Meet Our Team

Taso Arima

CEO & Founder

Anastasios (Taso) Arima is a US-based resource executive with a strong history of identifying company-making resource projects in North America and Europe. He is currently the Managing Director and CEO of IperionX (ASX:IPX), a metals technology company focused on creating an All-American, sustainable, low-cost, low-carbon Titanium supply chain. Prior to this, Mr. Arima founded Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL) and was instrumental in securing the funding that enabled the company to grow into one of the most critical lithium chemical projects in the United States and ultimately list on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Mr. Arima was born in Greece and emigrated to Perth, Western Australia where he attended the University of Western Australia and studied a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Engineering.

Toby Symonds

President & Chief Strategy Officer

Toby Symonds has over 30 years of experience in finance and asset management. This includes advisory board roles across private equity and real estate investment firms and executive leadership positions within global hedge fund firms and investment banking firms based in London, New York and San Francisco. Mr. Symonds has core competencies in capital markets, corporate strategy, product development, business development, management information systems and project and team management. Mr. Symonds graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.A. degree in Political Science.

Scott Sparks

Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer

Scott Sparks brings more than 30 years of experience as an engineer and senior executive to the design, construction, and operations of industrial plant facilities in the critical resources industry. He has been a founder and senior management team member at several companies, most recently at Performance Industries, a construction and contract operations firm in West Virginia and at DRA Taggart, a Pennsylvania-based provider of construction and engineering services to the resources industry. Mr. Sparks earned a B.S. degree in Mining Engineering from West Virginia Institute of Technology.

Jeanne McMullin

Chief Legal Officer

Jeanne McMullin is a corporate attorney and business executive with over 25 years’ experience advising early and growth stage companies on legal, commercial, operational, and regulatory matters. Ms. McMullin has held senior legal and operational roles at Twist Capital, a technology investment firm in Los Angeles and at Colchester Global Investors, a global bond manager in London. Ms. McMullin has a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA with honors from Brown University. She is a member of the New York bar.

Dominic Allen

Chief Commercial Officer

Dominic Allen is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years commercial experience, previously holding senior roles with major international natural resource organizations Rio Tinto Limited, Oyu Tolgoi LLC and Sovereign Metals Limited. Dominic commenced his career with Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services focused on natural resource transactions in Australia and internationally. Dominic holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Western Australia and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand.

Gregory Swan

Company Secretary

Gregory Swan is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years’ experience in the formation and development of publicly listed natural resources companies. He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and/or Company Secretary for several listed companies that operate in the resources sector. He commenced his career at a large international Chartered Accounting firm and has since been involved with a number of extraction exploration and development companies, including Piedmont Lithium Inc. (NASDAQ:PLL, ASX:PLL), Mantra Resources Limited (ASX:MRU) and Papillon Resources Limited (ASX:PIR). Mr. Swan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a Member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Marcela Castro

Chief Financial Officer

Marcela Castro is an experienced finance professional with over 25 years’ experience in global finance leadership for companies across multiple industries, including green technology, manufacturing, mining and industrial and consumer products. Ms. Castro has expertise in U.S. public company accounting, financial analysis and strategic planning. Ms. Castro started her career at Arthur Andersen and progressed across international finance roles with Colgate-Palmolive, Jaguar Mining, the Rev Group and Proterra Inc. Ms. Castro holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with Pontificia Universidade Catolica and an Executive MBA with IBMEC.

David Landrith

Executive Vice President of Metals

David Landrith is experienced in production management and process engineering in both continuous and batch processes in heavy industry. He has considerable experience in industrial safety, operational team building, continuous improvement, commissioning and startup of new equipment, Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. He worked as a process engineer supporting both furnace deck operations and mechanical processing of titanium at one of the last domestic titanium sponge plants with Allegheny Technologies Incorporated. More recently he worked as a production manager and in process engineering leadership with Hexcel CORP at their flagship carbon fibers plant. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. He currently lives in Salt Lake City with his wife Kelsey.

Deling Xian

VP of Project Development

Deling Xian is a Professional Engineer with extensive experience in Project Management and Process Engineering in mining and metals industry. She has worked on Scoping Study/Preliminary Economic Analysis, Prefeasibility Study, Feasibility Study, Basic Engineering, Detailed Engineering and Operations support. She has diverse experience in kimberlite processing, ilmenite processing, heavy minerals sands processing, lithium concentrator and chemical plant, iron ore concentrator, graphite concentrator, zinc and lead concentrator, silver concentrator, nickel and copper concentrator, magnesium smelter, calcium carbide smelter etc. Deling previously worked at international engineering consulting firms such as Hatch and DRA as Process Engineer and Project Manager. Deling is a member of OIQ (Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec). She has a master degree in Engineering and bachelor degree in Science. She lives with her husband and two kids in Montreal, Canada.

Dr. Hyrum Lefler

VP of Research & Development

Hyrum Lefler is a technical expert, innovator, and visionary in the titanium metal space. He was a part of Professor Z. Zak Fang’s original research team in 2014 that developed the hydrogen assisted metallothermic reduction (HAMR) process at the University of Utah. After earning his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah, Hyrum began working as a Senior Metallurgist at Carpenter Technology Corporation in their Powder R&D group. He joined IperionX as the Senior Project Metallurgist in July of 2021, and then moved into the role of VP of Research and Development at IperionX in May 2022. Hyrum is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah, and leads IperionX’s technical efforts to scale-up and commercialize HAMR and related technologies centered around a greener, lower-cost titanium supply chain.

In addition to Hyrum’s professional work, he is service & community minded. He has served previously as Mayor of the Town of Leeds, Utah, and over the years has accumulated over 10 years as a leader in the BSA organization. Hyrum loves serving in his church community, hiking, camping, biking, and traveling. He lives with his wife and children in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Mari Gilmore

VP of Sustainability

Mari Gilmore is a Sustainability Leader with nearly two decades of experience in environmental and sustainability program management. At IperionX, Mari ensures that sustainability is integrated into all business functions to ensure the company achieves its sustainable mission, goals, and commitments. As directed by the CEO and advising to the ESG Committee of the Board, Mari oversees all corporate sustainability strategy development, materiality assessment, sustainability policy development, life cycle assessment, corporate decarbonization strategies, and corporate sustainability reporting and disclosures. With an extensive background in environmental regulatory compliance, Mari helps lead the Environmental Health and Safety Management System development at IperionX.

Mari is a Professional Geologist with a B.S. in Earth Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MBA from Presidio Graduate School, focused on sustainable solutions. She lives with her partner, daughter, and three dogs in Nevada.

Jonathon Lord

VP of Geology & Land

Jonathon Lord has a diverse background in geology, working in both exploration and production. His primary areas of expertise include exploration and deposit characterization of heavy mineral sands, gold, kaolin, and rare earth elements. Jonathon previously served as a Geologist/Mine Planner for The Chemours Company; Exploration Geologist and Director of Geology at OceanaGold Corp’s Haile Gold Mine; Project Geologist at Cornish Metals Inc (Formerly: Strongbow Exploration, Inc) and various positions with Imerys and Kentucky Tennessee Clay Company.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, where he currently resides with his wife, Brooke, and son Beau. When not working, he enjoys traveling, dog training, and spending time with his family.

Christopher Lydon

VP, Director of Government Relations

Christopher Lydon advises on federal government policy and represents IperionX before Congress and executive agencies. Chris previously served as a staffer for more than five years under U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and Tom Coburn. Prior to Capitol Hill, Chris worked at J.A. Green & Company, a government relations firm focused on critical mineral supply chains and the U.S. defense industry. Born in Connecticut and raised in London, Chris holds a B.A. in Political Science from American University in Washington, D.C., where he currently resides, and studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Michael Spath

Head of Market Research

Michael Spath has over 25 years of experience in finance, research and asset management. Mike previously worked for nine years at Aetos Capital (a $10 billion hedge fund of funds) as a portfolio manager and head of economic research. Earlier in his career Mike worked for 13 years in the Fixed Income Division of Goldman Sachs in a variety of trading, finance and research roles. As co-business manager, he helped to set up and run Goldman’s Credit Derivatives Department. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science from Brown University. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Castle Pines, Colorado.

Harold Sears

Head of Advanced Manufacturing

Harold Sears brings over 36 years of experience in the automotive industry with 32 years at Ford. His time at Ford includes 29 years in additive manufacturing. Harold previously held the role of Technical Leader and manager of Ford’s Additive Manufacturing Technologies. He has significant experience in scaling additive manufacturing technologies for high-volume automotive production parts and delivering rapid prototypes for new product development and manufacturing tooling try-outs.

Harold has a proven capability to develop and implement additive manufacturing processes that leverage state-of-the-art technologies for the production of commercial parts and prototypes. Harold holds a Bachelor of Science from Eastern Michigan University. He was the recipient of a Henry Ford Technology Award in 2010 for the development of an innovative process that utilizes 3D printing to manufacture sheet metal stamping tooling. In 2015, he was a recipient of the Additive Manufacturing Users Group’s Distinguished Innovator Operator (DINO) award for additive manufacturing expertise and contributions to the industry.