large multi-national corporations, international assignments, manufacturing management as well as economic development and most recently as Chief Financial Officer for Tacora Resources Inc. and Magnetation LLC.
- Has helped raise over $1.5 billion in capital and implemented world-class business systems to support the build-out of five iron ore mines and a pellet plant.