Hycroft Mining has appointed Michael Deal as senior vice president and chief operating officer, effective August 24, 2026.
Deal brings more than 20 years of operating and technical leadership experience across complex, multi-asset gold and silver operations in North America, with a proven track record of building, scaling, and optimizing operations through disciplined capital allocation, technical rigor, and operational excellence.
Most recently, Deal served as vice president, operations at First Majestic Silver, where he provided enterprise leadership across a portfolio of operating mines and development assets and served as executive lead for the integration of a $1 billion acquisition.
He also directed annual capital programs exceeding $300 million while improving production, safety performance, and operating discipline.
Deal previously held senior operating and technical leadership roles with Nevada Gold Mines, OceanaGold, Romarco Minerals, and Newmont Corporation, spanning open-pit and underground mining, heap leaching, milling, flotation, roasting, autoclave processing, and refractory ore treatment.
During his time with Nevada Gold Mines, Deal managed processing operations at the Carlin Complex, including the Goldstrike roaster and autoclave facilities, as well as Gold Quarry’s roaster, concentrator, and heap leach operations. He led initiatives focused on refractory processing performance, recovery optimization, cost reduction, and extending the life of critical processing infrastructure across one of the world’s largest gold-producing operations.
Deal also played a key leadership role in the construction, commissioning, and ramp-up of the Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina, successfully transitioning the operation from development into production. Throughout his career, he has consistently delivered improvements in safety, production, recovery, and operating performance while building high-performing teams and systems.
"Michael's deep technical and operating experience is directly relevant to our strategy of advancing Hycroft to the next phase of operations,” Hycroft CEO Diane Garrett said in a news release.
“His extensive background building and managing sulfide processing operations — including roasters and autoclaves in Nevada — and in building the systems, teams and discipline needed to run them safely and profitably at scale is exactly the caliber of operating leadership we need as we advance and prepare the Hycroft mine for future development."