David J. Hall (aged 52 years), BA (Hons), MSc, Non-Executive Chairman
| Mr Hall is a graduate in geology from Trinity College Dublin and holds a Masters Degree in Mineral Exploration from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. He has 29 years of experience in the exploration sector and has worked on and assessed exploration projects and mines in over 50 countries. From 1992, Mr Hall was Chief Geologist for Minorco SA, responsible for Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. He moved to South America in 1997 as a consultant geologist for Minorco South America and subsequently became exploration manager for AngloGold South America in 1999, where he was responsible for exploration around the Cerro Vanguardia gold mine in Argentina, around the Morro Velho and Crixas mines in Brazil and establishing the exploration programme that resulted in the discovery of the La Rescantada gold deposit in Peru as well as certain joint ventures in Ecuador and Colombia.. Mr Hall is also founder and Chairman of Stratex International Plc, an AIM traded company with exploration assets in Turkey and in which Teck Resources Limited is an equity shareholder. Mr Hall is a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and EuroGeol. |
Jeremy J. Martin (aged 34 years), MSc, ASCM, Director and Chief Executive Officer
| Mr Martin holds a degree in mining geology from the Camborne School of Mines, and a MSc. in mineral exploration from the University of Leicester. He has worked in South America and in Central America and Europe, where he was responsible for grassroots regional metalliferous exploration programmes through to resources definition and mine development. Mr Martin has been involved in the formation of two AIM traded companies and has completed a number of high value mineral project transactions. He has served on the board of Ovoca Gold Plc and is a member of the Society of Economic Geologists and the Institute of Mining Analysts. |
Owen A. Bavinton (aged 63 years), BSc(Hons), MSc, DIC, PhD. Non-Executive Director
| Dr Bavinton graduated from the University of Queensland in geology in 1969, holds a Masters Degree in Mineral Exploration from Imperial College, London and a PhD in Economic Geology from ANU, Canberra, Australia. He has 42 years of varied international experience in the minerals exploration and mining sector in several commodities. After brief periods as a junior consultant and an underground mine geologist on a Witwatersrand gold mine, from 1974 to 1985 he had several positions with Western Mining Corporation, finally as director of WMC’s activities in Brazil. From 1986 to 1992 he was Chief Executive Officer of Aredor Guinea SA. In 1992 he joined the Anglo American group where he stayed until his retirement in 2010. Based initially in Turkey and then in Budapest, he was responsible for Anglo American’s exploration and project evaluation activities in the FSU, Central Europe and the Middle East. He moved to London in 1998, initially as Head of Exploration for MINORCO, and later Group Head of Exploration and Geology for the Anglo American Group. In those roles he was responsible for worldwide exploration and geosciences covering a wide range of exploration projects worldwide, through all stages of development, including advanced projects and feasibility studies, as well as providing geoscience input into numerous acquisitions. He is a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, the Association of Applied Geochemists and the Institute of Materials, Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Bavinton is currently an independent consultant. |
William Fisher, (aged 53), P.Geo.
| Bill Fisher graduated as a geologist in 1979 and has extensive industry experience which has included a number of residential posts in Africa, Australia, Europe and Canada in both exploration and mining positions. Under his leadership, Karmin Exploration discovered the Aripuanã base metal massive sulphide deposits in Brazil. From 1997 to 2001 Bill was Vice President, Exploration for Boliden AB, a major European mining and smelting company where he was responsible for thirty five projects in nine countries. From 2001 to 2008 Bill led GlobeStar Mining Corp. from an exploration company to an emerging base metal producer in the Dominican Republic which developed and operates the Cerro de Maimon mine. Bill was also Chairman of Aurelian Resources which was acquired by Kinross in 2008 for $1.2 Billion after the discovery of the Fruta del Norte gold deposit in Ecuador. Bill currently also serves as an independent director of PC Gold (TSX: PKL), RX exploration (RXE.CNQ) and Treasury Metals (TSX: TML). |
Allan M. Walker (aged 51 years), MA, Non-Executive Director
| Mr Walker has over 22 years’ experience in investment banking, primarily focused on energy sector project finance and private equity, particularly in emerging markets. He has extensive contacts in the renewable energy sector worldwide as well as with governments, multilateral agencies and regional development banks. He joined Black River Asset Management (UK) Limited, an indirectly held subsidiary of Cargill Inc, in October 2005 to structure and develop a renewable energy, biofuels and carbon fund. Prior to this he was head of power and infrastructure in London for Standard Bank Plc from May 2002, a world leader in emerging markets resource banking. He was also previously a director in the Global Energy and Project Finance Group of Credit Suisse First Boston in London and ran the energy group at CSFB Garantia in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 1998 to 2001, where he spent seven years covering Latin America. He also spent three years in the energy group of ING Barings in New York. Mr Walker graduated with an MA in economic geography from Cambridge University in 1982 and speaks Portuguese and Spanish. |
Alexander N. Christopher (aged 51 years), BSc (Hons), PGeo (BC), Non-Executive Director
| Mr Christopher, a professional geologist, has 27 years of experience in mineral exploration and the mining industry. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists BC and possesses an Honours B.Sc. in Geology from McMaster University and an Environmental Biology Technology diploma from Canadore College. Mr Christopher currently holds the position of General Manager New 12 Ventures within the Corporate Development Group at Teck. Mr Christopher has been with Teck since the mid 1980’s holding a number of positions within the company and has spent much of his time over the past 10 years focusing on the junior mining sector, partnerships, property transactions and Teck’s junior mining equity investments. Prior to moving into a more business oriented role at Teck, he spent over a decade in the field on early to advanced stage exploration projects focused on gold and base metal exploration. He is currently a member of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and the Association of Mineral Exploration BC where Mr Christopher was previously a member of the Board of Directors. During his term on the Board of the Association of Mineral Exploration BC, Mr Christopher served as Vice Chairman as well as on a number of committees including the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee, which he continues to serve on at this time. |
Senior Management
Jeffrey Karoly, BSC ACA Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary
| Mr Karoly, 43, is a Chartered Accountant and worked from 1997 to 2007 with Minorco/Anglo American in a number of finance and business development functions across the group in Europe, Southern Africa and Brazil, where he lived for two years, reporting to the Head of Exploration for Latin America. From 2008 to present he has been the Chief Financial Officer of South American Ferro Metals, a private company that has acquired, explored and developed an iron ore property in Brazil. Mr Karoly started his career at Coopers and Lybrand in London and Budapest and speaks Portuguese and French. |
Roger Billington, P.Geo. Technical Consultant Nickel
| Ex head of Falconbridge nickel laterite exploration worldwide. Project development including senior roles in the discovery and evaluation of the Touba-Biankouma nickel laterite deposits (Côte d’Ivoire), the Koniambo nickel laterite deposit (New Caledonia), the Sechol nickel laterite deposit (Guatemala) and the GlobeStar nickel laterite deposit (Dominican Republic). |
Antonio José de Almeida Country Manager Brazil
| Mr de Almeida is a Brazilian national who is a qualified geologist with over 30 years of experience in mineral exploration. He has held a number of senior positions with both major mining groups and junior companies. Roles have included Brazil country manager for Phelps Dodge and also he was also responsible for running Vale's copper exploration programmes in Africa. |
Antonio Valério da Silva, BSc, Local Director & Adviser
| Mr da Silva is a Brazilian geologist with over 35 years of mineral industry experience. He worked for five years in the Brazilian Mines department during which he developed a keen understanding of the Brazilian mining code and the associated legal obligations. This was followed by 11 years working for consulting companies on a variety of projects in the Amazon region of Brazil. This included a period with Docegeo, the exploration arm of Vale and Empresas Nucleares Brasileiras, the government’s nuclear mineral exploration company. Since 1983 he has acted as a consultant to a number of local mining companies and in 1986 he co-founded MVR which has worked with companies including BHP, AngloGold and most recently GoldCorp Inc. He has a geology degree from Parà State University and lives in Belém in Brazil. He is a legal representative of the Group’s Brazilian subsidiaries. |
