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First Quantum Minerals (FQM) founder and Chairman, Philip Pascall, has died, company officials have announced.
Philip passed away peacefully at home in Perth, Western Australia on September 19, 2023.
According to a statement issued in Toronto on Tuesday, Philip co-founded First Quantum in 1996, serving as the Chairman since its inception and Chief Executive Officer until 2022.
Under his leadership, Philip instilled an entrepreneurial and bold culture that saw the company grow from a 10,000 tonnes tailings re-processor with the Bwana Mkubwa project in Zambia to one of the world’s largest copper producers with operations spanning five continents and employing more than 20,000 people globally.
Company sources say of the many legacies he leaves behind, the greatest source of Philip’s pride were the many programs for the local communities in which First Quantum Minerals operates, bringing improved standards of health and education in often remote places.
The Board of Directors have voted to elect Robert Harding, Lead Independent Director, as the Company’s Interim Chairman.
Harding had been a Director of the Company since 2013 and had a full understanding of the Company’s operations and unique culture.
In his role as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Harding oversaw the Company’s succession planning process that led to the appointment of Tristan Pascall to the role of Chief Executive Officer in May 2022.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we extend our sincerest condolences to the Pascall family and friends,” said Robert Harding, Interim Chairman.
He said the Board was indebted to Phillip for his extraordinary leadership at First Quantum, setting the company firmly on the path to the modern, multi-national mining company that it was today.
Harding said Philip was a friend and mentor and his passing would be profoundly felt across the Company and the many people and lives he impacted as a result of his vision.
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“Whilst this is an enormous loss for all of us at First Quantum, Philip would not want us to dwell too long on his passing.
He was always looking forward and was excited by the trajectory of the Company,” said Tristan Pascall, Chief Executive Officer of First Quantum.
Pascall said Philip drove First Quantum’s focus on project execution, operational excellence and social responsibility and that the new leadership intends to continue to build on his substantial legacy.
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