Board of Directors

Mr. Gittleman is a legal, government relations and public affairs executive with over 35 years’ experience advising multinational companies on M&A, project finance, mining, oil and gas, agriculture and power projects across the globe. Most recently he served as Senior Executive overseeing legal issues and stakeholder engagement at Glencore SA where he developed corporate strategies to improve relations with government, community and civil society stakeholders at mine sites in Chile, Peru and Argentina. Preceding that, Mr. Gittleman held the position of Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at Freeport-McMoRan Africa, where over his 7-year tenure oversaw the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo from development through to full commercial production. He also has 20 years’ experience as a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld where he worked on merger, acquisitions and project finance in the energy and mining sectors. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire/DRC and graduated with a bachelor’s concentration in Political Science and American Civilization at Brown University and received his Juris Doctor (cum laude) from American University, Washington College of Law.

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.

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. 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.