Directors and Officers
Mr. Dennis Schwindt , Executive Chairman/Director
Mr. Dennis Schwindt holds a degree in Economics from the Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany. He gained extensive experience in engineering and in the oil and gas industries from his previous positions at medium-sized German companies and international groups.
Mr. Schwindt joined the publicly listed and Germany headquartered HMS Bergbau AG in 2012, where he was responsible for developing investment projects in the commodities and mining sector. In 2018, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) and became a member of the Management Board of HMS Bergbau AG. Since July 2020, he has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HMS Bergbau AG.
HMS Bergbau AG (https://hms-ag.com/) is an internationally active, independent commodities marketing company specialized in reliable just-in-time deliveries of raw materials, energy products, ores, and other commodities for industrial customers worldwide. HMS is characterized by long-standing customer relationships with leading raw material consumers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia
Dr. Michael Seeger – Independent Director
Dr. Seeger is a mining engineer, mine developer and mining finance specialist with more than 30 years of international experience. His expertise encompasses mine development, project evaluation, construction, operational planning and the structuring and arrangement of mining project financing, with a particular focus on copper and other critical minerals.
He began his career with Iscor Mining in South Africa, gaining operational experience across gold, coal, iron ore and platinum mining. He subsequently participated in bringing the Hillendale titanium operation into production, founded and managed an open-cast mining contractor serving Anglo American, and co-founded the coal project portfolio that evolved into ASX-listed Universal Coal plc. His career has also included leading mine and smelter performance-improvement programmes for major international mining and metals companies, including Newmont and AngloGold Ashanti.
Dr. Seeger is the Founder and Managing Director of MX Mining Capital Partners GmbH, where he arranges project financing and strategic investment for copper and other critical minerals projects, including tungsten, fluorspar, graphite, titanium, vanadium and scandium. His financing experience includes arranging funding for Maatla Resources’ Mmamabula coal project in Botswana which is majority owned by HMS Bergbau AG.
His international experience spans Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas, covering the full mining project lifecycle from early-stage evaluation and development through construction and commercial production.
Dr. Seeger holds a PhD, an MSc Eng in Mineral Economics and a BSc Eng in Mining Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is also the author of Mining Capital, published by Springer Nature in 2019, with a second edition in 2026.
Patrick Brandl, Interim CEO/President, Director
Patrick holds a master’s degree in law and business administration. He began his career as a global commodity trader, quickly advancing to the Board of Directors, overseeing global export and processing operations. He later became a Board Member and 40% shareholder in a Swiss trading firm, also assuming the role of CEO and 40% owner of the Russia & Baltic States Subsidiary for a major European processing & retail company.
Patrick then transitioned into corporate finance and investment banking, where he became a partner at a US boutique and later at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), leading the firm’s corporate finance practice in Austria & CEE.
He subsequently served as the head of global investment banking for the Swiss Valartis Banking Group. Following a management buy-out, Patrick became the Senior Partner of bgm Partners Group, a Switzerland and Austria-based firm specializing in investment banking and corporate finance services for the commodity & mining industries, with additional investments in the mining & minerals processing sector. Patrick is a seasoned entrepreneur with board memberships in various entities across the commodity trading & processing and mining sectors.
Gary Musil, Director
Gary Musil has more than 30 years of management and financial consulting experience and has served as an officer and director on numerous public companies since 1988. This experience has resulted in his overseeing the financial aspects and expenditures on exploration projects in Peru, Chile, Eastern Europe (Slovak Republic), and British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick (Canada). Prior to this, he was employed for 15 years with Dickenson Mines Ltd. and Kam-Kotia Mines Ltd. as a Controller for the producing silver/lead/zinc mine in the interior of British Columbia Canada.
Michael Kriebel, Director
Mr. Michael Kriebel is Head of Accounting at Berlin based HMS Bergbau AG.
HMS is a public company which trades on the Deutsche Börse exchange (HMU), Berlin Stock Exchange (HMUG) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (HMU.DE)
HMS is one of the leading independent commodity trading companies in Germany. Its core business is the international purchase and sale of energy commodities, metals, ores and other renewable raw materials. Currently, the company is actively expanding towards commodity production and logistical solutions.
Dr. Thomas Unterweissacher, EurGeol
Dr. Unterweissacher currently serves as Strategic Advisor and Head of Exploration for HMS Bergbau AG, a leading independent German energy trading and commodity group and a major shareholder of Belmont. He brings extensive experience in the exploration of lithium, niobium, tantalum, cobalt, and gold, with a proven track record leading complex exploration programs across Europe, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria.
Dr. Unterweissacher is a senior mining geologist and executive with more than two decades of international experience in critical minerals and precious metals exploration. As certified European Geologist (EurGeol) and Qualified / Competent Person under NI 43-101 and JORC he has led and overseen exploration programs covering lithium, niobium, tantalum, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements and gold. He has particular expertise in pegmatite-hosted systems and district-scale project development. He holds a Doctorate in Mining Sciences (Dr. mont.) from Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria and has extensive operational experience spanning early-stage exploration through advanced project evaluation.
Nancy Kawazoe, Secretary/CFO
Ms. Nancy Kawazoe brings more than 34 years of finance and venture capital market experience, primarily in the mining sector. She works directly with mining executives and directors in regulatory and financial reporting matters