Directors and Management
Mariana brings together a depth of talent in a small team, encompassing:
- proven track record of exploration successes.
- expertise with a wide range of metals and mineral deposit types.
- practical experience with junior, mid size and major mining companies.
- over 40 years collective experience in South America.
- financial (capital raising to mine financing) and resource development experience.
- successful public company stewardship.
Executive Directors
John Horsburgh
(Age 65) BSc, ARSM, MSc, DIC, FAusIMM, FSEG, Chairman
John Horsburgh, a graduate of the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London is a geologist with more than 40 years experience in exploration, project development and company management. He was a co-founder of Solomon Pacific Resources NL which achieved success with the discovery and development of the Brocks Creek gold mine in the Northern Territory in Australia. As Executive Chairman he was involved in the acquisition, exploration and financing of the project. Prior to this, he was Exploration Manager for SE Australia with Getty Oil Development (minerals division). Before Getty, John gained extensive exploration experience with Billiton and the RTZ Group in Australia, South America and Europe. He has been involved in a number of lead-zinc and gold discoveries in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. He is a director and a co-founder of Cullen Resources Ltd which is a partner in the Mt Stuart Joint Venture, a new iron ore development project in the West Pilbara, Western Australia.
Glen Parsons.
(Age 45) CASA, B Com Economics, Director Finance and Corporate Development
Glen Parsons has over 20 years international experience in corporate finance, treasury, operational and general management. The most recent role was as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development of Neptune Minerals Plc. He has built new profitable businesses and divisions within both large and small organisations. Glen was an executive director of RFC Corporate Finance Ltd, a specialist minerals resources investment bank and fund manager. Duties included corporate finance mandates which included mergers and acquisitions, strategic advice, mineral project assessment and capital raisings. He has specific LSE-AIM experience and has been involved with a number of successful equity and debt raisings for junior and developing mining companies. Glen is a qualified Chartered Accountant with an Honours degree in Accounting Science and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Economics.
Raymond Angus.
(Age 47) BAppSc, Chief Operating Officer
Ray Angus is a geologist with over 20 years experience in the Americas, Africa, Australia and the Middle East. He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science - Applied Geology from the Queensland Institute of Technology in 1987. He worked in mineral exploration and mining for Cyprus Gold Australia followed by postings in Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia. In 1994, Ray established a foothold in Peru, working in property evaluation and new business opportunities. He obtained a senior position with Newcrest Mining (Peru), followed by consulting assignments to companies including Queenstake, Goldfields Limited and Billiton. He was co-founder of Monterrico Metals from incorporation to quotation on AIM in 2002. He served as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, and was responsible for the identification and acquisition of the Rio Blanco copper-molybdenum project in northern Peru. He managed the resource definition drilling which ultimately reported 1.26 billion tonnes at 0.57% Cu + 228 ppm Mo. A Detailed Feasibility Study was based upon a mining scenario of 25Mtpa for an initial 20 years estimated, with a Capex in excess of US$1.4Bn. In April 2007 Monterrico was acquired by the Chinese-lead Zijin Consortium.
Non Executive Directors
Randy Turner.
(Age 62) B.Sc., P.Geo, Non Executive Director
Committees: Audit Committee, Remuneration Committee.
Randy Turner is a Vancouver based geologist with over forty years of experience in the Canadian and International mineral exploration, financing and business arena. He is currently President and CEO of Silver Quest Resources Limited (TSX.V: SQI), a leading gold and silver exploration company focussed in Canada. Amongst many other achievements, he was instrumental in guiding Winspear Diamonds Inc. from the discovery of the Snap Lake diamond deposit in northern Canada through to its sale to the De Beers Canada Mining Corp. for C$305 million in 2000. Furthermore, earlier in his career, as president of Trimin Resources Ltd, Mr Turner was involved in the development and sale of the McIlvenna Bay copper/zinc deposit in Saskatchewan, Canada. Prior to his time running junior exploration companies, Mr. Turner spent 20 years as a geologist with Esso Minerals Canada and AGIP Mining Ltd exploring for uranium, gold and base metals in Canada, Australia and the United States.
J. Christopher Mitchell.
(Age 70) BSc, (Hons. Chem.), MSc (Metallurgy), MBA (Fin.)
Committees: Audit Committee (Committee Chairman), Remuneration Committee.
Chris Mitchell is a Vancouver based financial advisor to listed companies active in the mineral exploration and production arena. During an international career spanning more than 40 years, he has served in senior executive positions with several listed minerals exploration and mining companies. He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of several TSX Venture Exchange listed companies and as a non-executive director of three junior minerals exploration companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. He is also principal of Adera Company Management Inc., a private consulting company which provides financial and administrative management services to smaller public companies.
Management
Dr. Gustavo Rodríguez
(Age 39) BSc, PhD, FSEG, MAIG, Vice President Exploration
Gustavo Rodriguez has been working as a geologist for over 14 years in Latin America largely in Argentina and Venezuela. He holds a B.Sc. degree in geology and a PhD in geology from the University of the Córdoba, Argentina. He is Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), a member of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) and the Argentinean Geological Society (AGA). Gustavo has been a Doctoral Fellow of the Argentinean Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) while studying the timing and nature of gold mineralization in orogenic (turbidite-type) gold deposits of Puna, Argentina.
He has held positions at several companies including Sunshine Mining (formerly owner of Pirquitas mine), IAMGOLD Corp., and Crystallex International. As Chief Geologist with Crystallex’s Chief Geologist, he executed a resource definition drilling program on the Las Cristinas Gold Deposit in Venezuela, which resulted in measured and indicated resources increasing by 4.5 million ounces.
Gustavo has been instrumental in the acquisition of Mariana extensive land package in Santa Cruz of Southern Argentina using satellite imagery, structural analysis and mineral alteration techniques and in the discovery of new gold-silver deposits at Mariana’s Las Calandrias and Sierra Blanca Projects.