About us
Steering Committee
Néstor Bottia joined Fortia Minerals in July 2020 and has since then led all operations and strategic initiatives as President of the organization. He previously served as Vice President of Trading for Latin America at Oxbow Carbon & Minerals, a U.S. company engaged in the marketing of coke, petroleum coke and coal. Before Oxbow, Néstor was Country Manager of SSM COAL B.V., a Dutch company in which he successfully established the division of purchasing, marketing, and logistics of solid fuels (coke, coke oil and coal). Néstor was also Director of Trading for the Argos group in the United States. For Argos in Colombia, he served as logistics and marketing coordinator. Néstor is an industrial engineer with a master’s degree in international business administration and marketing from Universidad del Norte.
Ana María serves as Executive and Legal Vice President of Fortia Minerals for the past 13 years. She is responsible for guiding the processes and areas that support mining, coke production and port operations. These include legal compliance, environmental management, human resources, procurement, corporate social responsibility, technology, occupational health, and safety.
Ana María is a lawyer from Universidad de Los Andes. She has complementary studies and degree in Financial Law, International Contract Law and Strategy. Ana María has over 20 years of experience in managing complex transactions and regulatory affairs in Latin America, consolidating a solid experience in mining, environment, labor and international law contracts and leadership of corporate restructuring processes, as well as in international microfinance loan agreements.
Gina Iriarte joined Fortia Minerals in October 2020. She leads the financial planning, accounting, and financial strategy of the company. Before joining IAC, she served as an Advisory Board Member for Inversiones de Occidente. She built her career in Finance, working as controller, financial manager, audit manager and strategy manager at Saint-Gobain. After that, she joined Lafarge to participate in the merger with Holcim. Upon completion of the transaction, she coordinated the divestment of Cementos Polpaico in Chile and contributed to the development of a new strategy for LatAm.
Gina has a bachelor’s degree in finance and international Relations, and holds an MBA from INSEAD, she is fluent in five languages.
Juan David has more than 22 years of experience in mining projects and industrial mineral processing plants. Before joining Fortia Minerals, he was a technical consultant for mining matters in the mining and energy sectors, for several renowned Colombian companies. Previously, he was Senior Mining Project Leader for Grupo Argos, where he led the start-up of a Greenfiled coal mining project in Puerto Libertador, Córdoba. At Argos he was also Director of Coal Mining Operations, Raw Materials and Sourcing Leader for several of the Cement plants. Earlier in his career, Juan David was part of the mine planning team at the La Francia coal mine, where he oversaw short-term mine planning. Juan David is a Geological Engineer from the National University of Colombia and obtained specialization degrees in Energy Projects and Project Management from the EIA University.
Juan Carlos Murgas oversees Fortia Logistics business strategy, a multimodal transportation company focused on creating value for Fortia Minerals and the Colombian cargo market. Before joining Fortia Minerals, Mr. Murgas lead the commercial business strategy for the Oleoflores Group where he positioned the company as a top player in the Colombian market. Mr. Murgas has also been a consultant for the state of Atlántico where he has helped design and execute its agro- industrial strategy.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Purdue University and an MBA from Inalde Business School.
Ana Pallares holds more than 12 years of experience in international logistics and management of procurement contracts for the sales of raw materials to different industries such as, steel production, power generation, cement plants, among others. She manages the international sales for the Company. Before joining FORTIA she worked for almost a year at Cementos Ultracem handling the international logistics and Supply for their cement operation in Central America; previously she worked for 10 years at Oxbow Carbon LLC, a US company marketer leader in Petcoke and other fuels, at Oxbow, she coordinated the procurement operations of Coal and Metcoke for the Company´s sales from Colombia.
Ana is an Industrial Engineer with an MBA from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) and a postgraduate degree in business and management from London School of Commerce.
Lázaro Pérez joined Fortia Minerals in December 2022 to lead mining and new projects. Lázaro has held several management positions such as CEO of the Carboandes Group, Manager of Carbosocha and Senior Consultant at John T Boyd among others, with more than 30 years of experience in management and operation of mining exploration and production projects and construction projects with complex logistics. Lázaro is a Geological Engineer and Master of Sciences from the University of Florida and has a degree in Senior Management for Companies from Universidad de Los Andes.
Néstor Bottia joined Fortia Minerals in July 2020 and has since then led all operations and strategic initiatives as President of the organization. He previously served as Vice President of Trading for Latin America at Oxbow Carbon & Minerals, a U.S. company engaged in the marketing of coke, petroleum coke and coal. Before Oxbow, Néstor was Country Manager of SSM COAL B.V., a Dutch company in which he successfully established the division of purchasing, marketing, and logistics of solid fuels (coke, coke oil and coal). Néstor was also Director of Trading for the Argos group in the United States. For Argos in Colombia, he served as logistics and marketing coordinator. Néstor is an industrial engineer with a master’s degree in international business administration and marketing from Universidad del Norte.
Ana María serves as Executive and Legal Vice President of Fortia Minerals for the past 13 years. She is responsible for guiding the processes and areas that support mining, coke production and port operations. These include legal compliance, environmental management, human resources, procurement, corporate social responsibility, technology, occupational health, and safety.
Ana María is a lawyer from Universidad de Los Andes. She has complementary studies and degree in Financial Law, International Contract Law and Strategy. Ana María has over 20 years of experience in managing complex transactions and regulatory affairs in Latin America, consolidating a solid experience in mining, environment, labor and international law contracts and leadership of corporate restructuring processes, as well as in international microfinance loan agreements.
Gina Iriarte joined Fortia Minerals in October 2020. She leads the financial planning, accounting, and financial strategy of the company. Before joining IAC, she served as an Advisory Board Member for Inversiones de Occidente. She built her career in Finance, working as controller, financial manager, audit manager and strategy manager at Saint-Gobain. After that, she joined Lafarge to participate in the merger with Holcim. Upon completion of the transaction, she coordinated the divestment of Cementos Polpaico in Chile and contributed to the development of a new strategy for LatAm.
Gina has a bachelor’s degree in finance and international Relations, and holds an MBA from INSEAD, she is fluent in five languages.
Juan David has more than 22 years of experience in mining projects and industrial mineral processing plants. Before joining Fortia Minerals, he was a technical consultant for mining matters in the mining and energy sectors, for several renowned Colombian companies. Previously, he was Senior Mining Project Leader for Grupo Argos, where he led the start-up of a Greenfiled coal mining project in Puerto Libertador, Córdoba. At Argos he was also Director of Coal Mining Operations, Raw Materials and Sourcing Leader for several of the Cement plants. Earlier in his career, Juan David was part of the mine planning team at the La Francia coal mine, where he oversaw short-term mine planning. Juan David is a Geological Engineer from the National University of Colombia and obtained specialization degrees in Energy Projects and Project Management from the EIA University.
Juan Carlos Murgas oversees Fortia Logistics business strategy, a multimodal transportation company focused on creating value for Fortia Minerals and the Colombian cargo market. Before joining Fortia Minerals, Mr. Murgas lead the commercial business strategy for the Oleoflores Group where he positioned the company as a top player in the Colombian market. Mr. Murgas has also been a consultant for the state of Atlántico where he has helped design and execute its agro- industrial strategy.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Purdue University and an MBA from Inalde Business School.
Ana Pallares holds more than 12 years of experience in international logistics and management of procurement contracts for the sales of raw materials to different industries such as, steel production, power generation, cement plants, among others. She manages the international sales for the Company. Before joining FORTIA she worked for almost a year at Cementos Ultracem handling the international logistics and Supply for their cement operation in Central America; previously she worked for 10 years at Oxbow Carbon LLC, a US company marketer leader in Petcoke and other fuels, at Oxbow, she coordinated the procurement operations of Coal and Metcoke for the Company´s sales from Colombia.
Ana is an Industrial Engineer with an MBA from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) and a postgraduate degree in business and management from London School of Commerce.
Lázaro Pérez joined Fortia Minerals in December 2022 to lead mining and new projects. Lázaro has held several management positions such as CEO of the Carboandes Group, Manager of Carbosocha and Senior Consultant at John T Boyd among others, with more than 30 years of experience in management and operation of mining exploration and production projects and construction projects with complex logistics. Lázaro is a Geological Engineer and Master of Sciences from the University of Florida and has a degree in Senior Management for Companies from Universidad de Los Andes.