Board & Management

Experienced
Directors

Brian Johnson

Executive Chairman

Mr Johnson is a graduate in civil engineering from the University of Western Australia and a Member of the Institute of Engineers, Australia with extensive experience in the construction and mining industries in Australia, South East Asia and North America. He was instrumental in establishing successful companies, Portman Limited and Mount Gibson Iron Limited in the iron ore industry, and South Blackwater Coal Limited and Austral Coal Limited in the coal sector.

He has previously been a director of two listed gold producers, and of companies with Stock Exchange listings in London, New York, Vancouver, and Australia.

James Tyers

Chief Executive Officer​

Mr Tyers is a member of the AusIMM and has over 30 years’ experience in the mining industry involving senior management roles in gold and iron ore operations. He was Alternate Manager for the Palm Springs Gold Mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and Manager for the Cornishman Project, a joint venture between Troy Resources Limited and Sons of Gwalia Limited. Mr Tyers also spent three years developing and operating iron ore projects in the mid-west of Western Australia. He was responsible for the development of the Las Lagunas Project and is Project Director for the La Demajagua gold mine in Cuba.

Ugo Carlo

Non-Executive Director

Mr Cario has over 30 years’ of experience in the Australian mining industry. He was a Director and Chief Executive Officer of Rocklands Richfield Limited for four years, and Managing Director of Austral Coal Limited for eight years. Prior to Austral Coal, Mr Cario held a number of senior positions with the Conzinc Rio Tinto Australia Group. He is also a former Director of the Port Kembla Coal Terminal, the New South Wales Joint Coal Board, and Interim Chairman of the New South Wales Minerals Council in 2004.

Angela Pankhurst

Non-Executive Director

Ms Pankhurst has over 20 years’ experience as an executive and non-executive director primarily in the mining industry. She has been a senior executive for companies with projects in Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Vietnam, South Africa and Australia, including CFO then Finance Director for Antilles Gold until March 2009. She was Managing Director of Central Asia Resources Limited during the development of its first gold mine and processing facility, and is currently a director of Consolidated Zinc Limited and a director of Imritec Limited.

Experienced
Senior Management

Tracey Aitkin

Chief Financial Officer

Ms Aitkin is a professional member of CPA Australia with more than thirty years of experience in finance, administration and staff management across a range of industries including mining, manufacturing, retail, transport and agriculture. She joined the staff of Antilles Gold Limited in 2009 as Group Accountant and had the opportunity to grow and develop her skill base in line with the growth and development of the company and was subsequently appointed as Chief Financial Officer in December 2010.

Dr Jinxing Ji

Technical Director

Dr Ji highly knowledgeable metallurgist with 6 years of research experience in universities and 26 years of practical experience in the mining industry related to gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead. Broad worldwide experience includes due diligence, metallurgical testwork, prefeasibility study, feasibility study, detailed design, plant commissioning support and operational support/optimization for projects/mines in Turkey, Greece, Canada, China, Romania, Brazil, and Papua New Guinea, etc. In-depth knowledge and experience for every gold process either for free-milling ores or single- and double-refractory ores, including bulk flotation, selective sequential flotation, heap leach, CIC, tank cyanide leach, CIL, CIP, pressure oxidation, roasting, biological oxidation, Albion, and application of ion-exchange resin for gold extraction.

Steve Mertens

Mining Director

Mr Mertens is a mining engineer with 20 years’ industry experience across a range of commodities, including 9 years based in Latin America. He has experience developing large mining projects and worked as a Construction Manager at the Goro Nickel Project in New Caledonia and also the Mina de Cobre Project in Panama. Prior to his current role as General Manager for the Minera La Victoria JV company, Mr Mertens was the Mining Manager for Antilles Gold’s Las Lagunas operation in the Dominican Republic.

Chris Grainger

Exploration Director

Dr Grainger is an Australian geologist with +25 years of international experience with involvement in grassroots and brownfields exploration, as well as resource definition and development, with a focus on precious and base-metals in South and Central America and the Caribbean. He holds a PhD Economic Geology (University of Western Australia).

Dr Grainger has been associated with significant discoveries and commercially successful transactions including:

Continental Gold, Buritica Au-Ag project discovery (Vice President Regional projects/New Business Manager), Cordoba Minerals Alacran Cu-Au discovery (Vice President Exploration)