Management

David Tafel

CEO, Director
D Tafel Headshot.150x0

Mr. Tafel holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and contributes over 30 years of corporate structuring, strategic planning, financing and management experience to the Company. He has been an officer and director and founder of a number of private and publicly listed resource companies. He has been instrumental in raising several hundred million for resource, life sciences and technology companies. Mr. Tafel managed private investment funds at the largest independent Canadian securities firm.

Jeremy Wright, CPA

CFO, Director
Jeremy Wright Headshot

Mr. Wright brings more than 20 years’ experience as President and CEO of Seatrend Strategy Inc. He currently serves as a Director of Infinitum Energy, Westmount Minerals, and Centurion Minerals, and previously served as a Director with Pontus Protein, Gold Mountain Mining (formerly Freeform Capital), Pacific Community Resources Society, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association and several community associations and municipal advisory boards. Additionally, Mr. Wright currently serves as the CFO for several public and private companies including: Portofino Resources, Westmount Minerals, Infinitum Energy, and Centurion Minerals, and previously served as CFO for Alpha Cognition, Avant Brands (formerly GTEC Holdings), Pontus Protein (formerly AmWolf Capital), and Gold Mountain Mining (formerly Freeform Capital). Prior to Seatrend, Mr. Wright spent 6 years in a senior role at Deloitte LLP. He has broad experience working with senior management developing strategies and solutions to business issues mainly related to corporate finance, cost and risk management, and governance focused on clients in the life sciences, regulated marijuana, technology, and mining sectors. He has been interviewed by Global Business Reports for their report “Territories Mining and Exploration 2012”; and authored “Extracting Value – Yukon Mining 2011” for the Yukon Chamber of Mines. Mr. Wright is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Certified Management Accountant), and holds a Bachelor of Arts, with honours in Environmental Economics from Brock University.

Alexander Molyneux

Advisory Board
Alexander Molyneux

Mr. Molyneux is a metals and mining industry executive with 25 years industry experience and a proven track record with critical mineral and energy metal project development. He was Chairman of ASX-listed Argosy Minerals Ltd. (2018 – 2022), during which time the company initiated its Rincon Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina, developed a resource and commissioned its first battery-grade lithium carbonate production facility. Mr. Molyneux completed three-years as CEO of Paladin Energy Ltd., one of the world’s largest uranium companies, where he completed a US$700M successful recapitalization. Prior to Paladin, he was Founder and Executive Chairman of Azarga Uranium Corp. with development stage uranium projects in USA and Central Asia, subsequently sold for C$200M to EnCore Energy Corp. Prior to Azarga Uranium Corp., he spent approximately five years with Ivanhoe Mines Group and Ivanhoe Energy in various leadership capacities including CEO and Director of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (2009 – 2012). Prior to his mining industry roles, Mr. Molyneux was Managing Director, Head of Metals and Mining Investment Banking, Asia Pacific for Citigroup. He spent approximately 10-years providing investment banking services to natural resources companies.

Blake Steele

Advisory Board
Blake Steel

Mr. Steele is an experienced metals and mining industry executive, director and advisor with extensive knowledge across public companies and capital markets, with an extensive track record delivering shareholder value with energy metal projects. Mr. Steele was most recently President and CEO of Azarga Uranium Corp., a TSX-listed uranium development and exploration company. Under Mr. Steele’s stewardship, Azarga Uranium grew into an advanced stage multi-asset company through M&A and organic growth and, in February 2022, EnCore Energy Corp. completed the successful acquisition of Azarga Uranium for C$200m. Before joining Azarga Uranium Corp., Mr. Steele worked at SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (part of the Ivanhoe Mines group), a Mongolian-focused energy metal company, where he worked in multiple senior finance and corporate development roles. Mr. Steele began his career with Deloitte & Touche where he worked in both the audit and financial advisory practices. Mr. Steele is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator in Canada. Mr. Steele received a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from the UBC Sauder School of Business. Mr. Steele currently serves as a director or advisor to a number of public companies in the metals and mining space.

Stephen Wilkinson

Director
S Wilkinson Headshot

Mr. Wilkinson was the Vancouver-based mining analyst for RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in the mid to late 1990’s. From 1999 to 2002, he was President, CEO and a director of Northern Orion Explorations Ltd. He has founded and funded a number of private and public exploration companies. Mr. Wilkinson has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Ontario (Geology, 1976), a Master of Science from Carleton University in Ottawa (Geology, 1983) and an MBA degree from Clarkson University in New York (1995).

Kenneth Cawkell

Director
Kenneth Cawkell

Mr. Cawkell has been involved in technology industries within public, private and venture capital markets as a professional advisor and as a principal and investor for over 35 years, principally and he is the co-founder of Cawkell Brodie LLP, a Vancouver-based law firm. He is a founder and CEO of Neurodyn Life Sciences Inc., a private biotech company focused on developing nature-based products to promote brain health and healthy ageing. Mr. Cawkell is also a founder, director and officer of Alpha Cognition Inc. (CSE: ACOG), a Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, product candidates targeting Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Brian Crawford

Director
Brian Crawford Headshot.150x0

Mr. Crawford holds a B. Com. from the University of Toronto and has extensive experience as a senior financial executive with public and private companies and as a partner in a national firm of chartered professional accountants. Brian currently serves as a Director, Corporate Secretary, and/or Chief Financial Officer of several TSX-V and CSE listed companies including Colibri Resource Corporation, Searchlight Resources Inc., CBLT Inc., and Tempus Capital Inc.

Sebastian Cattaneo, B. Eng.

Country Manager, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sebastian Cattaneo

Mr. Cattaneo is responsible for tactical delivery of the Argentine operations, including community relations, vendor management, and local administration. Sebastian has over 15 years of experience in the oil & gas and mining industries along with a degree in environmental engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. Having lived in Vancouver for more than ten years Sebastian returned to Argentina in 2010 to be the Country Manager for junior mining company specializing in fertilizers where he managed the start up of the company. As an Argentine/Canadian Sebastian has a unique understanding of both Argentine and Canadian business practices allowing him to bridge professional and cultural gaps effectively.

Mike Kilbourne, BSc. (Hons), P.Geo

Consulting Geologist
Mike Kilbourne Headshot

Mr. Kilbourne graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1985 with an Honours BSc. in Geology. His first field season was in 1980, representing over 40 years in the industry. Mr. Kilbourne’s career has involved holding various executive positions for junior resource companies, gold production geologist for open pit, underground bulk and narrow vein mining, and long term mine planning for the 10+ simultaneous US aggregate operations. He has supervised and managed over 100,000 meters of diamond drilling in Archean precious and base metal projects and recently surpassed generating over 700 exploration targets across North America and Mexico for a private firm.