|
![]() |
| |
Westwater Resources, Inc.
6950 S. Potomac Street, Suite 300 Centennial, Colorado 80112 |
|
| |
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials
for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be Held on May 10, 2023: |
| |
| |
The Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement and 2022 Annual Report to Stockholders
are available at www.westwaterresources.net. |
| |
|
Date and Time:
|
| | Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., central daylight time | |
|
Record Date:
|
| | Monday, March 13, 2023 | |
|
Location:
|
| |
Via a live webcast at www.cesonlineservices.com/wwr23_vm
There will be no physical location for this Annual Meeting |
|
Matter
|
| |
Board Recommendation
|
|
1.
Election of five nominees to our Board of Directors (page 6)
|
| |
FOR each Director Nominee
|
|
2.
Increase the authorized number of shares of common stock available and reserved for issuance under the 2013 Omnibus Incentive Plan (page 17)
|
| |
FOR
|
|
3.
Advisory vote to approve our executive compensation (page 23)
|
| |
FOR
|
|
4.
Advisory vote to approve the frequency of future advisory votes on our executive compensation (page 42)
|
| |
EVERY ONE YEAR
|
|
5.
Ratification of the appointment of Moss Adams LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2023 (page 43)
|
| |
FOR
|
|
Name
|
| |
Age
|
| |
Director
Since |
| |
Audit
|
| |
Compensation
|
| |
Committees
Nominating and Corporate Governance |
| |
Safety
and Sustainability |
| |||||||||||||||
Terence J. Cryan+
|
| | | | 60 | | | |
2017; 2006 – 16
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | | |
Frank Bakker#
|
| | | | 57 | | | |
2023
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Ch.
|
| |||
Tracy D. Pagliara*
|
| | | | 60 | | | |
2017
|
| | | | x | | | | | | x | | | |
Ch.
|
| | | | | | | |||
Karli S. Anderson*
|
| | | | 49 | | | |
2018
|
| | | | x | | | |
Ch.
|
| | | | | | | | | | x | | | |||
Deborah A. Peacock*
|
| | | | 66 | | | |
2020
|
| |
Ch.
|
| | | | x | | | | | | x | | | | | | | | |
| | |
Page
|
| |||
| | | | 1 | | | |
| | | | 6 | | | |
| | | | 6 | | | |
| | | | 9 | | | |
| | | | 15 | | | |
| | | | 16 | | | |
| | | | 17 | | | |
| | | | 22 | | | |
| | | | 23 | | | |
| | | | 36 | | | |
| | | | 41 | | | |
| | | | 42 | | | |
| | | | 43 | | | |
| | | | 44 | | | |
| | | | A-1 | | | |
| | | | B-1 | | |
|
![]() |
| |
Westwater Resources, Inc.
6950 S. Potomac Street, Suite 300 Centennial, Colorado 80112 |
|
Name
|
| |
Age
|
| |
Director Since
|
| |
Primary Occupation
|
|
Terence J. Cryan | | |
60
|
| |
2017; 2006 – 2016
|
| |
Chairman of the Board, Westwater Resources, Inc. (Executive Chairman since February 26, 2022) and Managing Director, MACCO Restructuring Group, LLC
|
|
Frank Bakker | | |
57
|
| |
2022
|
| |
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Westwater Resources, Inc.
|
|
Tracy D. Pagliara | | |
60
|
| |
2017
|
| |
President and CEO, Williams Industrial Services Group, Inc.
|
|
Karli S. Anderson | | |
49
|
| |
2018
|
| |
Executive Vice President, Chief People and ESG Officer, and Head of Communications, Summit Materials, Inc.
|
|
Deborah A. Peacock | | |
66
|
| |
2020
|
| |
President, CEO and Managing Director, Peacock Law P.C.
|
|
Board Member
|
| |
Audit
|
| |
Compensation
|
| |
Nominating
and Corporate Governance |
| |
Safety and
Sustainability |
|
Terence J. Cryan+
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
x
|
|
Frank Bakker#
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
Ch.
|
|
Tracy D. Pagliara*
|
| |
x
|
| |
x
|
| |
Ch.
|
| | | |
Karli S. Anderson*
|
| |
x
|
| |
Ch.
|
| | | | |
x
|
|
Deborah A. Peacock*
|
| |
Ch.
|
| |
x
|
| |
x
|
| | | |
Name
|
| |
Fees Earned
or Paid in Cash ($) |
| |
Stock
Awards ($)(1) |
| |
Total
($) |
| |||||||||
Terence J. Cryan+
|
| | | | 280,034 | | | | | | 146,300 | | | | | | 426,334 | | |
Tracy D. Pagliara
|
| | | | 98,417 | | | | | | 70,000 | | | | | | 168,417 | | |
Karli S. Anderson
|
| | | | 100,000 | | | | | | 70,000 | | | | | | 170,000 | | |
Deborah A. Peacock
|
| | | | 98,417 | | | | | | 97,250 | | | | | | 195,667 | | |
Name
|
| |
Number of
Vested Options |
| |
Number of
Unvested Options |
| |
Restricted
Stock Units |
| |||||||||
Terence J. Cryan+
|
| | | | 53,653 | | | | | | — | | | | | | 134,220 | | |
Tracy D. Pagliara
|
| | | | 53,653 | | | | | | — | | | | | | 64,220 | | |
Karli S. Anderson
|
| | | | 52,707 | | | | | | 78,720 | | | | | | — | | |
Deborah A. Peacock
|
| | | | 52,707 | | | | | | — | | | | | | 64,220 | | |
| | |
Numbers of Shares
|
| |
As a % of Common Stock
Outstanding(1) |
| ||||||
Stock options outstanding(2)
|
| | | | 356,204 | | | | | | 0.71% | | |
Restricted stock units outstanding
|
| | | | 1,036,930 | | | | | | 2.07% | | |
Restricted stock awards outstanding
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Shares available for grant
|
| | | | 415,815 | | | | | | 0.83% | | |
Plan Category
|
| |
Number of shares
issuable under outstanding options, warrants and rights (a) |
| |
Weighted
average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights (b) |
| |
Number of securities
remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column(a)) (c) |
| |||||||||
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders(1)(2)
|
| | | | 1,393,134 | | | | | $ | 4.63 | | | | | | 415,815 | | |
Name
|
| |
Age
|
| |
Position
|
|
Frank Bakker | | |
57
|
| | President and Chief Executive Officer | |
Steven M. Cates | | |
43
|
| |
Senior Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
|
|
John W. Lawrence | | |
61
|
| |
Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
|
|
Name
|
| |
Title
|
| |
Dates of Service (FY2022 to date)
|
|
Christopher M. Jones | | | President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director | | |
January 1, 2022 – February 25, 2022
|
|
Chad M. Potter | | | President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director | | |
February 25, 2022 – January 16, 2023
|
|
Frank Bakker | | | President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director | | | January 16, 2023 to date | |
Jeffrey L. Vigil | | | Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer | | | January 1, 2022 – August 26, 2022 | |
Steven M. Cates
|
| |
Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer
|
| |
August 26, 2022 – January 16, 2023
|
|
| Senior Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer | | | January 16, 2023 to date | | ||
John W. Lawrence
|
| |
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
|
| |
January 1, 2022 – January 16, 2023
|
|
| Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | | | January 16, 2023 to date | |
Objective
|
| |
Description
|
|
Attraction and Retention | | |
The Company provides competitive compensation to its NEOs and ties a significant portion of compensation to time-based and performance-based vesting requirements. Together, these actions help to ensure that the Company can continue to attract and retain key management personnel.
|
|
Pay for Performance | | |
A significant portion of each NEO’s compensation is “at-risk” or variable, based on predetermined performance criteria. Such criteria include both short- and long-term goals, as well as financial and non-financial goals. The Compensation Committee considers each of these criteria in making its compensation decisions each year.
|
|
Pay Mix | | |
The Company uses a variety of forms of fixed and variable incentive compensation, including cash, stock, options and RSUs.
|
|
Alignment of Incentives | | |
The Company requires its NEOs to obtain a significant stock ownership stake in the Company and tie a meaningful portion of NEO compensation to awards that vest over multi-year periods.
|
|
Competitive Packages | | |
The Company evaluates its compensation program in an effort to provide a competitive compensation package to each NEO that takes into account their responsibilities, performance and organization.
|
|
Pay Element
|
| |
Characteristics
|
| |
Primary Objective
|
|
Base Salary | | | Annual fixed cash compensation | | |
Attract and retain qualified and high performing executives
|
|
Short-Term Incentive Compensation | | | Annual compensation based on the achievement of predetermined performance goals | | |
Incentivize NEOs and Company officers to achieve the short-term performance goals established by the Compensation Committee
|
|
Long-Term Incentive Compensation | | | Long-term equity awards granted as time-based and performance-based RSUs or stock options | | |
Retain NEOs and Company officers and align their interests with the interests of the stockholders
|
|
| | |
For Say-on-Pay
Proposal |
| |
Against
Say-on-Pay proposal |
| |
Abstain from
Say-on-Pay Proposal |
| |||||||||
2022 Annual Meeting
|
| | | | 76% | | | | | | 21% | | | | | | 3% | | |
2021 Annual Meeting
|
| | | | 84% | | | | | | 13% | | | | | | 3% | | |
2020 Annual Meeting
|
| | | | 72% | | | | | | 26% | | | | | | 2% | | |
2019 Annual Meeting
|
| | | | 39% | | | | | | 45% | | | | | | 16% | | |
2018 Annual Meeting
|
| | | | 45% | | | | | | 51% | | | | | | 4% | | |
Name
|
| |
Title
|
| |
Period of Service
|
| |
2022 Base
Salary |
| |||
Christopher M. Jones+
|
| |
President and Chief
Executive Officer |
| | January 1 – February 26, 2022 | | | | $ | 334,300 | | |
Chad M. Potter++
|
| |
President and Chief
Executive Officer |
| |
February 25 – December 31, 2022
|
| | | $ | 285,000 | | |
Jeffrey L. Vigil+++
|
| |
Vice President – Finance and
Chief Financial Officer |
| | January 1 – August 26, 2022 | | | | $ | 263,834 | | |
Steven M. Cates
|
| |
Vice President – Finance and
Chief Financial Officer |
| | August 26 – December 31, 2022 | | | | $ | 245,000 | | |
John W. Lawrence
|
| |
General Counsel and
Corporate Secretary |
| |
February 26 – December 31, 2022
|
| | | $ | 265,000 | | |
Position
|
| |
Base Salary
Ownership Multiple |
| |||
Chief Executive Officer
|
| | | | 5X | | |
Other Named Executive Officers
|
| | | | 3X | | |
Other Officer and Vice Presidents
|
| | | | 2X | | |
Year
|
| |
Summary
Compensation Table Total for PEO(1) |
| |
Compensation
Actually Paid to PEO(2) |
| |
Average
Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOs(3) |
| |
Average
Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs(4) |
| |
Value of Initial
Fixed $100 Investment Based On Total Shareholder Return(5) |
| |
Net
Income(6) |
| ||||||||||||||||||
(a)
|
| |
(b)
|
| |
(c)
|
| |
(d)
|
| |
(e)
|
| |
(f)
|
| |
(g)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||
2022 | | | | $ | 698,632 | | | | | $ | 323,515 | | | | | $ | 466,358 | | | | | $ | 293,529 | | | | | $ | 16.02 | | | | | $ | (11,121) | | |
2021 | | | | $ | 800,264 | | | | | $ | 523,815 | | | | | $ | 398,653 | | | | | $ | 297,966 | | | | | $ | 43.61 | | | | | $ | (16,144) | | |
Position
|
| |
Officer
|
| |
Year
|
| |
Salary Paid
|
| |
RSU Stock Award
(Grant date value) |
| |
Cash
Bonus |
| |
Other
Compensation(5) |
| |
Total
|
| ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Executive Officer & President
|
| |
Christopher M. Jones(1)
|
| | | | 2022 | | | | | | 51,431 | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 20,780 | | | | | | 72,211 | | |
| | | | | | | | 2021 | | | | | | 334,300 | | | | | | 250,725 | | | | | | 206,848 | | | | | | 8,391 | | | | | | 800,265 | | |
Chief Executive Officer & President
|
| | Chad M. Potter(2) | | | | | 2022 | | | | | | 281,548 | | | | | | 313,750 | | | | | | — | | | | | | 31,123 | | | | | | 626,421 | | |
| | | | | | | | 2021 | | | | | | 38,462 | | | | | | 221,667 | | | | | | 34,356 | | | | | | 106,404 | | | | | | 400,889 | | |
Chief Financial Officer & VP – Finance
|
| | Steven M. Cates(3) | | | | | 2022 | | | | | | 229,206 | | | | | | 88,313 | | | | | | 91,875 | | | | | | 8,281 | | | | | | 417,675 | | |
| | | | | | | | 2021 | | | | | | 134,039 | | | | | | 132,500 | | | | | | 32,667 | | | | | | 4,112 | | | | | | 303,318 | | |
General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
|
| | John W. Lawrence(4) | | | | | 2022 | | | | | | 224,342 | | | | | | 212,500 | | | | | | 99,375 | | | | | | 57,595 | | | | | | 593,812 | | |
| | | | | | | | 2021 | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 302,400 | | | | | | 302,400 | | |
| | |
Option Awards
|
| |
Stock Awards
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name
|
| |
Number of
Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable |
| |
Number of
Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable |
| |
Option
Exercise Price ($) |
| |
Option
Expiration Date |
| |
Equity Incentive
Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#) |
| |
Equity Incentive
Plan Awards: Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Unites or Other Rights That Have Not Vested ($) |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Chad M. Potter(1)
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 285,833(5) | | | | | | 225,808 | | |
John W. Lawrence
|
| | | | 606(2) | | | | | | — | | | | | | 19.25 | | | | | | 7/19/2028 | | | | | | 170,321(6) | | | | | | 134,554 | | |
| | | | | 1,507(3) | | | | | | — | | | | | | 19.25 | | | | | | 4/18/2028 | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Steven M. Cates
|
| | | | 9,498(4) | | | | | | — | | | | | | 3.77 | | | | | | 5/10/2031 | | | | | | 96,894(7) | | | | | | 76,546 | | |
Name
|
| |
Cash Severance
|
| |
Equity Acceleration
|
| |
Total Potential Payment
|
| |||||||||
Chad M. Potter(1)
|
| | | $ | 285,000 | | | | | $ | 225,808 | | | | | $ | 510,808 | | |
Steven M. Cates
|
| | | $ | 245,000 | | | | | $ | 76,546 | | | | | $ | 321,546 | | |
John W. Lawrence
|
| | | $ | 265,000 | | | | | $ | 134,554 | | | | | $ | 399,554 | | |
| | |
2022
|
| |
2021
|
| ||||||
Audit fees(1)
|
| | | $ | 261,675 | | | | | $ | 224,005 | | |
Audit-related fees
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Tax fees
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
All other fees
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Name of Individual or Group
|
| |
Number of Shares of
Common Stock Beneficially Owned(1) |
| |
Percent
of Class |
| ||||||
Terence J. Cryan
|
| | | | 209,528 | | | | | | * | | |
Tracy D. Pagliara
|
| | | | 117,873 | | | | | | * | | |
Karli S. Anderson
|
| | | | 52,707 | | | | | | * | | |
Deborah A. Peacock
|
| | | | 302,327 | | | | | | * | | |
Frank Bakker
|
| | | | 2,000 | | | | | | * | | |
John W. Lawrence
|
| | | | 65,599 | | | | | | * | | |
Steven M. Cates
|
| | | | 41,025 | | | | | | * | | |
All current directors and executive officers as a group (7 persons)
|
| | | | 791,059 | | | | | | 1.6% | | |