Biography

Simon Bates was appointed to the Board in July 2023. Mr. Bates has served as CEO of Argos North America, one of the largest cement and ready-mix concrete producers in the United States, since October 2022.  Prior to his role at Argos USA, Mr. Bates held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of GCP Applied Technologies Inc. (NYSE: GCP) from October 2020 to October 2022, when it was acquired by Saint Gobain. GCP was a leading global provider of construction products, including high-performance specialty construction chemicals and building materials. From April 2017 to October 2020, Mr. Bates served as President of Infrastructure Products Group, a division of CRH plc, a publicly-traded manufacturer of building products and materials. From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Bates served as Senior Vice President, Building Products at Westlake Chemical, a manufacturer and supplier of chemicals and plastic products. Previously, Mr. Bates held various roles of increasing responsibility at Axiall Corporation, a chemicals and construction products business, from 2009 to 2016, when it was acquired by Westlake. Mr. Bates received his B.A. in Economics from the University of York in England and holds a post-graduate degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and a post-graduate degree in Marketing from the University of Salford. Mr. Bates brings extensive industry experience, a strategic mindset, and strong commercial and operational acumen to U.S. Silica’s Board that strengthen the Board’s collective qualifications, skills and experience.