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2026-11-06

← CEL management

Full background report

Yohann Bouchard

Interim Chief Executive Officer; Chief Operating Officer

Career chronology

Business failures and setbacks

Inherited Hualilan near-surface grade/model and toll-processing reset

June–Oct 2026 · documented · high materiality

Challenger’s July 2026 report states higher-grade continuity expected in the upper Norte and Sanchez pits did not materialize, attributing this to channel samples biasing the block model. It records 39,342t processed in May–June at about 88% gold recovery, followed by a transport/processing pause and a focus on the larger standalone development. The September counterparty update says fees for May/June were paid and the companies were discussing a new arrangement; the Oct 1 termination was later reported with a deferred US$1m fee. Bouchard joined after the model discrepancy was discovered and after the initial production campaign; no causal responsibility is established.

Attribution: Role overlaps event; causation unproven. The short-lived current CEO role overlapped the Aug–Oct strategic reset; the sampling/model issue and initial production performance predate or largely precede his appointment.

Relevance: Material operational continuity, grade-control and financing risk for the inherited plan.

Quarterly Activities Report (Quarterly Activities Report, mining and processing section); Austral Gold Provides Update on Casposo Toll Agreement (Update on toll agreement); Austral subsidiary and Challenger call it quits on toll agreement (Termination effective date and payment)

Industrial safety

Historical Yamana fatality during broad tenure; no individual or site link established

2014 · issuer reported · low materiality

Yamana’s 2014 CSR report recorded one employee fatality at Mercedes and reported that management investigated it and implemented corrective actions. Bouchard joined Yamana in October 2014, but the source does not identify him, his responsibility, or an overlap with the Mercedes site; the fatality is an employer-level event and is not attributed to him.

Attribution: Employer context; no individual link established. No individual contribution, oversight link or site responsibility established; event may predate/overlap only part of his Yamana tenure.

Relevance: Safety oversight is relevant to COO responsibilities, but no personal conclusion follows.

Yamana Gold 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2014 Safety Performance Indicators)

Suitability for the current role

Operations leader with multi-jurisdiction mining experience

By 2026-10 · analyst inference · medium materiality

Challenger’s biography states 25+ years in technical and operations roles, including Yamana operations in the Americas and San Juan province; New Gold’s 2024 filing says he ceased EVP/COO on 31 Jan 2025. This experience is role-relevant, but Challenger tenure is only two months at cutoff.

Attribution: Responsibility not applicable. Career responsibility is documented, but the short Challenger tenure does not yet establish delivery.

Relevance: Strong operating background for the COO/Interim CEO transition and Argentinian project context.

Directors & Management (Yohann Bouchard biography); New Gold 2024 Annual Information Form (Executive cessation date)

Evidence gaps

  • Role chronology and education rely partly on issuer biographies; dates and credentials require primary-source confirmation where not specifically documented.

  • Person-specific court, regulator, sanctions, professional-discipline and safety/environment register searches were not exhaustive.

  • Hualilan technical and economic outcomes are project-level; no source establishes sole personal responsibility for outcomes.

  • Company transition and counterpart disclosures are reported distinctly; no denial or allegation has been treated as an independent finding.