Sylvain Lemay is a French-Canadian procurement professional, who was born in Schefferville and raised in Sept-Îles, QC. A graduate of New Brunswick’s University of Moncton business management program management, he’s an expert in the field of procurement.
Lemay, who previously worked for the Iron Ore Company of Canada, which is now one of the Rio Tinto business units, has held many positions over the years, including operating a locomotive between Sept-Îles and Labrador City. He was also a senior buyer/sourcing specialist for major projects, a procurement superintendent and project manager of a Pellet plant and concentrator overseeing all asset sales and demolition to closeout.
In 2011, he joined Glencore/Xstrata Nickel (Koniambo Mine) in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific. He oversaw the French Southwest Pacific as head of the engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contract department contract department working with JV Technip and Hatch, from construction to operations—a $7-billion project.
In 2013, Lemay returned to Canada and joined Alderon Iron Ore Corp.’s Kami Mine Mineas a procurement manager based in Labrador. In 2015, he rejoined Rio Tinto’s aluminum operations in Kitimat, BC, as procurement manager in charge of contract transition for the $5-billion modernization project of the EPCM plant with Bechtel. He also led a team for investigating future BC operations.
In 2017, he joined the Rio Tinto procurement Atlantic team in Montreal as regional manager for mining equipment regional manager mining equipment for North America and Africa. In 2018, he became senior manager procurement for Rio Tinto aluminum overseeing North America and Europe, supporting the aluminum division for all procurement activities within their smelters, refineries, hydro power plant and port facilities. As well, he led the team to support the operations and creating values for Opex/Capex projects while working closely with the local communities and Indigenous groups to create partnerships and provide business opportunities. In 2021, he assumed the role of general manager of procurement general manager, procurement for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In mid-2022, he became GM for procurement covering the Atlantic region, North America.
Lemay brings an enormous wealth of knowledge in management and leadership and is considered an integral member of the Rio Tinto team. Married with two lovely daughters, he enjoys hiking with his family. As an avid sportsman and former university team hockey champion, he has a particular affection for the game and has been overseeing the Carbonneau-Duchênes hockey clinic for 20 years.