Global Mining HR

Darian has more than 30 years of diversified experience in human resources management. He was previously Vice President, Human Resources, for Albemarle Corporation, and held several positions in the U.S. and Asia during his 12 years with The Coca-Cola Company. Prior to that, he held senior roles with Magma Copper and General Motors Corporation.

Mr. Rich is a graduate of the Labor and Human Relations program at Ohio State University and earned a Master of Science degree in Administration from Central Michigan University. He holds several professional certifications, including Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefit Professional and Global Remuneration Professional from the American Compensation Association.

Amra Basic, General Manager Human Resources, leads the global team of HR Business Partners responsible for shaping people strategies & solutions to support delivery of business outcomes within Energy and Minerals portfolio of Rio Tinto.

Through her progressive career, Amra has held various leadership roles in human resources and finance within various industries such as mining, manufacturing, telecommunications, IT and education. Amra brings global perspective to business and people agenda shaped through her 20 years of experience working in  Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. She is driven by the ever changing demands and challenges of organisations and leadership. Amra holds a Bachelor degree in Accounting and Education and a Master degree in Business Administration.

Todd Graver is Vice President-Operations Human Resources at Freeport-McMoRan Inc. He has been with the company for 29 years, having started his career at the company’s New Orleans office where he provided human resources operational support to the company’s various properties.

In 2006, he relocated to PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan where he served as Manager-Corporate Planning and Integration with oversight of privatized companies and expat administration. In 2010, he moved to Phoenix to serve as Director-Human Resource Business Partner and was named Vice President-Operations Human Resources in 2011. His current respons1bilit1es include oversight of operational HR activ1t1es, site support, employee and labor relations, and training and development.

Mr. Graver holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

He has been married to his wife Merialee for 25 years. They have three children who attend Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University and Northwest Christian High School.

Fran Hansen, an executive with over 25 years experience, joined Vale in June 2019, as Manager, HR for North Atlantic leading and supporting the HR teams across Canada, the UK, Japan and China. In January Fran was promoted to Head of Business Partnering, Base metals adding South Atlantic, Indonesia and New Caledonia to her portfolio and in June 2020 assumed the role of Head of HR Base Metals.  She is an accomplished Operations and Human Resources Executive with general management and human resources success across multiple industries and countries. Fran’s success is a result of her drive to serve as a catalyst for change through passionate and purposeful leadership with an unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion, bringing organizational culture to life for all employees and stakeholders.

Fran began her executive career in the telecom industry, starting within the Roger’s group of companies where she worked for 16 years in various customer and marketing roles. This opened the door to an opportunity to be part of a mobile start up in Prague, CZ. Her experience, skill and success led her to various international assignments across the globe with Vodafone Group, where she had the opportunity to be part of another mobile start up in Qatar as Chief People Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

After 12 years abroad, she decided to return home to Canada and embarked upon a career in retail beginning with Sears as Vice-President, Human Resources and Centres of Excellence, and then Indigo Books & Music as Vice-President, Human Resources and Organizational Development. Before joining vale, Fran worked for the largest Canadian retailer in Canada, Loblaw Companies Limited where she served as Vice-President, Talent. In her role she was accountable for the design, development and implementation of all strategies, programs and polices across the talent management lifecycle, including Diversity and Inclusion.

Fran enjoys bringing practical people solutions to organizations to enable leaders to achieve great results with their people. At the heart of this work, is her innate ability to create cultures where all people are connected to the organization and each other so they can thrive and do great work. She believes positive employee engagement is the magic that harnesses the power of organizations to achieve outstanding results and create truly inclusive cultures.

Fran lives in Toronto with her wife Astrid and their 2 fur children. When not working, she loves travelling to new and unusual places and working on her golf game

Varugis is the President of Cambridge Executive Connections (CEC), a subsidiary of Cambridge Forums Inc. Since 2003, Varugis has held sales, production and management roles at three global conference and business information providers. Prior to joining Cambridge Forums in 2015, he was the Director of Conference Development at Insight Information, the Canadian subsidiary of ALM Media, LLC. In 2019, CEC was established as a specialised provider of sophisticated learning and networking experiences for private clients, family offices, institutional investors, and corporate leaders. Along with the flagship Forums, CEC builds Communities for members to engage and develop meaningful connections with their peers globally. As President, Varugis is responsible for the overall strategy, growth, and delivery of all services under the CEC banner.