When
W.C. Lacy Distinguished Lecture: Timothy R. Snider
Friday, October 18, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Timothy R. Snider
Chairman and Co-Founder
Cupric Canyon Capital LP/GP
"Cupric Canyon Capital - The Evolution of a Copper Mine"
Holsclaw Hall, Fred Fox School of Music, North Olive Road
A reception follows the talk.
Contact: Denise Sandoval | 520.621.6063 | midsandoval@arizona.edu
Visit the Lacy Lecture Series webpage for more information.
Biosketch
Timothy Snider has worked in the copper industry for 54 years. He is currently chairman and co-founder of Cupric Canyon Capital LP/GP, a private equity company formed in 2010 in conjunction with the London based Global Natural Resources Investments (GNRI). The company's purpose is to identify, acquire and develop mineral assets worldwide. In 2013 and 2015 Cupric acquired two junior mining companies with significant land position and infrastructure in Botswana. Utilizing these assets, Cupric developed the Khoemacau copper underground mine from exploration to production. The mine was sold to the Chinese company MMG in March 2024.
Prior to Cupric Canyon, Snider's career in the copper industry includes 38 years with Phelps Dodge Corporation and its successor Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold, Inc. He started his career as an underground mine laborer in 1970 and worked in various technical, operational, and managerial roles in North and South America before rising to the position of the corporation's president and chief operating officer in 2003. At that time, Phelps Dodge was among the largest publicly held copper producers in the world.
A part of Snider's legacy is the introduction and advancement of hydrometallurgical processing in Phelps Dodge's operations. It grew to represent about half of the company's copper output. Also during his tenure with Phelps Dodge, greenfield copper projects were developed at Candelaria in Chile, Safford in Arizona, and Tenke-Fungurume in the DRC. In addition, a variety of major brown field projects, notably the Cerro Verde concentrator in Peru, were developed.
He is a corporate director, having served on several resource company boards. He currently serves as director of Teck Resources in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has also served on non-profit boards, including the University of Arizona's Institute for Mineral Resources as its founding chair.
Snider is a native of Arizona and copper mining, born in Ajo, Arizona. He was raised and attended public schools in Bisbee, Arizona. Snider attended the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania where he completed the advanced management program. He earned a BS degree in chemistry and geology from Northern Arizona University in 1979 and attended the University of Arizona in 1969.
Snider, and his wife of 53 years Rhonda, reside in Tucson and Cannon Beach, Oregon. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.
Career Chronology
- 2010 to present – Chairman, Cupric Canyon Capital, LP/GP
- 2015 to present – Director, Teck Resources Ltd., Vancouver, Canada
- 2007 to 2008 – President and COO, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.
- 1970 to 2007 – Phelps Dodge Corporation
- 2003 to 2007 – President and Chief Operating Officer
- 1998 to 2003 – President, Phelps Dodge Mining Company
- 1970 to 1998 – Various technical, operational, and managerial assignments
- 2011 to 2022 – Director, IAMGold Corporation, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 to 2015 – Director, Compania de Minas Buenaventura, SAA, Lima Peru
- 2006 to 2011 – Director, Compass Minerals, Inc., Kansas City, Kansas
- 2015 to 2021 – Board Member, Arizona Chapter of the Nature Conservancy
- 2008 to 2014 – Board Member, Mining Foundation of the Southwest, Tucson, Arizona
- 2008 to 2011 – Founding chair, Institute for Mineral Resources, University of Arizona
- 2006 to 2012 – Board Member, Northern Arizona University Foundation
Education
- 1996 – Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania – Advanced Management
- 1979 – Northern Arizona University – BS, Chemistry and Geology