Orion Mine Finance Appoints John DeCooman President and CEO of Sweetwater Royalties

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Orion Mine Finance (Orion) today announced the appointment of John DeCooman as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sweetwater Royalties (Sweetwater). A mining industry veteran, DeCooman will work with Orion to complete the transition of the Sweetwater assets, grow the Sweetwater team, and deliver on Orion’s vision for the company.

Sweetwater is the base metals and industrial minerals royalty company, formed by Orion to manage the 4.5 million mineral acres and 1 million fee surface acres land grant, which is being acquired from Occidental Petroleum.

As part of the acquisition Orion will acquire mineral rights to the world’s largest known trona (soda ash) deposit, offering significant royalty cash flow from the trona mines and strong potential for further mineral development.

Jon Lamb, Orion portfolio manager said, “John is a very highly-regarded mining executive, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Sweetwater. He brings to the firm the mix of leadership acumen and industry expertise that will drive meaningful growth of the company and strong performance of its assets.” He added, “I look forward to working alongside him to support and scale this exciting new company.”

John DeCooman has more than 25 years of experience in mining, exploration, and project strategy management. He joins Sweetwater from SSR Mining, an intermediate precious metals producer, where he ran business development and strategy. Prior to SSR Mining he has corporate and banking experience at Echo Bay Mines, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown and Standard Bank. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science degree from the Colorado School of Mines.

John DeCooman, President and CEO of Sweetwater Royalties said, “I am pleased to join Sweetwater, alongside our partners at Orion, where we will build on the distinctive market position created by the Occidental land grant acquisition.” He added, “Orion is a responsible and visionary owner and I look forward to bringing this valuable approach to Sweetwater and its stakeholders.”

Mr. DeCooman and Sweetwater Royalties will be based in Denver, Colorado.

About Orion

Orion Resource Partners is a global alternative investment management firm with approximately $6.2 billion under management (as of 3/31/2020). Orion specializes in institutional metals and mining investment strategies in the base and precious metals space. Our private equity, hedge fund, and merchant service divisions enable us to access in-depth knowledge of the global metals and mining supply chain and robust insight into the physical and financial demand driving global metals prices. We are an industry leader in delivering comprehensive and customized financial solutions to mining companies and base and precious metals investors. For more information visit www.orionresourcepartners.com.

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