SANTIAGO, Chile--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 10, 2025--
Ceibo, the technology company pioneering next-generation copper extraction, today announced the appointment of Ian Pearce to its Board of Directors. A respected mining executive and advisor, Pearce brings four decades of operational, technical, and commercial leadership. His appointment adds depth to Ceibo’s board as the company advances toward commercial deployment of its proprietary sulfide leaching technology.
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Pearce’s career spans senior operating and executive roles across the mining value chain. He previously served as Chief Executive of Xstrata Nickel, leading global operations and development projects and as Chief Operating Officer of Falconbridge Limited, where he oversaw mining and metallurgical operations worldwide. Earlier in his career, Pearce held senior engineering and project leadership roles at Fluor Corporation, designing and constructing major mining projects.
Over the past decade, Pearce has become a leading voice in mining innovation and technology adoption. He serves as Chair of the Board for MineSense Technologies and Lilac Solutions and as a Non-Executive Director of Northland Power and NextSource Materials. He also advises KoBold Metals and has guided technology-driven companies through critical growth phases. His work has centered on reducing risk, scaling breakthrough technologies responsibly and helping organizations build the operational discipline needed to deliver on their commitments.
“Ian’s depth of operational experience and his leadership integrating technology into mining make him an exceptional addition to Ceibo’s board,” said Cristóbal Undurraga, Chief Executive Officer at Ceibo. “As we transition from demos to commercialization, his guidance will be instrumental in helping us scale responsibly and deliver value to our partners.”
“The mining industry is at a pivotal moment, where embracing new technology is essential to unlocking the copper supply the world needs,” said Ian Pearce. “What impresses me about Ceibo is the rigor of the science, the clarity of the development roadmap and the team’s energy and discipline. Their leaching technology has the potential to unlock more value from existing ore bodies. I am excited to support Ceibo as it moves from lab to mine and brings a new generation of solutions to the industry.”
Pearce’s appointment strengthens Ceibo’s strategy as it scales its technology and deepens partnerships with mining companies globally. His expertise in project development, commercial readiness and technology integration will help Ceibo accelerate deployment to support industries driving economic growth including electrification and AI infrastructure.
Ian Pearce
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado 's daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother's behalf Wednesday, hours after officials said Machado would miss the ceremony.
Machado has been in hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, told the award ceremony that “María Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here today — a journey in a situation of extreme danger.”
“Although she will not be able to reach this ceremony and today's events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe, and that she will be with us here in Oslo,” he said to applause.
The director of the Norwegian Nobel institute and Machado's spokesperson said earlier Wednesday that she wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony. Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa did instead.
María Corina Machado said in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that many people had “risked their lives” for her to arrive in Oslo.
“I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said before indicating she was about to board a plane.
“I know that there are hundreds of Venezuelans from different parts of the world that were able to reach your city that are right now in Oslo, family, my team, so many colleagues,” Machado added.
“And since this is a prize for all Venezuelans, I believe that it will be received by them. And as soon as I arrive, I will be able to embrace all my family and my children that I’ve have not seen for two years and so many Venezuelans, Norwegians that I know that share our struggle and our fight.”
Prominent Latin American figures attended Wednesday in a signal of solidarity with Machado, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.
González, who sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest, attended Wednesday's ceremony, which was overlooked by a large portrait of Machado.
U.N. human rights officials and many independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela, and called for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent.
Five past Nobel Peace Prize laureates were detained or imprisoned at the time of the award, according to the prize's official website, most recently Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in 2023 and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in 2022.
The others were Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991 and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935.
Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo, a Venezuelan human rights activist who was forced to flee into exile in 2012, said Machado's supporters “did the best for her to be here as she deserves. But we knew the risk.”
He added that they are “disappointed that she cannot be in the ceremony, but this is part of what we do when we fight against a dictatorship, a tyranny or a criminal regime. So we are used to it."
Argentine's President Javier Milei arrives at Oslo City Hall before the award ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The daughter of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ana Corina Sosa, who will accept the award on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, arrives for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Pool via AP)
A picture of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony at Oslo City Hall, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Pool via AP)
Ana Corina Sosa, center, daughter of Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Machados, arrives at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, file)
From left: Colombia's former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli and Magalli Meda, who are collaborators with the Nobel Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, are seen at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Tuesday Dec. 9, 2025. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
