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Benoit La Salle, FCPA, FCA, MBA – Executive Chairman of the Board
Mr. La Salle, FCPA, FCA, has 17 years of experience in the development and operation of mining projects in West Africa. In 1995, he founded Canadian based SEMAFO Inc. (TSX, OMX: SMF), a successful gold producer in West Africa. In October 2012, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of The Canadian Council on Africa. In 1980, Mr. La Salle founded Grou, La Salle and Associates Inc., Chartered Accountants. He has served on the boards of several public companies and is the former Chairman of the Board of Plan International Canada, one of the world’s largest non-governmental organizations. Mr. La Salle is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, a member of the Quebec Order of Chartered Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr. La Salle holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and a Master of Business Administration degree from IMEDE, Switzerland.
Marc-Antoine Audet, BSc, MSc and Ph.D (Geology), P.Geo – Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Audet has over 30 years of geological experience in Base Metals exploration and development, including international nickel sulphide and laterite exploration and development with major mining companies such as Xstrata Nickel and Falconbridge. During his career, he specialized in Project Management in foreign countries as well as in Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimations and reporting. He has been actively involved in exploration projects for Falconbridge/Xstrata Nickel in Canada, Africa, South America and in Caribbean.
In addition to having discovered the Samapleu Ni-Cu-PGE suite of deposits in Côte d’Ivoire and the Lola Graphite deposit in Guinea, his project experience includes the New Caledonia’s Koniambo nickel cobalt laterite project, the Falcondo nickel laterite operation in Dominican Republic, the discovery of Serra do Tapas and Vale dos Sonhos nickel cobalt-scandium deposits in Brazil and more recently the discovery of the Gogota nickel cobalt-scandium laterite in Guinea. Dr. Audet was the Manager of Resource Estimations and Mine Development, and the Exploration Manager for Falconbridge in New Caledonia. In the 90s, he was the Director of Operations for Falconbridge International Investments Limited in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
Bakayoko Bouake, Geologist Exploration Manager, West Africa
Mr. Bouaké obtained his geological degree from Institut National Polytechnique F.H.B. of Yamoussoukro in Côte d’Ivoire. He joined Falconbridge International Investments Limited in Côte d’Ivoire in 1994 as field geologist for the Touba-Biankouma nickel laterite project where he gained expertise in project management. From 1998 to 2000, he made several visits to the Koniambo nickel laterite project in New Caledonia to assist the local team with setting up their exploration program. Subsequently, Mr. Bouaké was involved with Falconbridge’s nickel sulphide exploration program in the Cape Smith belt and spent time at the Raglan nickel mine in Quebec, Canada. He made several working visits to the Falcondo nickel laterite mining operation in the Dominican Republic and, from 2004 to 2008, was a geological consultant at the newly discovered Serra do Tapas nickel laterite project in Brazil.
Isabelle Gauthier, CPA, CA – Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Gauthier has over 20 years of accounting, transactional and reporting experience. She holds a B.A. in Administration from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and has been a member of the Ordre des Comptables professionnels agréés du Québec since 1998. She held the position of Senior Manager within the firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton for which she worked as an Auditor from 1996 to 2006. She has developed an expertise in public companies, primarily in the mining sector. Through her involvement in various assignments, she acquired a solid experience in consolidation of foreign entities, reverse takeover, spin-out and financial reporting.
Ms. Kathleen Jones-Bartels – Corporate Secretary
Ms. Jones-Bartels has over 30 years’ experience in the TSX Venture Exchange industry working as a senior securities paralegal, as well as providing regulatory and corporate services to both public and private companies. Ms. Jones-Bartels has also served in the capacity of Corporate Secretary for companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE MKT.
Ron Netolitzky, MSc. – Advisor
Mr. Netolitzky is an officer and director of a number of public mining companies currently involved in mineral exploration activity in Western Canada. He was previously Chairman of Viceroy Resource Corporation and has served formerly as its President. He is also the former Chair of both Loki Gold Corporation and Baja Gold. Mr. Netolitzky has been directly involved in the mineral exploration industry in Western Canada since 1964. His knowledge of mineral exploration and aggressive business acumen has resulted in exploration success on three Western Canadian gold projects (all of which became producing mines): the Snip and Eskay Creek deposits in British Columbia and the Brewery Creek deposit in Yukon. He was honoured with the Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award in 1990 by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.