Aguia Resources has appointed Tim Hosking as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, following the resignation of William Howe as Managing Director and CEO.
The leadership change comes at a pivotal moment for the multi-commodity explorer, with its flagship phosphate operations in Brazil on track for first production in Q1 2026 and efforts intensifying to revive the company’s gold assets in Colombia.
Hosking, who joined Aguia as Brazil Country Manager in early 2024, has been the driving force behind key milestones at the company's Rio Grande do Sul phosphate projects.
The milestones include securing a long-term lease with Grupo Dagoberto Barcelos to manufacture Pampafos fertiliser, locking in favourable financing from a Brazilian development bank, advancing mine planning at the Tres Estradas phosphate deposit and securing multiple offtake agreements.
Recent field trials have confirmed Pampafos' agronomic performance, delivering yields over 8 tonnes per hectare of dry matter in ryegrass at application rates of 200kg/ha of phosphorus pentoxide - ideal for southern Brazil's import-reliant agricultural heartland.
With over two decades in executive and project management, including 15 years in South America - primarily Brazil and Peru - Hosking looks well-placed to oversee Aguia’s assets into production.
He spent 12 years as South American General Manager at Karoon Energy, overseeing a major offshore oil field acquisition and its transition to production.
More recently, he served as Country Manager for Glenfarne Group, a U.S.-based energy transition firm, handling investor relations, stakeholder engagement with governments and capital markets and full-country operations.
Now elevated to CEO at Aguia, Hosking will maintain oversight of the company’s Brazilian phosphate push while assuming responsibility for the Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia's prolific Serranía de San Lucas gold belt.
Aguia Resources new CEO Tim Hosking said: “I'm thrilled to take on the role of CEO at Aguia, as I see tremendous opportunities ahead, particularly with the potential growth of our phosphate operations in Brazil. Shareholders should recognize that we're building a strong mining and processing business for an in-demand product, and our ongoing exploration drilling is uncovering promising new areas.”
Acquired in mid-2024 via a takeover of Andean Mining, Santa Barbara boasts high-grade mesothermal veins. Underground sampling has hit average grades of 38.91g/t gold over extensive strike distances, with widths up to 0.6m.
A 30 tonne per day pilot plant has processed 500 tonnes with recoveries around 24g/t gold. Recent upgrades, including a Merrill-Crowe circuit and expanded leaching capacity, are aiming for 50 tonnes per day by mid-2025.
While gold recoveries at the project are an ongoing challenge, the project nonetheless boasts exceptional geology and bonanza-grade hits gleaned from 2500m of drilling, with recent assays confirming continuity in high-grade systems.
Hosking has already initiated cost reductions at Santa Barbara, including workforce scaling and operational streamlining, with doré bar production underway for refining in Medellín, Columbia.
A new Colombian management team with specialisation in narrow-vein mining has boosted efficiency since October, leading to significant improvements in both mining and processing. The new strategy has resulted in reduced ore dilution, higher feed grades above 10g/t gold and more efficient plant recovery.
With its total 108Mt JORC phosphate resource in two locations and strategic Colombian gold holdings, Aguia is primed for dual-commodity and dual management momentum, with Hosking making changes at the coal faces and the ever-present Executive Chairman Warrick Grigor continuing to do the heavy lifting at a corporate level.
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By Doug Bright
