Directors & Management

Mark NJ Ashcroft, P.Eng

President & CEO, Director

 

Mark has been involved in various capacities in the global mining industry and the North American and European debt and equity markets since 1990. Mark served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Stonegate Agricom Ltd. from August 2008 to September 2014 and, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development of Canada Lithium Corp. from September 2009 to April 2010. From 2007 to 2008, Mark worked at Versant Partners, where he was responsible for successfully developing a mining finance business for that firm in sales, trading and corporate finance. Prior to joining Versant Partners, Mark had been employed since 2003 with Toll Cross Securities Inc., a boutique institutional firm in Toronto where he became Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking. From 2001 to 2003, Mark was a member of the Mining and Metals Team at Standard Bank’s New York office where he was responsible for providing metals trading and project financing solutions to mid-tier developers and producers in Canada and Latin America. From 1999 to 2000, he was a member of the Mining and Metals Team of Barclays Capital, a leading provider of project finance to the mining industry. From 1996 to 1998, he worked in Mines Technical Services at Inco Limited’s Ontario Division, where he qualified as a Professional Engineer in Ontario. From 1990 to 1996, through his undergraduate studies, Mark worked in various operating roles in North and South America and Australia. Mark holds his Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) from Laurentian University and a Master’s of Science (Finance, Regulation and Risk Management) from the ISMA Centre of the University of Reading.

 

 

Randy Turner, P.Geo

Chairman of the Board

 

Mr. Turner is a professional geologist with over 40 years of experience in Canadian and International mineral exploration, business and finance. Mr. Turner is currently the President & CEO of Independence Gold. Mr. Turner spent 20 years with Esso Minerals Canada and AGIP Mining Ltd. exploring for uranium, gold and base metals. As President of Trimin Resources Ltd. he was involved in the development and sale of the McIlvenna Bay copper/zinc deposit in Saskatchewan. Mr. Turner’s notable career achievements include guiding Winspear Diamonds Inc. from the discovery of the Snap Lake diamond deposit in northern Canada through to its sale to De Beers Mining for $305 million. In 2011, as President of Silver Quest Resources Ltd., Mr. Turner was involved in the acquisition by New Gold Inc. of the Capoose and Blackwater Projects for $180 million.

 

 

Michael Gunning, P.Geo, Ph.D.

Director

 

Dr. Gunning has more than 25 years of diverse and valuable experience in mineral exploration and geological research, and is widely recognized for his expertise in the uranium sector. He is currently the President and CEO of Renntiger Resources Limited, a copper and gold explorer active in Nevada. Most recently, Mr. Gunning was Executive Chairman of ALX Uranium Corp., a uranium and mineral exploration company focused on the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada, home to some of the world’s largest and richest high-grade uranium deposits. Prior to ALX Uranium, he was Executive Chairman at Alpha Minerals, the target of a supported takeover and consolidation of the Patterson Lake discovery in Saskatchewan. Prior to Alpha, he was CEO of Hathor Exploration, a Vancouver-based junior uranium explorer, where he executed successive resource and PEA milestones for Hathor’s Roughrider uranium deposit discovery, and he guided Hathor through a hostile M&A competition to an eventual $654 million acquisition by Rio Tinto, one of the top ten deals in 2011 in the global mining sector. He has a Ph.D. in mineral deposits and volcanology from the University of Western Ontario, and is a past President of the Saskatchewan Geological Society and the Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter.

 

 

Garett Macdonald, MBA, P.Eng

Director

 

Mr. Macdonald is a professional mining engineer with extensive experience in project development and mine operations with over 22 years of industry experience. He has managed large technical programs through the concept, feasibility and into construction stages and has senior management and board level experience with several public companies. Mr. Macdonald is currently the President & CEO of Maritime Resources Corp. and a director of First Cobalt and Gungnir Resources. Previously, as Vice President of Project Development for JDS Energy and Mining, he was responsible for leading the Curraghinalt Feasibility Study for Dalradian Resources, a high grade, narrow vein Curraghinalt gold project in Northern Ireland, recently acquired by Orion Mine Finance for $537M. Mr. Macdonald also held roles in mine operations and engineering earlier in his career with senior Canadian mining firms Suncor Energy, and Placer Dome Inc. From 2009 to 2013 he served as Vice President of Operations for Rainy River Resources prior to the $310M sale of Rainy River to New Gold Inc. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Western University’s Ivey Business School and a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) from Laurentian University in Sudbury.

 

 

Gilles Arseneau, P.Geo, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Arseneau has over 30 years’ experience with mining and consulting companies. He has managed both staff and client projects. Gilles is technically very strong and has strong business development skills. He has been an independent mineral resource consultant in Vancouver for the past 11 years and was Manager of Geology at the TSX Venture Exchange for 3 years, where he was responsible for the review of technical reports and listing applications for mining companies. He has worked on deposits in North and South America, China and Europe. He is fluent in French and English.

 

 

Jeremy Niemi, P. Geo

Vice President, Exploration

 

Mr. Niemi is a geologist with 20 years of experience in the resource industry, both at corporate and operational levels. Mr. Niemi was previously the Vice President, Exploration for GoldQuest Corporation. During his tenure at GoldQuest, Mr. Niemi led the advancement of the Romero project from an initial inferred resource of 300koz AuEq, to a pre-feasibility study, a $23M investment from Agnico Eagle and a current mineral reserve + resource of 2.5M oz AuEq. Prior to Goldquest, Mr. Niemi was Vice President, Geology at Noront Resources and prior to that he was Manager, Technical Services, for Kinross Gold Corporation. Mr. Niemi started his career with Inco Technical Services Ltd. in 1996, working on the Victor Deep project in the Sudbury basin. Mr. Niemi is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and holds a BSc Honours degree in Earth Sciences from Laurentian University.

 

 

Germaine M. Coombs, CPA, CMA

Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

 

Ms. Coombs brings over 20 years of extensive financial and commercial experience predominantly in the mining and resource industry, successfully leading finance teams through different stages of project financing, construction and operations. Ms. Coombs also serves as Chief Financial Officer of Maritime Resources Corp. and previously was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Stonegate Agricom Ltd. Prior to joining Stonegate, she was Corporate Controller for FNX Mining Company Inc. from August 2004 to May 2010. From 1998 to 2004, Ms. Coombs held progressively senior accounting roles at the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a Rio Tinto company. Ms. Coombs is a chartered professional accountant and certified management accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

 

 

Lorna MacGillivray, LL.B.

Secretary

 

Ms. MacGillivray is a lawyer with over 30 years of in-house legal and corporate secretarial experience for mining companies. She currently also serves as Corporate Secretary of Maritime Resources Corp. and previously was the Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel for Stonegate Agricom Ltd. from August 2008 until July 2017. Prior to that, she was Assistant Secretary of Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. from May 2007 to May 2011. Previously, she was Corporate Secretary and General Counsel of Glencairn Gold Corporation from November 2003 to January 2008. Ms. MacGillivray’s experience includes public and private financings, debt financing, regulatory compliance and corporate governance including in-house positions with Campbell Resources Inc., Zemex Corporation and Northgate Exploration Limited. Ms. MacGillivray received undergraduate degrees from Mount Allison University and Queens University and earned her LL.B. from the University of New Brunswick before being called to the bar by The Law Society of Ontario in 1983.