Aura Energy Builds Out Executive Team to Drive Tiris Uranium Mine to Construction
Key Takeaways
- Aura Energy has named three senior executives — John Carr (President), Spencer Davey (CFO), and Jeremy Carter (Chief Strategy Officer) — effective 30 September 2026, with Davey joining in early November 2026.
- The Tiris Bankable Feasibility Study is on track for completion by mid-October 2026, forming the direct basis for project financing discussions already underway with potential strategic partners and lenders.
- Incoming CFO Spencer Davey brings Fortescue credentials including a US$1.2 billion Iron Bridge stake sale and involvement in a US$5 billion senior secured credit facility restructuring — deal-making experience at a scale Tiris will need at the financing table.
- Pilot plant construction is underway at Bir Moghrein, with first equipment packages due in Nouakchott in late October 2026 and testing of three main ore types plus a 48-tonne bulk composite sample targeted for completion by early December 2026.
- President John Carr brings directly relevant alkaline leach experience from Paladin's Langer Heinrich uranium mine — the same processing chemistry Tiris will use — and previously restarted the Century zinc mine in just 15 months.
Aura Energy assembles executive team as Tiris moves from study to build
Aura Energy has named three senior executives to lead the Tiris Uranium Project through its next phase, appointing John Carr as President, Spencer Davey as Chief Financial Officer (joining in early November 2026), and Jeremy Carter as Chief Strategy Officer. The announcement signals a deliberate shift in organisational posture: from study to construction.
The Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) is on track for completion by mid-October 2026, with project financing targeted by the end of 2026. Pilot plant commissioning at Bir Moghrein is expected to begin in early November 2026. This is the team being assembled to deliver those milestones.
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Meet the team taking Tiris to construction
John Carr — President
Carr steps up from Chief Adviser, Operations, a role he has held since March 2026, meaning he already knows the Tiris project in detail. He oversaw the test work, technology selection, and engineering underpinning the BFS. As President, he runs the business day-to-day and leads the executive team, reporting to Executive Chair Phil Mitchell.
His most directly relevant credential for Tiris is time spent at Paladin’s Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia, a calcrete deposit processed using the same alkaline leach chemistry that Tiris will use. Carr also co-founded New Century Resources and led the 15-month programme that restarted the Century zinc mine from care and maintenance, making it one of the world’s 15 largest zinc producers.
- Previous Aura role: Chief Adviser, Operations (from March 2026)
- Headline credential: Alkaline leach experience at Langer Heinrich; restarted Century zinc mine in 15 months
- Tiris mandate: Day-to-day leadership of the executive team through BFS and, subject to financing and a final investment decision, into construction
Spencer Davey — Chief Financial Officer
Davey joins from Fortescue, where he has served as Global Head of Business Development and Special Projects since 2021. He will take up his role at Aura in early November 2026, once his current position concludes.
His standout transaction was representing Fortescue in the sale of a 31% stake in the Iron Bridge magnetite project to Formosa Plastics Group for US$1.2 billion, which won Deal of the Year at the 2014 Mines and Money Asian Mining Awards. He also supported the restructuring of Fortescue’s US$5 billion senior secured credit facility. Between his two Fortescue stints, Davey served as CFO of AIM-quoted Ascent Resources plc and founded Southsea Consulting.
- Joining date: Early November 2026
- Headline credential: US$1.2 billion Iron Bridge stake sale; US$5 billion credit facility restructuring at Fortescue
- Tiris mandate: Project financing alongside Executive Chair Phil Mitchell through to financial close
Jeremy Carter — Chief Strategy Officer
Carter has advised Aura on strategy and technology since November 2025. In April and May 2026, he brought Aura’s process engineers and outside experts to agreement on the Tiris flowsheet. His two mandates as Chief Strategy Officer are distinct in scope.
The first is digitalisation: building Aura’s systems around a single integrated dataset spanning the ore body, plant, and accounts, and exploring automation of mobile equipment and a remote operations centre. The second is Mauritanisation: identifying Mauritanian talent, establishing an induction programme, and shortlisting candidates for near-term roles. Carter spent 13 years at McKinsey & Company, primarily serving senior clients in the mining industry, and holds a PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology.
- Previous engagement: Strategy and technology adviser to Aura since November 2025
- Headline credential: 13 years at McKinsey; PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology
- Tiris mandate: Digitalisation of operations and building the Mauritanian leadership pipeline
| Name | Role | Start Date | Key Credential |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Carr | President | Effective 30 September 2026 | Alkaline leach experience at Langer Heinrich; restarted Century zinc mine in 15 months |
| Spencer Davey | Chief Financial Officer | Early November 2026 | US$1.2 billion Iron Bridge stake sale at Fortescue; Deal of the Year 2014 |
| Jeremy Carter | Chief Strategy Officer | Effective 30 September 2026 | 13 years at McKinsey; PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology; Tiris flowsheet agreement |
What is a Bankable Feasibility Study — and why it matters for Tiris
A Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) is the document that lenders and major investors require before committing capital to a mining project. It sets out project economics, engineering specifications, and environmental and social assessments in sufficient detail to give financiers confidence the project is viable. In short, it is the document that makes a mine “bankable.”
For Tiris, the BFS due by mid-October 2026 is the direct gateway to the project financing discussions Aura is targeting by the end of 2026. Discussions with potential strategic partners and project financiers are already ongoing, and the BFS will form the basis of those ongoing discussions. With it, Davey and Mitchell can sit across the table from lenders with a credible case.
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Pilot plant and project milestones on track
Construction of the Tiris pilot plant is underway at Bir Moghrein. The plant sits in a walled yard that Aura has leased in the town, so it disturbs no new ground. The plant was built as modules away from site and shipped to Mauritania ready to install.
Key milestones in the coming months include:
- First equipment packages due in Nouakchott: late October 2026
- Installation and commissioning begins: October–November 2026
- Environmental notice (final approval required before operation): expected October 2026
- Testing regime completion: early December 2026
- Testing scope: three main Tiris ore types plus a 48-tonne bulk composite sample
- 24 Mauritanian operators to be trained on-site during commissioning
The distinction between pilot plant data and laboratory results matters here. Potential financiers and their independent technical advisers require measured plant data from a continuous circuit running on real Tiris ore, not lab results. The pilot plant is the evidentiary bridge between study and funding.
Phil Mitchell, Executive Chair
“Tiris is expected to be Mauritania’s first uranium mine, and the appointment of John, Spencer and Jeremy is core to the establishment of the team that will build it.
John knows Tiris better than anyone. He has lived in the detail of this project all year. Spencer has done deals at a scale well beyond ours, and we need exactly that at the table with lenders between now and the end of the year. Jeremy is taking on the tyranny of the hydrometallurgical plant. Too many of these plants start slowly and never get lean. We intend Tiris to be the exception, run on good data by young Mauritanians.
We expect to finish the study in mid-October. Then we focus on funding the mine and building it.”
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