Management Team

Thras Moraitis was CEO of the Serra Verde Group from January 2023 until the completion of the Group’s combination with USA Rare Earth in September 2026. He is a highly experienced global mining executive.

He was previously a co-founder of X2 Resources and Group Head of Strategy and Corporate Affairs and a member of the Xstrata Plc Executive Committee. At Xstrata he was responsible for strategic development, post-acquisition integration, leadership development, external affairs and investor relations as well as Xstrata’s technology business. While at Xstrata, he was involved in some 40 transactions.

Thras began his career in the early 1980s as an engineer on the South African gold mines of General Mining Union Corporation (Gencor), followed by a series of entrepreneurial activities and, prior to joining Xstrata, was a global partner at the Monitor Group, a global advisory and merchant banking group.

Thras was previously the Chief Development Officer and a member of the Executive Board of EuroChem Group AG, a global fertilizer company and, prior to this, an Executive Director at Brilliant Planet, a growth company developing a scalable method for producing microalgae for food solutions and carbon sequestration.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of FLSmidth and an advisor to Vision Blue Resources.

Mr. Steele has over 30 years' experience in finance and investment banking. He has a strong background working with high-growth, disruptive companies and has led over $28 billion in capital raises and M&A transactions throughout his career in both the private and public markets. His capital raising and strategic financial leadership will support USAR's future growth in both mining and magnet manufacturing as the Company scales.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Steele was Global Chief Financial Officer at Mujin Corp., a physical AI industrial robotics software company. Prior to Mujin, Mr. Steele was Managing Director at Bank of America Securities responsible for public and private equity, debt and M&A transactions. Mr. Steele has focused on disruptive high growth industries like USAR's throughout much of his career and brings a wide range of experience across diverse industries such as robotics, consumer electronics, food/agtech, consumer retail, and hospitality, among others. He started his career as an accountant at Ernst & Young in audit and litigation consulting.

Mr. Steele holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara.

Valerie Ford Jacob is the Chief Legal Officer at USA Rare Earth, where she oversees all legal, regulatory, compliance, and public policy matters.

Ms. Jacob brings decades of experience advising on complex financings, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate governance matters for issuers, underwriters, special committees, and boards. Most recently, she served as a partner at Freshfields US LLP. During her more than 10 years at Freshfields, she was co-head of both the Financial Institutions Group and Global Capital Markets. Previously, she was chairperson and senior partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

Ms. Jacob holds a B.S. from Boston University and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She is also a member of The Committee of 200 (C200), an invitation only organization of leading women executives. She has been consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by numerous independent organizations, including Chambers Global, Chambers USA, IFLR1000, Legal 500, and Best Lawyers.

Greg Bowman is Chief Global Policy Officer and Head of External Affairs at USA Rare Earth, where he leads the company’s public policy, corporate affairs, government relations, and strategic communications efforts.

Mr. Bowman brings decades of experience across national security policy, legislation, global strategy, and complex infrastructure programs. Prior to joining USA Rare Earth, he served in senior leadership roles at Siemens Government Technologies, including Chief Corporate Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President, National Security Solutions. Before Siemens, Mr. Bowman spent more than 25 years in senior leadership and legal roles in the U.S. Army.

Mr. Bowman received a bachelor’s degree from Longwood University in sociology and pre-law, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He also earned a Master of Military Law and Government Contracting from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School, and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College. He previously served on the U.S. Army Science Board and the U.S. Department of Defense Business Board, and currently serves on the Founding Council of PRISM, the Strategic Council of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, and the Board of Directors of Hope for the Warriors.

Markus Noethiger brings decades of international experience in sustainability and environmental strategy, programs and risk management. His career spans mining and extractives, financial services, manufacturing and other industries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Markus joined USA Rare Earth from Serra Verde Group, where he served as Group Head of Sustainability. Previous roles include Global Head of Sustainability at Xstrata plc (now part of Glencore), Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Head of Environmental Risk at Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS).

He is the founder and a Partner at Enemco LLC, serves as sustainability adviser to Vision Blue Resources, and sits on the Board of Directors of Earth Resource Investments AG. He is also a member of the Sounding Board for Swiss gold refinery Argor-Heraeus and the Business Advisory Board of swisspeace.

Markus holds a master’s degree in Environmental Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

Dr. Alex Moyes serves as Senior Vice President of Mining and Processing at USA Rare Earth, where he leads the development of mining operations, resource characterization, and the development of process flowsheets for the Round Top project in West Texas. With oversight of upstream activities, including mine planning, leaching, and separation technologies, he is instrumental in advancing the company’s integrated mine-to-magnet strategy.

Dr. Moyes brings nearly two decades of expertise in mining engineering, geology, and resource development. Prior to joining USA Rare Earth, Dr. Moyes held the role of Director of Critical Minerals and Planning at Ramaco Resources, where he spearheaded initiatives in rare earth and other strategic minerals, including exploration, process flowsheet development, and techno-economic modeling. Before that, he served as Vice President of Economics and Planning at FREYR Battery, directing financial modeling and risk analysis for lithium battery projects. His earlier career at Dominion Energy focused on innovation in energy technologies, subsurface planning, and geoscience leadership, marked by a consistent emphasis on project execution and bringing complex deposits into production.

Dr. Moyes holds four degrees from the University of Utah, including a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering, an MBA, an MSc in Geology, and a BSc in Geoscience.

Ricardo Grossi is a Mining Engineer with 25 years of experience and particular expertise in the management and operation of concentration and pelletizing plants, ore pipelines and cargo terminals. He was previously a General Manager at Anglo American Brazil where he led the Minas Rio operation. He was COO of Serra Verde Group prior to its combination with USA Rare Earth. 

Ricardo Grossi spent 16 years at Vale in different leadership positions, having been closely involved in the implementation of the Vargem Grande complex. Before joining Serra Verde, he served as COO at Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN).

Throughout his career Ricardo Grossi has participated in national and international technical missions to assist customers and was responsible for product development processes as well as strategic planning. His responsibilities have also included government relations in addition to the management of environmental licensing processes.

CK brings more than 20 years of experience across technology, consulting, and senior commercial leadership roles. A computer engineer by training, he began his career developing algorithms and software systems before moving into management consulting at Kearney, and subsequently into senior commercial and P&L leadership roles across the chemicals and industrials sector.

Most recently, CK served as Chief Commercial Officer at Ecobat, a global battery recycling platform with $2.5 billion in sales, where his commercial strategy drove a successful private equity exit. Prior to that, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Albemarle Corporation, the world’s largest lithium producer. Earlier in his career, he built his foundation in software engineering and consulting.

CK brings deep expertise in energy transition, battery materials, and critical minerals, along with a passion for growing businesses that accelerate electrification and secure global supply chains.

Mr. Bushi leads the company’s manufacturing operations at its Stillwater, Oklahoma, sintered neodymium magnet production facility.

He has over 25 years of large-scale manufacturing experience and most recently served as Vice President of Manufacturing for CoorsTek, a ceramics manufacturer in Golden, Colorado – experience directly applicable to magnet manufacturing. Mr. Bushi has a strong background in heading high volume manufacturing operations and a record of success across multiple industries, including automotive, defense, and aerospace.

He holds an MBA from Wayne State University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University.

As Head of Strategy & Corporate Development, David is responsible for strategy, M&A and evaluating investment and partnership opportunities to further enhance USA Rare Earth’s competitiveness and long-term success.

Victoria Sprenger is Head of People & Culture at USA Rare Earth. She has more than 20 years of experience leading people functions across startups, national enterprises, and global corporations, including strategic talent acquisition, culture design, and workforce optimization. She creates people strategies that eliminate talent bottlenecks, accelerate organizational effectiveness, and drive operational performance at speed.

Prior to USA Rare Earth, Victoria held human resources roles at the public accounting firm BKD (now Forvis Mazars) and at Cerner, the provider of electronic health record systems and other digital health solutions acquired by Oracle in 2021. She also worked as a technology consultant at the business-process automation software company PaperWise. Immediately before joining USAR in 2022, Victoria was director of HR for Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, a chain of preschools with more than 40 U.S. locations.

Victoria holds a BS in public administration and an MBA, both from Missouri State University. She also senior human resources certifications through both the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP) and HRCI (SPHR). 
 

J.B. Lowe leads USA Rare Earth’s strategic engagement with the financial community and serves as the primary liaison between USAR’s leadership, analysts, and global shareholders.

Lowe brings more than 20 years of capital markets experience on both the buy and sell side. Most recently, he served as Head of Investor Relations at SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEDG). Prior to that, Lowe served as the head of U.S. Renewable Energy Equity Research at Citigroup. Earlier, he was an equity research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and at TD Cowen, where he led coverage of U.S.-focused SMID-caps in the oil and gas sector.

Lowe holds a B.A. in political science from Duke University and is a CFA Charterholder.