Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Luke Norman

Chairman

Luke Norman is a seasoned growth executive with over 20 years of experience in the venture capital markets. He has raised in excess of $300 million for both public and private companies, predominantly in the resource space. In recent years, Mr. Norman has operated a consultancy company to the metals and mining industry. He co-founded Gold Standard Ventures Corp., a TSX and NYSE Market listed gold exploration and development company. Luke is the co-founder of U.S. Gold Corp. (following its merger with Dataram Corporation), Chairman of Silver One resources, a silver pre-development and exploration company listed on the TSX-V and CEO of Leviathan Gold, Ltd., listed on the TSX-V. Mr. Norman brings expertise in mineral exploration, finance, corporate governance, M&A and corporate leadership to his role as Chairman.

George Bee

President and CEO

Mr. Bee is a senior mining industry executive, with deep mine development and operational experience.  He has an extensive career advancing world-class gold mining projects in eight countries on three continents for both major and junior mining companies.  Most recently in 2018 Mr. Bee concluded a third term with Barrick Gold as Senior VP Frontera District in Chile and Argentina to advance Pascua Lama feasibility as an underground mine. This capped a 16-year history with Barrick Gold with positions that included Mine Manager at Goldstrike during early development and operations, Operations Manager at Pierina Mine taking Pierina from construction to operations, and General Manager of Veladero developing the project from advanced exploration through permitting, feasibility and into production.

With his Barrick experience and having had eight years in South Africa working underground gold with Anglo American and open pit copper with Rio Tinto at Palabora Mine, Mr. Bee was well placed to advance projects internationally and domestically as a senior executive. This led to his appointment to various board and leadership positions at various companies. As COO of Aurelian Resources in 2007, he was in charge of project development for Fruta del Norte in Ecuador until Aurelian was acquired by Kinross Gold in 2008. Post-acquisition, moving on from Kinross, where he had also previously worked from 1996 to 1998 advancing projects in El Salvador and Nevada, he joined Andina Minerals as CEO in 2009. Andina and its 6 million-ounce Volcan Gold Project in Chile was acquired by Hochschild in 2013. By this time Mr. Bee had been appointed to the boards of Peregrine Metals and later Stillwater Mining and Jaguar Mining. In 2014, he also assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Mining, operating mines in Brazil, as the company emerged from a financial restructuring process.

Mr. Bee is a graduate of the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, United Kingdom and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors with an ICD.D designation.

Robert W. Schafer

Director

Robert Schafer is a registered professional geologist with over 35 years international experience exploring for and discovering mineral deposits, four were producing mines including the Briggs (over one million ounces) and Griffon gold mines in the Western United States and Birkachan (over one million ounces) gold mine in far east Russia, and identifying, evaluating and structuring business transactions globally having worked in more than 80 countries. Mr. Schafer is the 2020 to 2021 president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). He is also past president and board member of the PDAC, past president of the CIM, and past president of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America. He was a member of the board of governors for the U.S. National Mining Hall of Fame and the board of directors of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. He is the first person to hold all of these leadership roles in both the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Schafer is the recipient of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from AIME, as well as the prestigious Daniel C. Jackling Award and Robert A. Dreyer Award from SME for technical achievements and leadership in the mining industry during his career. He is a fellow of CIM, SEG and SME, and a certified director under ICD. Mr. Schafer has been an executive with Hunter Dickinson, Kinross Gold and BHP Minerals. He is founder and chief executive officer of Eagle Mines Management and is member of the board of directors of select mining companies.

Johanna Fipke

Director

Johanna Fipke is currently a partner at one of Canada’s leading national law firms and has been and has over 20 years’ of experience advising clients almost exclusively in the mining industry. She specializes in mergers & acquisitions, commercial transactions, project finance (including debt, streams, royalties and prepayment offtakes) and project development. Ms. Fipke has been recognized for her legal mining expertise by Lexpert, Who’s Who Legal, the Best Lawyers in Canada, and the Legal 500. Ms. Fipke is a former director of Women in Mining British Columbia and Nova Royalty Corp. (TSXV:NOVR). She holds a Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Commerce, and Bachelor of Arts, each with distinction, from the University of Alberta and is a member of the Law Societies of British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In 2018, Ms. Fipke was awarded by Women in Mining UK as one of the top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.

Micheal Waldkirch

Director

A Chartered Professional Accountant in the U.S. and Canada since 1998, Mr. Waldkirch was the Chief Financial Officer of Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (TSX: GSV) (NYSE American: GSV) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has also held the position of Senior Partner with the public accounting firm Michael Waldkirch and Company Inc., Chartered Professional Accountants, in Vancouver, B.C. since 1999. From 1997 to 2011, he held the position of principal with JBH Professional Services Inc., a business consulting firm located in Richmond, B.C. Mr. Waldkirch  holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of British Columbia.