Board & Leadership

Fritz Moser

Chairman of the Board STM Minerals AG

Bernhard Schupp

Board Member STM AG & CFO

During his career in more than 40 years at ABB, he held positions in the Cement and Minerals business as international BU Controller, Head of Sales for Total Plant Electrification, Head of local BU -Automation, Plant Electrification and Drives- as well as Head of international Sub-BU for Substation Services.

Robert Lang

Board Member STM AG

Robert W. Lang holds a Ph.D. degree in chemistry, complemented by MBA studies, and gained broad experience in R&D as well as in global sourcing and supply chain management of the pharmaceutical industry, before he joined Omya, a key player in the global white-minerals business, as Senior VP of strategic procurement.

Robert is primarily involved in activities of strategic importance to the company, including the relationship and liaison with important business partners, strategic legal matters, assessment of complex negotiations, as well as the company’s development of corporate strategy and governance.

Ralf Hesemann

Managing Director STM AG

Ralf Hesemann holds a MSc. in Mechanical and Process Engineering, complemented by 30 years international experience in the Mining and Cement Industry. During his time with Polysius & ThyssenKrupp, Ralf was instrumental in bringing the High-Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) to the Mining Industry, from first applications in Cement and Diamonds to the largest HPGR in the Platinum Industry. In his last position, as CEO of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa Ltd., Ralf established a strong Service and Maintenance business to serve Mining operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ralf joined STM AG in 2019 to continue his passion to introduce innovative grinding technology to the mining industry with the aim to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Slavko Planinic

Director STM Australia

((Swiss Tower Mills Minerals Australia Pty Ltd ))

Slavko Planinic was appointed Director of STM Australia in October 2021. Slavko has a wealth of senior management experience having previously held senior management positions for ABB in both Australia and across South Asia. Slavko last role with ABB was Managing Director of ABB Australia where he had responsibility for all of ABB’s operations nationally.

With more than 30 years’ experience with ABB, Slavko has worked across Europe and has extensive experience working in Asia in CFO roles.

Slavko holds a Bachelor of Business Degree majoring in Accounting from the University of Technology Sydney and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

Patricio Huencho

Director STM Chile SpA

Since 2012, Patricio Huencho has worked with Swiss Tower Mills Minerals AG of Switzerland, as Sales Promoter for the Latin American region. To date, there are more than 26 Swiss Tower Mills Minerals fine grinding rigs operating in the Americas. He has worked on the development of various initiatives -from sales to start-up-, in projects such as ” Teck’s QB2 Project” (Chile), “BHP’s SGO Spence Project” (Chile), “Newmont-Gold Corp’s Peñasquito Project” (Mexico), “Saucito de Fresnillo PLC Project” (Mexico) and “Pan American Silver Corp.’s Cerro Moro Project” (Argentina).

He has also participated in the development of test campaigns and laboratory piloting with VRMmill™ and VPMmill™ technologies (efficient and proven vertical grinding for fine and coarse grinding), for various clients and process studies in the region.

Carlos Andrade

VP Global Contract Execution

Carlos Andrade has been actively involved in the mining and minerals processing industry for over two decades. He has experience with a vast number of mined commodity types and experience with many facets of the pit to port infrastructure model. Carlos Andrade has been managing projects for the majority of his career and is a registered Project Management Professional PMP®.

Per Thorn

VP Global Business Development and Sales

Per Thorn holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, with over one decade of global technical sales experience in the mining and mineral processing industry with success in multiple large capital sales orders, fluent in Swedish, English and Spanish language. Per joined STM 2019 to support and contribute to an energy efficient grinding with the goal of global reduced footprint of CO2 and greenhouse gases reductions for a sustainable future of the mining industry.