Colin Bird

Chairman and CEO

Mr Bird is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a UK Chartered Engineer. He also holds a UK and South African Mine Managers Certificate for coal mines. The formative part of his career was spent in the UK coal mining industry and thereafter he moved to the Zambian copper belt and then to South Africa to work in a management position with Anglo Coal and BP Coal. On his return to the UK he was Technical and Operations Director of Costain Mining Ltd, which involved responsibility for Costain’s interest in the UK, Latin-America and Spain. Mr Bird has had senior technical and operational experience in a number of commodities to include coal, nickel, gold, copper and industrial minerals.

Following his extensive operational and technical career, he became involved in corporate finance and has been the prime mover in a number of public listings, mainly on the UK's AIM market.

Raju Samtani

Finance Director

Mr. Samtani is an Associate Chartered Management Accountant, and is Finance Director of the AIM-listed Tiger Royalties and Investments Plc. Mr. Samtani’s previous experience includes his position as a Finance Director of Kiwara Plc which was acquired by First Quantum Minerals Ltd in January 2010 and prior to that he spent three years as Group Financial Controller at marketing services agency - WTS Group Limited, where he was appointed by the Virgin Group to oversee their investment in the WTS Group Ltd.

Edward “Ed” Slowey

Technical Director

Mr. Slowey holds a BSc degree in Geology from the National University of Ireland and is a founder member of The Institute of Geology of Ireland. Mr. Slowey has more than 40 years' experience in mineral exploration, mining and project management including working as a mine geologist at Europe's largest zinc mine in Navan, Ireland and was exploration manager for Rio Tinto in Ireland for more than a decade, which led to the discovery of the Cavanacaw gold deposit. Mr. Slowey is an experienced exploration geologist, having worked in Africa, Europe, America and the FSU and his experience includes joint venture negotiation, exploration programme planning and management through to feasibility study implementation for a variety of commodities. As a professional consultant, Mr. Slowey's work has included completion of CPR's and 43-101 technical reports for international stock exchange listings and fundraising, while also undertaking assignments for the World Bank and European Union bodies. Mr. Slowey has also served as director of several private and public companies, including the role of CEO and Technical Director at AIM-listed Orogen Gold Plc which discovered the Mutsk gold deposit in Armenia.

Dr. Evan Kirby

Non-Executive Director

Dr Kirby is a metallurgist with over 40 years’ experience in the mining sector. He spent 16 years working for South African companies, Impala Platinum, Rand Mines and Rustenburg Platinum Mines. During this time, he worked in operations management, process development, plant expansions and new projects. Then in Australia, over a period of ten years with Minproc Engineers and Bechtel Corporation, he held technical and management roles in numerous studies and projects. This work covered a wide variety of metals & minerals and included many world-leading developments. In 2002, he established his own consulting business, Metallurgical Management Services and has had successful and diverse international involvement. Dr Kirby clearly understands the relationships between geology, mining, metallurgy, and production that drive technical and financial success. He has worked as a director of Mining companies listed on the ASX and AIM.

Ronnie Siapno

Non-Executive Director

Mining Engineer holding a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mining Engineering and a lifetime member of the Philippine Society of Mining Engineers. Mr Siapno is the President of Crescent Mining and Development Corporation and also a Director of Bezant Holdings Incorporation in the Philippines.