Kelly Sanders
President and CEO

Prior to his current role as Kennecott Utah Copper’s (KUC) President and CEO, Kelly served as Chief Operating Officer at KUC. During his time as COO, Kelly contributed significantly to the work of the senior leadership team and led the operations team to new levels of achievement in safety and efficiency. Prior to joining KUC, Kelly was Vice President of Operations at Rio Tinto Energy America (RTEA). During his 13 years with Rio Tinto, he has also held operating and technical roles within Rio Tinto Coal Australia at Mount Thorley Coal and at RTEA’s Colowyo Mine in Colorado. Prior to joining the Rio Tinto group, he held various operations, technical and business development roles in the mining sector. Kelly holds a BS from Purdue University.

Patrick Keenan
Chief Financial Officer

Pat began his career with Rio Tinto at Kennecott Utah Copper in 1994. He held various finance and business improvement roles before moving to Rio Tinto Indonesia in 2000, where he served as Finance Manager for the Freeport Joint Venture. From 2001-2006, Pat held multiple finance roles within the Controller’s Group in London. Pat joined Rio Tinto Diamonds in 2006, first as GM Finance at Argyle in Western Australia, then as CFO in London. Pat returned to Utah and Kennecott in 2008. Pat is a C.P.A. and holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Utah. He also serves on the Board for the University of Utah School of Business and the Advisory Committee for the International Copper Association.

Lynn Cardey-Yates
Vice President - Legal Department

Brendan Ryan
Vice President, Projects & Expansion

Brendan joins Kennecott Utah Copper from London where he worked as General Manager Business Development for the Copper Group and played instrumental roles in the review and valuation of several additions to the product group portfolio. During his eight years with Rio Tinto, Brendan has held roles with the Copper Group, Business Evaluation and with Rio Tinto Coal Australia. He brings experience in underground and open pit operations, technical studies, project management, business development and marketing. Brendan holds an MBA from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree from University of Queensland.

Nicky Firth

Vice President, Human Resources

Nicky serves as Kennecott Utah Copper's Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to joining Kennecott, Nicky was the Human Resources General Manager of Argyle Diamonds. Nicky began her career with a human resource consulting firm prior to working in the oil and gas industry for several years. She joined Rio Tinto in 2003 and has worked in operational and corporate roles in the Aluminium, Diamonds and Copper product groups. Nicky holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with majors in human resources and industrial relations.

Mick Routledge,
Acting Chief Operating Officer

Mick started his career in 1987 as an apprentice in the United Kingdom aluminum sector where he achieved Chartered Engineering status in electrical and control engineering. Mick then held several roles at Rio Tinto within their power generation and aluminum smelting facilities.  Mick relocated to Scotland in 2002 to develop and run Rio Tinto’s Scottish operations that included 300 square miles of land and estates that provided water to its hydro power stations and an aluminum smelter. Mick later served as the general manager for Scottish operations. Mick relocated to Utah in 2009 with his wife and four children to take a general manager role for Kennecott.  Mick has an honors degree in Engineering (1st Class) and an MBA from Henley Management College.