IAMGOLD Welcomes Catherine McLeod-Seltzer to Its Board in 2026

The Governance Shift Redefining Mid-Tier Gold Mining

Across the global gold mining sector, a quiet but consequential transformation is underway. Institutional investors are no longer satisfied evaluating mining companies purely through production numbers and reserve grades. Board composition has become a primary lens through which capital allocators assess whether a company can actually execute on its promises. The question being asked with increasing urgency is not just what a company owns, but whether the people overseeing it have personally navigated the kind of operational and capital markets complexity the company now faces.

This shift carries particular weight for mid-tier gold producers. Sitting between the nimble juniors and the resource-rich majors, mid-tier companies must simultaneously manage operating mines, ramp up new assets, discipline capital deployment, and maintain investor confidence across dual markets. Getting board composition wrong at this stage can be deeply costly. Getting it right, however, can be transformative.

IAMGOLD appoints Catherine McLeod-Seltzer to board with an effective date of September 1, 2026, and the decision deserves careful unpacking beyond the headline. Furthermore, understanding why this appointment matters requires examining both the individual and the broader governance environment in which it takes place.

Why Dual-Listed Producers Face Elevated Board Scrutiny

IAMGOLD Corporation carries listings on both the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a dual-market structure that amplifies governance expectations considerably. North American institutional shareholders on both exchanges increasingly apply a governance premium when pricing mining equities. Directors are expected to bring verifiable value-creation credentials, not merely procedural oversight capability. Consequently, the relationship between gold price and mining equities has made board-level credibility more important than ever.

For a company like IAMGOLD, which operates producing mines in Canada and Burkina Faso, board competency must span multiple dimensions simultaneously:

• Operational oversight of complex, multi-jurisdictional mining assets
• Capital markets fluency across North American institutional investor expectations
• Strategic judgment on when and how to deploy growth capital
• Risk governance across geopolitically diverse operating environments

Burkina Faso, in particular, introduces a layer of complexity that demands directors with genuine risk calibration experience. West African mining jurisdictions have faced elevated security and political risk in recent years, and sustaining investor confidence in assets operating in such environments requires board members who can credibly engage with these narratives at the institutional level.

Catherine McLeod-Seltzer: Four Decades of Building Real Value

From Sub-$5 Million to $1.1 Billion: The Arequipa Blueprint

To understand what McLeod-Seltzer brings to IAMGOLD, the Arequipa Resources story is the essential starting point. She co-founded Arequipa Resources when it carried a market capitalisation of under $5 million. Through disciplined exploration, strategic positioning in Peru, and a clear focus on shareholder value creation, the company grew to a valuation exceeding $1.1 billion before Barrick Gold acquired it.

The growth trajectory of Arequipa Resources represented a valuation increase of more than 22,000% from founding to acquisition, making it one of the most cited examples of junior mining value creation in Canadian capital markets history.

This is not merely a biographical footnote. It represents a repeatable intellectual framework: identify a high-quality asset, apply disciplined capital, position the company strategically, and engineer a premium exit. This framework is precisely what mid-tier producers transitioning through operational inflection points need represented at the board level.

A Pattern of Serial Company Building

Arequipa was not an isolated outcome. McLeod-Seltzer's career reflects a deliberate and repeatable model of founding, scaling, and transitioning resource companies across commodities and geographies:

• Arequipa Resources (gold, Peru): Grew from under $5M to over $1.1B; acquired by Barrick Gold
• Lucara Diamond Corporation: Co-founded; now a globally recognised diamond producer known for recovering exceptional large stones from its Karowe mine in Botswana
• Peru Copper: Co-founded; demonstrated cross-commodity expertise and South American resource development capability
• Bear Creek Mining Corporation: Founded and chaired; recently completed a successful exit through a corporate sale

This portfolio of outcomes across gold, diamonds, and copper signals something important: McLeod-Seltzer's value creation capability is not commodity-specific. It is, furthermore, structural — rooted in capital markets understanding, strategic positioning, and governance discipline.

The Kinross Dimension: Governing at Scale

Her most recent major governance role adds a further layer of relevance. McLeod-Seltzer served as Chair of Kinross Gold Corporation from 2019 to 2025, overseeing one of Canada's largest senior gold producers through a period that included significant gold price volatility, operational restructuring, and evolving ESG expectations. She retired from the Kinross Chair position in 2025, which, combined with her recent exit from Bear Creek, positions her as available and highly motivated for a substantive new board commitment.

The transition from chairing a senior producer to joining a mid-tier producer as director is a meaningful signal. It suggests a deliberate choice to engage with a company at an earlier stage of its value-creation arc, precisely the kind of company where her founding and scaling experience can be most directly applied.

Mapping Her Current Board Portfolio

Understanding McLeod-Seltzer's current board commitments provides context for the complementary value she brings to IAMGOLD:

The Teck Resources connection is particularly notable. Teck is one of Canada's most complex mining operators, managing large-scale base metals and steelmaking coal assets with significant capital project portfolios. Board experience at that level provides direct exposure to the governance challenges of managing mine construction, cost overruns, environmental permitting, and community relations at scale — all of which are directly applicable to overseeing IAMGOLD's Côté Gold Mine ramp-up.

The Côté Gold Mine: Why This Appointment Is Timely

A Flagship Asset at a Critical Juncture

IAMGOLD's Côté Gold Mine in Ontario, Canada represents the company's most significant growth asset and the primary focus of its operational narrative. Côté is a large-scale open-pit gold mine that entered production, and its ramp-up trajectory is the single most important variable in IAMGOLD's near-term value story. Delivering on production targets, managing unit costs, and maintaining capital discipline during ramp-up are precisely the areas where board-level oversight makes a material difference.

Mid-tier producers navigating the transition from development-stage assets to full operational throughput face a specific and well-documented risk profile. Capital budgets tend to expand, production timelines can slip, and investor patience erodes if the board cannot credibly demonstrate strategic oversight. Having a director who has personally managed companies through similar inflection points provides more than symbolic reassurance. Indeed, gold miners outperforming the market in recent periods have typically shared this trait of strong board-level operational oversight.

What Investors Will Be Watching

Following this appointment, the performance indicators that analysts and institutional investors will monitor most closely include:

1. Côté Gold Mine quarterly production results relative to guidance
2. All-in sustaining cost (AISC) trajectory as the mine scales toward full capacity
3. Capital allocation decisions across the Canadian and Burkina Faso portfolio
4. Any corporate development activity, including potential gold M&A activity, joint ventures, or asset rationalisation

If IAMGOLD follows a trajectory similar to the Arequipa model — where disciplined capital stewardship and strategic board positioning preceded a transformative acquisition outcome — the appointment of a director with McLeod-Seltzer's profile could be interpreted as early positioning for a more significant corporate event within a medium-term horizon. This remains speculative and is not confirmed by any corporate disclosure.

The Three Dimensions of Board Value in Mining Companies

What a High-Calibre Director Actually Contributes

Governance theory and mining sector practice both support a three-dimensional model of board value creation:

1. Strategic Oversight: Challenging management assumptions on capital allocation, mine sequencing, and growth strategy. Effective directors ask uncomfortable questions before capital is committed, not after.

2. Capital Markets Credibility: In mining, a director's personal track record functions as a credibility signal to institutional investors. When a company announces a board appointment, the market is effectively assessing whether that person's presence makes the equity more or less investable. This is particularly relevant in the context of undervalued mining stocks, where board credibility can directly influence re-rating potential.

3. Network and Deal Flow Access: Senior mining directors with McLeod-Seltzer's profile carry deep relationships with major producers, private equity mining funds, royalty companies, and streaming counterparties. These relationships can facilitate financing conversations, partnership introductions, and acquisition dialogues that management teams cannot always access independently.

Founder-Directors vs. Career Directors: A Comparative Framework

McLeod-Seltzer's profile bridges the first and third categories — a genuinely rare governance combination in the Canadian mining sector. Her direct experience as a company founder, capital markets operator, and chair of a major gold producer makes her profile difficult to replicate on a typical director shortlist. In addition, the broader trend of mining industry consolidation makes her deal-structuring experience increasingly valuable at the board level.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Catherine McLeod-Seltzer officially join the IAMGOLD board?

Her appointment as director takes effect on September 1, 2026, as confirmed by IAMGOLD Corporation.

What companies has Catherine McLeod-Seltzer co-founded?

She co-founded Arequipa Resources (acquired by Barrick Gold), Lucara Diamond Corporation, Peru Copper, and founded Bear Creek Mining Corporation.

How large did Arequipa Resources grow before its acquisition?

Arequipa Resources grew from a market capitalisation of under $5 million to more than $1.1 billion prior to its acquisition by Barrick Gold.

What other boards does Catherine McLeod-Seltzer currently serve on?

She currently holds director positions at Teck Resources Limited and Flow Capital Corporation.

How long did Catherine McLeod-Seltzer serve as Chair of Kinross Gold?

She served as Chair of Kinross Gold Corporation from 2019 to 2025, a six-year tenure overseeing one of Canada's largest gold producers.

Where does IAMGOLD operate its mines?

IAMGOLD operates mines in Canada (including the Côté Gold Mine in Ontario) and Burkina Faso in West Africa.

Key Takeaways for IAMGOLD Stakeholders

• For shareholders: The appointment signals deliberate board reinforcement with a director whose personal track record spans founding, scaling, and exiting resource companies at multi-billion-dollar valuations, directly aligned with IAMGOLD's stated goal of building a strong operational foundation.

• For institutional investors: McLeod-Seltzer's dual familiarity with senior gold producer governance (Kinross) and major Canadian mining operations (Teck) provides the kind of board-level credibility that supports equity re-rating narratives during operational ramp-up phases.

• For the broader industry: The appointment reinforces a broader trend of mid-tier producers recruiting founder-directors whose value creation credentials extend well beyond boardroom process expertise, reflecting rising governance standards across TSX and NYSE-listed mining equities.

• For analysts: The combination of her background, IAMGOLD's current operational phase, and the timing of her availability following exits from Bear Creek and Kinross creates a data point worth monitoring in the context of IAMGOLD's medium-term corporate development trajectory.

Disclaimer: This article contains forward-looking analysis and speculative observations regarding potential corporate outcomes. These do not constitute financial advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. All speculative scenarios are clearly identified as such and are not confirmed by any corporate disclosure from IAMGOLD Corporation.

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