Before joining Cobalt 27 in August, he spent over 30 years at Sherritt International, where he was ultimately senior vice president, commercial and technologies and previously senior VP of metals.

During his time as a Sherrit executive, Vydra was involved in the Murrin Murrin's refinery start up in Australia, the design of Harjavalta's nickel reduction circuit in Finland, and the design, construction and commissioning of a major oxidation operation in Chile.

Prior to the executive roles, he was responsible for the engineering, maintenance and capital construction at Sherritt's nickel refinery.

Vydra is also a current and founding member of the London Metals Exchange cobalt committee and served on the Cobalt Institute's board.

Giga welcomed his background in the technical aspects of nickel and cobalt processing, as well as his experience in marketing intermediate and finished products to wide range of end-users.