Management & Board
Jeffrey A. Pontius
CEO & President & Director
Mr. Pontius has over 35 years of geological experience and possesses a distinguished track record of successful discovery that now includes five precious metal deposits in North America of over 1 million ounces of gold. Significantly, he led the discovery of the new Livengood Gold Deposit in Alaska which now has a total resource of 19.7 million ounces of gold. Additionally, he led the discovery and development team for the Cripple Creek Deposit in Colorado, which is operated by Newmont and contains over 15 million ounces of gold. He also led the discovery work on two other Nevada gold deposits, Yankee Mine & Elder Creek Mine. Mr. Pontius has demonstrated exceptional skill at operating junior mining companies that have provided shareholders with excellent returns on their investments. He spent five years as the President and CEO of International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (ITH) which has made a number of gold and copper-gold discoveries in Alaska and Nevada, the most notable being the Livengood Gold Deposit. Prior to working at ITH, Mr. Pontius spent seven years as the US and North American Exploration Manager for AngloGold Ashanti as well as participating as a Director of Anglo American (USA) Exploration Inc. and a member of AngloGold Ashanti's regional business development team.
Mr. Pontius holds a Masters Degree from the University of Idaho (Economic Geology), a B.Sc. from Huxley College of Environmental Studies (Environmental Science) and a B.Sc. from Western Washington University (Geology).
Carl Brechtel
Chief Administrative Officer
Carl has over 35 years mining industry experience and specializes in the design and development of both open pit and underground projects. Mr. Brechtel's recent experience includes serving as President and Chief Operating Officer for International Tower Hill Mines Ltd., and various project development roles with AngloGold Ashanti including Pre-feasibility Manager and Manager of Underground Mining. Mr. Brechtel's extensive operational and project development history in various geologic settings spans projects in North America, Australia, South America and Africa. Carl holds a B.Sc. Geological Engineering from University of Utah and a M.Sc. Mining Engineering University of Utah.
Peggy Wu
Chief Financial Officer & Director
Ms. Wu is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant with strong working knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and public company reporting requirements in the US and Canada. She is formerly the CFO for Balmoral Resources Ltd., prior to the acquisition by Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd., and previously CFO as well as the Financial Reporting Specialist for several other natural resource companies. Peggy's extensive accounting and public practice experience includes serving as the Senior Staff Accountant and Supervisor at Smythe LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, from 2007 to 2010, where she oversaw all aspects of financial reporting for several publicly traded companies.
Marla K. Ritchie
Corporate Secretary
Ms. Ritchie brings over 25 years experience in public markets working as an Administrator and Corporate Secretary specializing in resource-based exploration companies. Since 2001, she has worked as Corporate Secretary for Cardero Resource Corp. Between 1992 to 2003, Marla worked for Ascot Resources Ltd, Brett Resources Inc, Golden Band Resources Inc, Hyder Gold Inc., Leicester Diamond Mines Ltd., Loki Gold Corporation, Oliver Gold Corporation and Solomon Resources Limited.
Ronald Largent
Executive Chairman
Mr. Largent has over 30 years experience in the mining industry holding executive, senior management and operational positions with AMAX Gold, Newmont Mining, Independence Mining and AngloGold Ashanti. Ron has led numerous mine building projects as well as large integrated multi mine operational groups around the world. Most recently, in his role as Chief Operating Officer – International for AngloGold Ashanti, Ron led a major global operational improvement initiative which dramatically improved operating costs across the globe.. In Nevada and California, Ron was involved with the construction and operation of Wind Mountain and Hayden Hill mines as well as general manger of the Jerritt Canyon mines and various operating positions with Newmont Mining at the Carlin mines. Ron was also involved with the construction and operation of the Cripple Creek mine in Colorado where he worked with Jeff Pontius who was leading the exploration work. Ron Largent holds a degree in Mining Engineering and a Master in Business Administration.
Steve K. Aaker
Director
Mr. Aaker has more than 30 years experience in the mining industry, including 18 years of association with the Franco-Nevada royalty portfolio, and served as Group Executive for Newmont Capital Limited from 2002 to 2007. Prior to the acquisition of Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation Limited (Old Franco-Nevada) by Newmont Mining Corporation in 2002, Mr. Aaker served as Vice President for Old Franco-Nevada, Euro-Nevada Mining Corp. Ltd. and Redstone Resources Inc., based in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Aaker has been associated with the majority of the U.S. acquisitions made by those companies. Prior to joining Old Franco-Nevada, Mr. Aaker was an independent geological consultant. He holds a Bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Colorado.
Anton Drescher
Director
Mr. Drescher is a Certified Management Accountant, a designation he has held since 1981. He is a director and officer of Oculus Visiontech Inc., a director of Xiana Mining Inc., Trevali Mining Corporation and International Tower Hill Mines. In addition, Tony is also the president of Westpoint Management Consultants Limited, a private company engaged in tax and accounting consulting for business reorganizations since 1979 and president of Harbour Pacific Capital Corp., a private British Columbia company involved in regulatory filings for businesses in Canada since 1998. Prior experience includes involvement as a director at USA Video Interactive Corp., Dorato Resources Inc., Landmark Minerals Inc., Ravencrest Resources Ltd. and Waymar Resources Ltd., all public companies listed on the TSXV. He is the Chairman of the Company's audit committee.
Ed Yarrow
Director
Mr. Yarrow is a senior economic geologist with over 35 years experience in the minerals industry. He has been involved in a number of discoveries of massive sulphide, magmatic nickel, tungsten and gold during this timeframe. Recently retired as V.P. Exploration of Anglo American PLC with responsibility for North America and Europe, Mr. Yarrow has extensive experience in commercial and legal aspects of the business and new business development in a number of different countries.
Rowland Perkins
Director
Mr. Perkins has been the President and a director of eBackup Inc., a company specializing in online backup solutions for computers, since 2001. Previously, he was the Marketing Manager of Intellisave Datavaults Inc. (Securinet Inc.). Mr. Perkins is also a director of USA Video Interactive Corporation and Ravencrest Resources Ltd.