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Unassociated Document

     

     

    Exhibit
      10.1

    Century
      Aluminum Company

    

    Amended
      and Restated 1996 Stock Incentive Plan

    Implementation
      Guidelines

    For
      Performance Share Awards

    (As
      Amended June 8, 2006)

    

    

    1.    PURPOSE

     

    These
      guidelines (“Guidelines”) are intended to provide direction for implementation
      of the Century Aluminum Company’s (the "Company") Amended and Restated1996 Stock
      Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) with respect to Performance Share Awards. The Plan
      is intended to advance the interests of the Company by enabling Executive
      Officers and other key employees of the Company and its Subsidiaries to acquire
      proprietary interests in the Company, which interests, to the extent deemed
      reasonably possible by the Committee, are “performance-based compensation”
within Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and
      the
      regulations promulgated thereunder, through achievement by the Company of
      specified future performance and earnings goals. 

    

    
      
        2.    BACKGROUND
          AND GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

      

    

    

    The
      Company is a relatively small new entrant in a highly volatile commodity
      business. Its goals are to grow and to achieve financial results that meet
      or
      exceed those attained by its best-performing competitors. The Company began
      its
      public existence in 1996 with several competitive disadvantages. It was small,
      its principal production facilities were high cost and approximately 40 years
      old, and it inherited the dual financial burdens of funding one of the nation's
      most under-funded pension plans and infusing needed capital into facilities
      badly in need of the same. Faced with these goals and challenges, Management
      has
      completed several important projects that will contribute to reaching the
      Company's goals. It has profitably divestited its non-profitable,
      capital-intensive, rolling business, acquired interests in the lower-cost Mt.
      Holly and Hawesville reduction plants and funded the pension plan, among other
      things. 

    

    In
      retrospect, and looking forward, it is clear Managements' performance goals
      and
      objectives, and the weighting of those goals and objectives, appropriately
      may
      vary widely in importance from time-to-time. In order for the Implementation
      Guidelines to fulfill the purposes described above, then, the Goals established
      by the Committee likewise might vary in importance and weighting from
      time-to-time. Furthermore, in order to deal with the uncertainties of the
      volatile aluminum market, these Guidelines should provide flexibility to
      encourage the Company to manage through
      commodity cycles, not manage to
      them.

    

    
      
         

      

      
         

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    In
      general, Guideline Goals (as defined below) might include some or all of the
      following, or other factors determined by the Committee to be of material
      importance to the growth and profitability of the Company, weighted or valued
      as
      determined by the Committee:

    

    
      	 	
              A.

            	
              Strategic
                performance Goals, such as completing an acquisition, disposing of
                non-performing assets, achieving a strategic restructuring, competitively
                securing a key resource (e.g., electrical power or alumina) or developing
                key management through recruiting, training and succession
                planning;

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.

            	
              Cost
                reductions, such as lowering cash operating costs by targeted amounts,
                or
                meeting other operational improvement performance objectives such
                as
                successfully completing capital expenditure programs or contributing
                to
                the growth of the Company through research, processing or manufacturing
                improvements and marketing gains;
                and

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              C.

            	
              Meeting
                financial performance targets that may be the aggregate of each annual
                profit plan in any Plan Period or may be expressed in terms of (i)
                earnings per Share, (ii) pre-tax profits (either at the Company or
                business unit level), (iii) net earnings or net worth, (iv) return
                on
                equity or assets, (v) any combination of the foregoing, or (vi) any
                other
                standard or standards deemed appropriate by the Committee.
                

            

    

    

    3.    DEFINITIONS

    

    
      	 	
              A.

            	
              “Award”
                shall be as defined in Section 5.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.

            	
              “Award
                Targets” generally shall include elements of all of the following, with
                the relative weighting of each element to be as determined by the
                Committee; however, the Committee retains full discretion to include
                fewer
                than all of these elements in an Award
                Target:

            

    

    

    (1)
       The
      achievement of one or more strategic or other Goals of the sort described in
      Section 2. A.; and

    

    (2)
       The
      accomplishment of cost improvements or other operational performance Goals
      as
      generally described in Section 2. B; and

    

    (3)
       The
      attainment by the Company of specified financial performance Goals as described
      in Section 2. C.

    

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          2

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

     

    Goals
      set
      for Award Target purposes shall be guided by (but need not be the same as)
      the
      goals and objectives for the Company as contained in and submitted to the Board
      annually in Company three-year business plans.

    

    
      	 	
              C.

            	
              “Board”
                shall mean the Board of Directors of the
                Company.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              D.

            	
              “Committee”
                shall mean the Compensation Committee of the Board, two members or
                more of
                whom shall be "outside directors" within the meaning of Internal
                Revenue
                Code Section 162(m). 

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              E.

            	
              “Company”
                shall mean Century Aluminum Company.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              F.

            	
              “Participant”
                shall mean any full-time salaried employee of the Company or a Subsidiary
                designated as a Participant by the
                Committee.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              G.

            	
              “Performance
                Shares” shall have the meaning set forth in the Plan and shall entitle the
                grantee to receive one share of the Company’s common stock for each
                Performance Share awarded.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              H.

            	
              “Plan
                Periods” shall mean overlapping periods of three consecutive calendar
                years each, the first of which commenced January 1, 2001, and will
                end
                December 31, 2003.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              I.

            	
              “Section”
                shall mean a section of these
                Guidelines.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              J.

            	
              “Subsidiary”
                shall mean any corporation the voting stock of which is 50% or more
                is
                owned, directly or indirectly, by the
                Company.

            

    

    

    4.    TERM

    

    Implementation
      of these Guidelines shall commence with the Plan Period that commenced as of
      January 1, 2001, and shall continue until such time as terminated by the Board.
      

    

    

    5.    AWARD

    

    A.    Award.
      The
      Committee, on or before each May 15 (or such later date as determined by the
      Committee) during each of the Plan Periods, shall make an award of Performance
      Shares to each Participant, which award shall be communicated in writing to
      each
      Participant by the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Initially, Awards
      shall not be granted in amounts that exceed the applicable percentages set
      forth
      below (i.e., 45% to 100%). Awards may be increased above those amounts only
      at
      the end of a Plan Period, and then only in the event (and to the extent) that
      the Committee determines the Company has exceeded its Target or Targets. For
      an
      Award to be granted at 150% of the applicable percentage, the Committee must
      determine that the Company has exceeded every one of its Targets for the
      applicable Plan Period. Awards will be issued as provided in Section 6. The
      Award for each Participant shall be determined by creating a monetary award,
      and
      converting that monetary award to Performance Share units. The monetary award
      shall be a percentage of such Participant’s base salary (within the allowable
      range), which percentage shall be established by the Committee at the beginning
      of each of the Plan Periods. The allowable percentages are as
      follows:

    

    

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          3

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

       

      

        
          	
                  Participant’s
                    Position

                	 	
                  Range
                    of Allowable Percentages

                
	 	 	
                  (of
                    Base Salary)

                
	 	 	 
	
                  CEO;
                    President;

                	 	
                  45%
                    to 100%

                
	
                  Executive
                    VPs; 

                	 	 
	
                  Senior
                    VPs; All Other VPs

                	 	 
	
                  Business
                    Unit Head

                	 	 
	
                  and
                    Senior Staff

                	 	
                  15%
                    to 45%

                

        

      

    

    

    The
      number of Performance Shares in a Participant’s Award shall be determined by
      dividing the Participant’s monetary award by the average closing price for the
      Company’s common stock for the 60 trading days preceding the date on which the
      grant is made.

    

    B.    Award
      Target; Adjusted Award; Amending Target Assumptions.

    

    

    
      	 	
              (1)
                

            	
              Committee
                Discretion.
                Notwithstanding any other provision of these Guidelines, the Committee
                shall have full and complete discretion to modify any award otherwise
                payable hereunder in light of considerations deemed appropriate by
                the
                Committee. This discretion shall include the right to determine that
                no
                award should be payable.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              (2)
                

            	
              Award
                Target.
                If
                the Award Targets are achieved in their entirety within the expectations
                of the Committee, then Participants shall be issued the number of
                shares
                equal to the number of Performance Share units in Participants’ Awards
                initially granted as provided in Section 5.
                A.

            

    

    

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          4

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    
      	 	
              (3)
                

            	
              Adjusted
                Award.
                If some or all of the Award Targets are exceeded, the Committee may
                approve Awards in excess of the initial grants; however, the Committee
                may
                not approve Awards at the 150% level unless all of the Award Targets
                have
                been exceeded. If the Award Targets are not achieved in their entirety,
                Awards shall be adjusted downward from the initial Awards or eliminated
                entirely, at the discretion of the Committee, and Participants shall
                be
                issued proportionally reduced number of shares, or none at
                all.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              (4)
                

            	
              Amending
                Award Target Assumptions. Achievement
                of specified financial Award Targets under Section 3. C. may depend
                on the
                accuracy of the Company's forecasts of LME primary aluminum prices.
                In
                such cases, to the extent average LME prices vary, plus or minus,
                by more
                than $50 from forecasted LME aluminum prices in any year of a Plan
                Period,
                the Committee will have the discretion to appropriately amend the
                Award
                Target to more accurately reflect LME aluminum prices for such year,
                and
                the Company's performance will be measured against such amended Award
                Target.

            

    

    

    

    6.    ISSUANCE
      OF AWARDS

    

    
      	 	
              A.
                

            	
              On
                or before March 15 of each calendar year (or, if required, such later
                date
                when the annual audited financial statement of the Company are available)
                the Company shall, with respect to the Plan Period that has just
                ended,
                issue to each Participant Performance Shares in an amount equal to
                such
                Participant’s Award or Adjusted Award.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.
                

            	
              Except
                as provided in Section 6.C., no payment with respect to any Award
                shall be
                made to a Participant who is not employed full time by the Company
                or a
                Subsidiary on the 31st
                day of December preceding the date of issuance provided in Section
                5.A.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              C.
                

            	
              In
                the event of death, permanent disability or retirement of a Participant
                in
                any year following an Award, the Participant or his representative
                or
                designated beneficiaries shall be entitled to receive a portion of
                the
                amount calculated under Section 6.A., and payable in the year following
                death, permanent disability or retirement, determined by multiplying
                such
                amount by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of weeks
                of
                full employment during any Plan Period and the denominator of which
                is 156
                for any Plan Period. 

            

    

    

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          5

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    
      	 	
              D.
                

            	
              If
                an employee is selected as a Participant at any time other than the
                beginning of any Plan Period, such Participant shall be entitled
                to
                receive a portion of the amount calculated under Section 6.A. by
                multiplying such amount by a fraction the numerator of which is the
                number
                of weeks that such employee was a Participant under the plan during
                any
                Plan Period and the denominator of which is 156. For the purposes
                of this
                Section 6.D. an employee shall be deemed to have been a Participant
                under
                the Plan as of January 1 of the calendar year in which such employee
                was
                first selected as a Participant if such selection occurred on or
                before
                May 15 (or such later date as determined by the Committee) of such
                calendar year, and if such selection occurred after May 15 of any
                calendar
                year the employee shall be deemed to have first become a Participant
                on
                January 1 of the calendar year immediately following the employee’s
                election as a Participant. 

            

    

    

    7.    ADMINISTRATION

    

    
      	 	
              A.
                

            	
              Each
                grant of a Performance Share shall be evidenced by an agreement executed
                on behalf of the Company by an officer designated by the Compensation
                Committee and accepted by the recipient. Such agreement shall state
                that
                such award is subject to all the terms and provisions of the
                Plan.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.
                

            	
              Full
                power and authority to amend, modify, terminate, construe, interpret
                and
                administer these Guidelines shall be vested in the Committee. Any
                interpretation of these Guidelines by the Committee or any administrative
                act by the Committee shall be final and binding on all Participants.
                

            

    

    

    8.    NON-ASSIGNABILITY

    

    Nothing
      in these Guidelines shall be deemed to make rights granted pursuant hereto
      assignable or transferable by a Participant except pursuant to the laws of
      descent and distribution. No rights under these Guidelines may be hypothecated
      or encumbered in any manner whatsoever, and creditors of Participants shall
      have
      no right or power to obtain all or any portion of grants made hereunder. Any
      attempted assignment, hypothecation or encumbrance by a Participant shall be
      null and void. Each Participant may, however, designate one or more
      beneficiaries under the Plan on a form to be supplied by the Secretary of the
      Company.

    

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          6

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    

    

    

    Adopted
      by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors on June 8, 2006.

    

    

    
      	 	 	/s/
              John C. Fontaine
	 	 	John C. Fontaine, Chairman
	 	 	 
	 	 	 
	/s/
              Robert R. Nielsen	 	 
	
              Robert
                R. Nielsen, SecretaryUnassociated Document

    Century
      Aluminum Company

    

    Incentive
      Compensation Plan

    

    (Amended
      and Restated Effective June 9, 2006)

    

    

    PREAMBLE:
      This
      is
      an amendment and restatement of that Amended and Restated Incentive Compensation
      Plan adopted November 28, 2001, to be effective June 9, 2006.

    

    

    1.    NAME

    

    The
      name
      of this Plan is the Incentive Compensation Plan (“Plan”) of Century Aluminum
      Company and its Subsidiaries.

    

    2.    PURPOSE

    

    The
      purpose of the Plan is to motivate, through incentive awards paid in cash in
      accordance with the provisions hereof, employees of the Company and its
      Subsidiaries who occupy key executive positions and who have contributed, or
      can
      contribute, to the growth and profits of the Company and its Subsidiaries.
      Awards, if any, under this Plan will be based primarily on the Participant's
      individual performance, although the Committee will consider the overall
      performance of the Company in determining whether to make awards and the size
      of
      awards it elects to make.

    

    3.    DEFINITIONS
      

    

    
      	 	
              A.

            	
              “Board”
                shall mean the Board of Directors of the
                Company.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.

            	
              “Committee”
                shall mean the Compensation Committee of the Board,
                two
                members or more of whom shall be “outside directors” within the meaning of
                Internal Revenue Section 162 (m).

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              C.

            	
              “Company”
                shall mean Century Aluminum
                Company.

            

    

     

    
      	 	
              D.

            	
              “Participant”
                shall mean any full-time or part-time salaried employee of the Company
                or
                of a Subsidiary who is selected by the Committee to receive an award
                under
                this Plan.

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              E.

            	
              “Subsidiary”
                shall mean any corporation the voting stock of which is owned 50%
                or more,
                directly or indirectly, by the
                Company.

            

    

    
      
         

      

      
         

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    4.    AWARDS

    

    
      	 	
              A.

            	
              For
                the calendar year 2006, and for each year thereafter during which
                the Plan
                shall remain in effect, the Committee shall determine the following,
                in
                its discretion, on or before December 15 of such year:
                

            

    

    

    (i)
       The
      total
      dollar amount of the awards for such year to be awarded to all Participants,
      and

    

    (ii)
       The
      dollar amount of the award or the percentage of the total awards for such year
      to be awarded to each Participant. 

    

    
      	 	
              B.
                

            	
              Awards
                shall be paid in January of the year following the year in which
                such
                award was made.

            

    

    

    5.    DESIGNATION
      OF AWARDS TO PARTICIPANTS 

    

    Awards
      shall be made to a Participant who contributes materially to the success of
      the
      Company by his or her ability, ingenuity and industry in achieving such goals
      as
      the Committee may determine from time-to-time. The amount, if any, awarded
      to a
      Participant shall be within the full discretion of the Committee. If an award
      is
      made, it shall be a percentage of a Participant’s base salary on November 30 of
      the calendar year for which an award is made, or such earlier date during such
      year as his or her employment may have terminated, provided such termination
      was
      due to the death, disability, retirement or other reason approved by the
      Committee. Suggested ranges are as follows:

    

    
      	
              Position

            	
              Suggested
                

            	
              Ranges

            
	
              Chairman

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              CEO

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              COO

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              EVP

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              SVP

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              VP

            	
              35%

            	
              100%

            
	
              Business
                Unit Head

            	
              10%

            	
              40%

            
	
              Senior
                Operating Staff

            	
              10%

            	
              40%

            

    

    

    An
      award
      shall be paid only to a Participant who is employed by, or is upon an approved
      leave of absence from, the Company or a Subsidiary on the last business day
      of
      the year for which an award is made, unless termination of employment during
      such year was due to death, disability, retirement or other reason approved
      by
      the Committee. If an award has been made to a Participant for any year and
      the
      employment of such Participant by the Company or a Subsidiary has been
      terminated prior to the last business day of such year other than by death,
      disability, retirement or other reason approved by the Committee, no award
      shall
      be payable to such Participant.

    
      
         

      

      
        Page
          2

        
          

        

      

      
         

      

    

    Awards
      made to Participants shall be paid in cash. Each cash award shall be paid to
      a
      Participant, or in the event of the death of a Participant prior to the payment
      thereof, to his or her beneficiary, or if no beneficiary has been designated
      or
      if a beneficiary who has been designated dies prior to the receipt of payment,
      to the personal representative of the Participant, no later than March 31 of
      the
      year following the year for which such award is made. 

    

    6.    PARTICIPATION

    

    An
      employee eligible to be a Participant hereunder shall participate in awards
      only
      to the extent that the Committee may from time to time determine, and any
      Participant who participates in one year may be excluded from participation
      in
      any other year.

    

    7.    TERM

    

    The
      Plan
      shall continue until such time as it shall be terminated by action of the Board;
      provided, however, that upon any termination of the Plan, awards already made
      to
      Participants shall continue to be subject to the provisions of the Plan.

    

    8.    ADMINISTRATION 

    

    
      	 	
              A.

            	
              Full
                power and authority to amend, modify or terminate the Plan shall
                rest in
                the Board. 

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              B.

            	
              Full
                power and authority to construe, interpret and administer the Plan
                shall
                be vested in the Committee. Any interpretation of the Plan by the
                Committee or any administrative act by the Committee shall be final
                and
                binding on all Participants. 

            

    

    

    
      	 	
              C.

            	
              The
                members of the Committee may appoint from their number such committees
                with such powers as they shall determine, may authorize one or more
                of
                their number or any agent to execute or deliver any instrument or
                instruments in their behalf, and may employ such counsel, agents
                and other
                services as they may require in carrying out their duties.
                

            

    

    

    9.    GOVERNING
      LAW

    

    This
      Plan
      shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Adopted by the Board
      of
      Directors on June 9, 2006.

    

    
      	 	 	/s/
              Craig A. Davis
	 	 	Craig A. Davis
	 	 	 
	 	 	 
	/s/
              Robert R. Nielsen	 	 
	Robert
              R. Nielsen, Secretary

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