Board of Directors

Mr. Thurston has over 32 years’ geological experience working on projects from grass roots to feasibility level in North and South America, Africa and India. As Country Manager he was instrumental in the initial exploration, land acquisition and development of Aurelian Resources in Ecuador, which was acquired in 2008 by Kinross for $1.2B. In 2004, Mr. Thurston transitioned from geologist to corporate positions and has founded several public companies and held positions of director and officer, as well as served on multiple committees including audit and corporate governance. Mr. Thurston was President and CEO of Lion Energy Corp. from 2007 to 2011 before takeover was successfully completed by Lundin’s Africa Oil Corp. Brian holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Western Ontario. 

Dr. Mark Cruise is a professional geologist with over 27 years of international exploration and mining experience. A former polymetallic commodity specialist with Anglo American plc, Dr. Cruise founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Trevali Mining Corporation. Under his leadership, from 2008 to 2019, the company grew from an initial discovery into a global zinc producer with operations in the Americas and Africa. He has previously served as Vice President Business Development and Exploration, COO and CEO for several TSX, TSX-Venture and NYSE-Americas listed exploration and development companies with market capitalizations ranging from tens of millions to in-excess of US$1 billion.

Mr. Nickel is an experienced Mining Executive and Engineer, Investor and Entrepreneur with a diverse 25-year mining background in operations, engineering, feasibility and exploration / development of venture capital projects. Most recently he held position as Mine Manager for a significant Canadian emerging gold producer, leading the production and development of new underground and pit operations. He has provided management and consulting services to the industry since 2008 and has been heavily involved with several junior resource public companies and mining project start-ups, mainly in BC and the Arctic. Since 2011, Jason has served on four TSX-V / CDNX / CSE venture company boards. He holds a degree in Mine Engineering from UBC and a GDBA in Business Administration from SFU Segal Graduate School of Business. His previous experience includes several roles from Mine Planner, Sr. Mine Engineer, Mine Foreman, to Chief Engineer, Mine Manager and Vice-President, primarily in copper and gold operations and projects.

Mr. Ciricillo is a mining executive with over 30 years of operational and project experience, having lived and worked on 5 continents over the span of his career. Mike began his career in 1991 at INCO Ltd in Canada and later joined Phelps Dodge in 1995 which was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan. There he served in positions of increasing responsibility in the United States, Chile, The Netherlands, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC, Mike served as President of Freeport McMoRan Africa and spent 5 years at Tenke Fungurume from the construction phase into the operations phase. Mike then joined Glencore in 2014 as Head of Copper Operations in Peru, followed by the role of Head of Copper Smelting Operations, and eventually, he was placed in the role as Head of Glencore’s Worldwide Copper Assets. He is currently President of the Natural Resources Sector for the NANA Corporation in Alaska.

Mr. Leveille has a lifetime's worth of experience in the mining sector, having grown up in major copper camps in the western US where his father worked for Kennecott. He has a B.S. Geology from the University of Utah and an M.S. in geology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He worked for a progression of companies including AMAX, Kennecott, Rio Tinto, Phelps Dodge and Freeport-McMoRan in the US and internationally, where he was directly involved with and/or managed teams that made several major discoveries. His last corporate position was Sr VP Exploration for Freeport-McMoRan, based in Phoenix. Mr. Leveille retired in September 2017 and has devoted his time since then to hiking, backpacking, fishing, writing, advocacy for immigrants and geological consulting.

Mr. Garofalo is an accomplished mining executive with 30 years’ experience in the creation and growth of multi-billion-dollar mining business across multiple continents. Mr. Garofalo is currently Chairman and CEO of Gold Royalty Corp, Chairman of Great Panther Mining Limited, and Chairman and CEO of the Marshall Precious Metals Fund. Formerly, he was the President and CEO of Goldcorp Inc., a position he held from 2016 until its sale to Newmont Corporation in 2019. Prior to Goldcorp, he was President, CEO and Director of Hudbay Minerals Inc, (2010-2016), Senior Vice President, Finance and CFO and Director of Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (1998-2010) and Treasurer of Inmet Mining Corporation (1990-1998). Mr. Garofalo was recognized as the Mining Person of the Year by the Northern Miner in 2012 and was named Canada’s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International Canada in 2009. He holds a B. Comm with distinction from the University of Toronto, is a fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants (FCPA, FCA) and a Certified Director of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D). He is also a Director of the great Vancouver Board of Trade and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Mr. McMillan has been involved in the mining and financial markets for over 40 years and has, since his retirement from the securities industry in 2000, held numerous director and executive roles in public and private companies. During his 17 years in the securities industry, Mr. McMillan was an investment advisor, vice president, director and senior partner in one of the top private brokerage firms in Canada. During this time, Mr. McMillan was instrumental in the financing of many junior exploration companies in North and South America, including the junior exploration companies that originally discovered the mineral resources that led to the development of the Kemess and the Mount Milligan mines, both of which are located in the same geological trend as the Company’s Thane Project, in British Columbia.

Mr. Fleishman started his career working at Blackdome Mining Corp. and Ashworth Explorations Ltd. in the 1980s. He was part owner of Reliance Geological Ltd. from 1990 to 1993. From 1993 to 2006 John worked in South America, Mexico, Canada, and the USA for Canabrava Diamonds Corp. and Southwestern Gold Corp. before staking the Blackwater Davidson property which he sold the NSR to New Gold, now owned by Artemis Gold. Mr. Fleishman was a director of West Cirque Resources that taken over by Kaizen Discovery Ltd. and also served as Technical Advisor for Questex that was taken over by Skenna Resources.

Mr. Barresi is a seasoned exploration geologist and corporate executive who has led successful exploration campaigns and corporate development activities for multiple junior exploration companies during transformative periods in their history. He is the past President and Director of QuestEx Gold & Copper Ltd., and Triumph Gold Corp. and he has been exploring for mineral deposits in the Canadian Cordillera for more than twenty years. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Mary-Claire Ward Geoscience Award by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) for his Ph.D. thesis, which focused on the interplay between island-arc evolution and metallogenies in British Columbia