Mr. Smith has over 40 years of experience in operating, developing, and financing mining and strategic materials projects in the Americas and abroad. In September 2013, he was appointed CEO and a Director of NioCorp. From April 2015 to September 2019, Mr. Smith served as the President and Director, and later as CEO, for Largo Resources Ltd.  Mr. Smith has also served on the board of directors of IBC Advanced Alloys Corp., a leading beryllium and copper advanced alloys company, since May 2016, and as CEO of IBC since July 2020. From October 2008 through December 2012, Mr. Smith served as President, CEO and Director of Molycorp, Inc., a rare earths producer, where he was instrumentally involved in taking it from a private company to a publicly traded company with a producing mine. 

Prior to Molycorp, Mr. Smith was the President and CEO of Chevron Mining Inc. He also served for over seven years as the shareholder representative of Companhia Brasileira Metalúrgica e Mineração, a private company that currently produces approximately 85% of the world supply of niobium. Mr. Smith is a Registered Professional Engineer and serves as an active member of the State Bars of California and Colorado. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University in 1981 and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Western State University, College of Law, in 1990.