Raman Randhawa, CFO and SVP, Capstone Mining Corp.
Raman Randhawa, CFO and senior vice-president of Capstone Mining Corp., has been key in transforming the company from a low point of approximately $150 million in market capitalization in early 2020 at the onset of COVID-19 pandemic to more than $2 billion currently.
He has led the turnaround of the balance sheet with the company, which produces and explores for base metals in the United States, Mexico and Chile with a focus on copper, from net debt of $163 million last year to current positive cash of $208 million with zero long-term debt.
In addition, he led refinancing of its credit facility and restructured its corporate office, resulting in a reduction in costs, led an optimization process to reduce the overall cost structure of the business, developed a strategic plan for growth of cash flow and net asset value and guided the innovation strategy focused on disruptive technology via automation, big data analytics and integrated control centres.
Randhawa was instrumental in reinvesting in assets while copper prices were relatively depressed at below $3 per pound in the years leading up to COVID-19. The capital investments at both the Pinto Valley and Cozamin mines have enabled the company to expand production by 20%, lower costs and deliver strong production growth in 2021 to 2022.
When copper prices crashed, he reduced the capital and exploration spend at the company to manage cash flows and bank covenants. Capstone Mining was one of the few base-metal companies to not break any bank covenants during the pandemic.
The share price dropped to a low of $0.37 per share and has since risen to trade at more than $5 per share. Randhawa was instrumental in developing a hedging strategy during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to lock in record low pricing for fuel contracts and favourable rates of foreign exchange and borrowing for 2020 through 2022.
He has been instrumental in developing a road map for how to increase the net asset value of the company. Randhawa exercised strategic financial management in raising the net asset value of the Cozamin mine, executing a 50% silver stream that allowed the company to clear the balance sheet of long-term debt, which was fully repaid in 2021’s first quarter. The company rapidly grew from a small-cap to mid-cap company within a 12-month period.
In the past five years, Capstone has received an ISS governance rating of 1, indicating the highest level of governance quality and the lowest level of governance risk.
Locally, he participates in the BC CFO forum and mining CFO roundtables put on by the Big Four accounting firms. •The CFO of the Year winners will receive their awards at an event November 29, held in conjunction with the annual Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Year celebrations.
For more information go to https://biv.com/bc-cfo-awards.
