Mr. De Gasperis brings over 35 years of industrial manufacturing, financial, governance, operational and project management experience in the metals, mining, and recycling industries. Mr. De Gasperis has served as Comstock’s Chief Executive Officer since 2010, and Executive Chairman since 2015. He is also a director and president of each of the Company’s wholly- and majority-owned subsidiaries, and Sierra Springs Opportunity Fund, Inc., a strategic investee of Comstock since July 2019. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. De Gasperis served as the Chief Executive Officer of Barzel Industries Inc. (“Barzel”) and its predecessors. Barzel operated a network of 15 steel-based manufacturing, processing and distribution facilities in the United States and Canada that offered a wide range of metal solutions to various industries, from construction and industrial manufacturing to transportation and mining. Mr. De Gasperis resigned from Barzel in September 2009, after Barzel agreed to sell substantially all of its assets in a planned transaction that was consummated in a sale pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code following a multiple party bidding process with suitors focused on both in-court and out-of-court transactions. Barzel and substantially all of its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries were purchased for $65.0 million in cash. From 1998 to 2006, Mr. De Gasperis held roles of increasing responsibility at GrafTech International Ltd. (“GrafTech”), a global manufacturer of graphite and carbon cathodes and electrodes. From 2001 to 2006, he served as the Chief Financial Officer, in addition to his duties as Vice President and Chief Information Officer and a leader of its transformation and recapitalization. From 1998 to 2000, he served as the controller of GrafTech. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. De Gasperis was a Certified Public Accountant with KPMG LLP, an international provider of financial advisory and assurance services. As a Senior Assurance Manager in the Manufacturing, Retail, and Distribution Practice, he served clients such as General Electric Company and Union Carbide Corporation. KPMG announced his admittance, as a Partner, effective July 1, 1998. Mr. De Gasperis is also a Director and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of LiNiCo Corporation. He is a Director of ROK-On Building Systems, a manufacturer of low-carbon, renewable building materials and a strategic investee of Sierra Springs Opportunity Fund Inc and also a founding member and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture, a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”). Mr. DeGasperis previously served as a Director and as Chairman of the Virginia City Tourism Commission. He also has served as a director of GBS Gold International Inc., where he was Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee and a member of the Nominations and Advisory Committees. Mr. De Gasperis holds a BBA from the Ancell School of Business at Western Connecticut State University, with honors.