A mining company’s announcement placed Katie Zacharia on its advisory board alongside Kristi Noem. Zacharia later said the listing was fake, while people connected to the company described discussions about a role that never took effect. The disagreement raises questions about how the announcement was issued and why the company’s public materials continued to show her as part of its team.
An advisory role disputed
On June 24, NovaRed Mining, a Vancouver, Canada, copper-and-gold exploration company, announced that Zacharia would join its advisory board. At the time, she had left a role as a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson two months earlier. The release said she would offer “strategic guidance” as the board advanced exploration projects and “emerging artificial intelligence initiatives.”
When asked later whether she remained on the board, Zacharia replied, “That was fake,” and directed WIRED to Sam Amsterdam. Amsterdam described himself as speaking as her friend and colleague, not as her representative. He said the release had not been approved by Zacharia and had gone out without her consent. He also said there had been discussions about her joining the company, but that she had not done so.
Valentin Saitarli, then NRED’s chief technology officer and onboarding as CEO, also confirmed that a role had been discussed but said it “never materialized.” He compared the situation to signing up for a gym without going to work out. Yet the announcement remained on the company website as of Friday, and an archived version listed Zacharia as management at least as of July. Saitarli said the website was being updated.
A company changing direction
The company’s name and plans also shifted. NovaRed became NRED Intelligent Mining and announced that it was leaving its flagship Wilmac Copper-Gold Project behind to focus its resources on “MetalCore,” described as an “AI-assisted mineral exploration platform.” Saitarli said the company was embracing robotics and AI in mining.
That pivot followed a change in the kind of people appearing around the company. Rather than building an advisory board mainly from geologists and technical consultants, NovaRed added figures with backgrounds in defense, politics, media and international projects. These included Noem, Zacharia as announced, Gregory Fedun and media executive Lee Caplin.
Phil Ehr, a retired US Navy commander who joined NovaRed earlier in the year, said he knew little about mining or commodities, but understood the need for copper and critical minerals. He said he was surprised by the announcement naming Noem and another DHS spokesperson, whom he recalled as Zacharia. Ehr said he had not been consulted and resigned from the advisory board not long after Noem joined.
Questions around the board lineup
Noem’s appointment drew criticism in Canada because of her past comments describing Canada as the “51st state.” The Globe and Mail described NovaRed as a copper and gold exploration company that generated no revenue. It also reported that in January the company held $65,689 in cash and said that would not cover all expected expenses for the next 12 months.
For Ehr, the issue was not only that Noem’s appointment came as a surprise. He said he did not want to be associated with her because of their opposing views about what was right and wrong in the federal government. The company’s unusual mix of advisers also struck him as a poor match for a mining business, given that several of them, including Ehr, lacked mining experience.
The announcement and its aftermath leave two accounts in tension: Zacharia and Amsterdam said she never joined and that the release lacked her consent, while the company’s site continued to carry her name. Saitarli said the role had been discussed but never took shape. The available explanations do not resolve how the announcement was approved or why the listing remained online.