About PDAC

Rosario Astuvilca-Rojas
Inclusive Mining

Rosario Astuvilca-Rojas is an experienced talent management consultant with over 15 years of experience in the mining and metals sector. She is a third-generation mining professional who started her career in 1996 at Centromin (Empresa Minera del Centro del Perú) in Perú and years later moved to Canada and joined Falconbridge Ltd (Glencore). Since 2007, she has worked for leading global executive search firms and in her most recent executive role, as Partner, Head – Global Mining & Metals practice. Rosario has partnered with numerous Canadian and international major, mid-tier and junior companies, helping them attract and recruit executives and board directors globally. Rosario is a lawyer from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, with a masters in Human Resources Management from York University and executive education from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto), the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), and a postgraduate certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She is also a member of several governance associations, including the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and has completed a corporate governance program at The Wharton School of Management (University of Pennsylvania). Rosario is a proud immigrant with Indigenous roots, and she brings more than 10 years advocating and actively supporting initiatives to advance the inclusion of marginalized groups in all sectors of the economy. 

Charles Beaudry
QC Copper and Gold Inc.

Charles Beaudry is a seasoned mining executive with over 40 years of experience in project generation, business development, and international project management.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from University of Ottawa (1979) and a Masters degree from McGill University (1983).  Charles is a Professional Geoscientist and permitted to work in Ontario (PGeo) and Quebec (géo).  He has been involved in a number of deposit discoveries during his carreer and worked with Noranda/Falconbridge (now Glencore) from 1989 to 2006 and worked overseas in Brazil (country manager 1996-2001) and Papua New Guinea (2004-05).  In 2008-2009 he was General Manager for Iamgold Inc. and from 2010 to 2013 he was founding President of Xmet Inc., outlining a 850,000 ounce gold deposit in the Abitibi greenstone belt.  Charles is currently VP Exploration for QC Copper and Gold Inc. and just published a 100MT copper-gold open pit deposit in Chapais, Quebec.

Kurt Breede
Scotiabank

With over 25 years of experience across the mining value chain - from mineral exploration through to mine development - Kurt Breede specializes in technical due diligence and financial modelling supporting structured financing and corporate development. He's been lead resource geological engineering author, co-author, and peer reviewer to over 40 technical reports as an independent Qualified Person (QP) and mining industry expert witness on multiple international arbitration cases. In June 2023, Kurt joined Scotiabank's Global Mining and Metals Investment Banking team as Technical Director, overseeing technical reviews of mining assets in support of Scotiabank’s advisory to mining clients around the world, with key responsibilities in technical due diligence and risk/reward analysis. Over the course of his career, Kurt has provided technical advisory services to government, finance, and mining sectors on over $100B worth of assets for private and publicly traded mining companies, including various venture capital, private equity, First National groups, government agencies, and sovereign wealth funds from Canada and abroad.

Kurt holds a B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering from The University of Toronto, and is registered as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) and Geologist (P.Geo.) in the province of Ontario.

MaryAnn Crichton
Hatch Ltd.

B.Sc.(Chemical engineering), MBA, P.Eng.

MaryAnn has over thirty years of international experience in the mining, exploration, infrastructure and energy industries.  Her experience in ESG, capital markets, finance, and project development provides a broad base of skills to support the PDAC and its members.  MaryAnn has an excellent technical and business background to address complex exploration, development and mining industry challenges and opportunities, specifically:

• Comprehensive understanding of all aspects of project development including: strategy, financability assessments, valuations, ESG, reviews of capital projects and major investments for companies, financial institutions, private equity, pension funds and investors.
• Broad based ESG expertise, developed from strong technical base and range of industry viewpoints, currently including as Director and Chair of ESG Committee for an exploration and development junior company.
• Successfully worked with a broad range of mining, metals and exploration executives to support operations improvement, climate change resiliency, M&A and investment and business decisions.

 

Conrad Dix
Agnico Eagle

Conrad Dix is a graduate of the University of Windsor (B.Sc. Geology, 1997) and is a practicing member of Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (PGO) and Northwest Territories Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (NAPEG).

Conrad works for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited as Exploration Geology Superintendent at their Hope Bay Project, in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.  Conrad’s focus has been to safely manage the Hope Bay exploration team to explore for new mineral resources and assist in the expansion of current resources.

Conrad began his career conducting and managing geophysical surveys on various projects globally.  He then focused his career back to geology where he managed projects for major mining and junior exploration companies on various advanced, transitional and early-stage projects.

Conrad's career has been complemented by active participation in the PDAC's Health and Safety and Human Resources Development Committees and a member of the Board of Directors.

Siri Genik
BRIDGE©

I have worked around the world on major capital projects and have developed particular expertise in sustainability, strategic planning, risk management as well as supply chain solutions. For the last 10 years, I have been running BRIDGE© - a boutique advisory firm working with boards and leadership teams developing a sustainable business model. I sit on the boards of three junior mining companies as Independent Director, and Chair of the Sustainability and Governance Committees. I am also a non-registrant (public) Council member of the PGO.

As a board member of PDAC, I also sit on the Sustainability, Lands & Regulations, and EDI Committees.

Previously I worked with a number of major international mining companies, as well as Canadian engineering companies. I am a trained mediator, and began my career as a partner in a major Canadian law firm. I am also perfectly fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Raymond Goldie
Independent Analyst and Director

Dr. Raymond Goldie is the current president of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

Born and raised in New Zealand, Raymond holds a B.Sc. from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, an M.Sc. from McGill University and received his PhD from Queen’s University, Canada. The topic of his doctoral thesis was the geology of the Archean rocks in the Noranda area of Quebec.

With decades of experience in the industry, Raymond has held positions as a field geologist, and has worked for investment dealers in Toronto, Canada as a mineral economist and financial analyst. Between 2015 and 2018 he was Expert Witness in a Voisey’s Bay lawsuit. He has also been, and continues to be, a Director of junior mineral exploration companies.

Raymond’s work in economics research resulted in the first publication of the term “pinch-point” in 1990, which he trademarked in 2000. His published work includes the book Inco Comes to Labrador (Flanker Press, 2005) and many technical publications, most recently Grade Control and Deleterious Materials in Polymetallic Deposits (AusIMM, 2022).

He has also served on PDAC committees: the Governance & Nominating Committee, Awards Committee, Convention Planning Committee, Executive Committee, Securities and the Sustainability Committee.

David Harquail
Franco-Nevada Corporation

David Harquail graduated as a Geological Engineer from the University of Toronto, and as an MBA from McGill University. He has been involved in mineral exploration and mine finance throughout his career, as well as serving as a PDAC director from 1997 to 2002. In 2007, he co-founded Franco-Nevada Corporation - leading its successful $1.3 billion initial public offering.  During his 13-year tenure as CEO, Franco-Nevada grew into the leading precious metals royalty company with a market value exceeding $30 billion. David Harquail now serves as Chair of the Board of Franco-Nevada. He also serves as a director of the Bank of Montreal, on the Board of Governors at Laurentian University, was past Chair of the World Gold Council and served as a cabinet member of the United Way. He is also the benefactor of the Harquail School of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury, as well as the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. 

Doris Hiam-Galvez
Hatch Ltd.

PhD in Metallurgy with broad senior level experience in the mining and metals industry. She is currently Senior Advisor to Hatch. She ran Hatch Peru until 2012 and Hatch Europe until 2017, and over 15 years created new and innovative opportunities that expanded the business in new regions (Australia, South America, Europe & North America). Before joining Hatch, she was the CTO for Novelis, where she was a key member of a corporate leadership team participating in all aspects of the business including financial performance, operations, capital investment, mergers/ acquisitions, organizational development and social responsibility. She was a Board Director of the Canada UK Chamber of Commerce in London and she is Chair for the 2022 CIM Annual Convention. In her current role, she is working closely with investors to make projects more financeable using a multidisciplinary engineering approach to de-risk the projects and to reduce the time to positive cash flow. She developed a concept called “Designing Sustainable Prosperity (DSP)”; a topic that is attracting interest from mining companies and investors. This approach represents a new way of doing business which leaves behind a positive sustainable economy with an improved environment and quality of life in mining regions.

Mary Louise Hill
Lakehead University

Mary Louise Hill, Ph.D., P.Geo., is a Professor of Geology at Lakehead University. Her research program on structural control of orogenic gold deposits includes collaborative work with prospectors, junior exploration companies and producing mines in Canada. Through teaching, mentoring and research supervision she has helped many students launch their careers as geologists in the mineral exploration and mining sector. As former Vice-President of Lakehead University, Mary Louise is experienced in executive management, government relations, and not-for-profit governance. She has served on many not-for-profit boards and councils over the past 20 years, and she is a founding director of the Northwestern Ontario chapter of Women in Mining - Canada. At PDAC Mary Louise serves on the Executive and Human Resource Development committees, chairs the Membership Committee, and co-chairs the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.

Jessie Liu-Ernsting
G Mining Ventures Corp.

Jessie is a finance executive and professional engineer with over 15 years’ experience in the natural resources and related industries spanning capital projects engineering, capital markets, private equity, corporate strategy, and finance. Jessie began her career conducting engineering design on mine, mill and backfill projects. In her career with CIBC’s mining corporate credit group and Resource Capital Funds, Jessie developed tailored financing solutions for resource companies, totaling over $4 B, spanning 23 commodities and 6 continents. Subsequently, Jessie guided a public company to achieve settlement on a disputed proxy. As a junior exploration company’s inaugural VP Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Jessie formulated and implemented the company’s IR strategy to achieve 14x share price accretion and raise $33M over the company’s first 12 months, during the COVID-19 crisis. Jessie received the 2021 CIM Bedford Canadian Mining Young Leaders award and is a Corporate Director of mining companies.

Gordon Maxwell
GJM Mining

Graduated with an Honours BSc degree in Geology from the University of Manitoba.  Basically, worked for one company, Noranda, Falconbridge, Xstrata and Glencore. Started with Noranda Exploration, Winnipeg in 1979.  Thunder Bay ON, Prince George BC, back to Winnipeg, back to Thunder Bay, Toronto, Navan, Ireland, Laval QC, Timmins and back to Toronto.  I started my career as a geologist and finished as Exploration and Business Development Manager.  I was awarded two major industry awards; David Barr (AMEBC) for Health and Safety and the Skookum Jim (PDAC) for Industry Service as an Aboriginal.   My service has taken me all over the world (35-50 countries) to work on all kinds of deposits and their financial significance. My career has spanned new technology to health and safety, I currently sit on the board of the PDAC and the board of CESME.  Member of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.

Stuart McCracken
Teck Resources Limited

Dr. McCracken is the Vice President, Exploration & Geoscience at Teck Resources Limited where he leads the greenfields and near-mine exploration teams - and the Geoscience Orebody Knowledge team - focused on maximising and de-risking the value extraction from Teck’s advanced projects and operations.

Stuart completed his BSc (Hons) at MacQuarie University in 1989, and his PhD at the University of Western Australia in 1997 - where his research focused on the genesis of the Admiral Bay Zn-Pb-Ag carbonate hosted deposit. During his PhD studies, Stuart also participated on Leg 150 of the Ocean Drilling Program.

Stuart worked with Pasminco Exploration as a contract geologist from 1996 to 1997, and then joined Western Metals as a Project Exploration Geologist from 1997 to 2000. In July of 2000, Stuart joined Anglo American. Over a 20-year period, Stuart worked in a variety of exploration, operational and corporate roles in Australia, Chile, Peru, Canada, Southern Africa, Europe and London. Stuart joined Teck Resources Limited in April 2020.

Stuart is a current member of the Industry Advisory Committee for the Irish Center for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Economic Geologists Foundation from 2013 to 2017.

David Murray
Resourceful Geoscience

David is a professional geoscientist with more than a decade of experience in mineral exploration and mining. His technical experience has been gathered throughout the Americas and Europe in exploration and resource geology roles, with various technical consultancies and major mining companies. David’s commodity experience is diverse, including both base and precious metals, in addition to critical materials such as Rare Earth Elements, Lithium, and Antimony. Now a full-time entrepreneur, David is the founder and principal consultant of Resourceful Geoscience Solutions; a value focused geological consultancy committed to responsible mineral exploration. David has been an engaged member of PDAC for 13 years, since first participating in the 2010 Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop (S-IMEW).

Ellie Owens
E2Gold

With over seven years of technical and corporate experience, I have held roles at Golder Associates, Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank Mine, Diavik Diamond Mine, Atomic Energy of Canada and at Groia & Co (securities litigation). Ms. Owens holds a J.D. and M.Sc. (Geology) from Western University and a B.Sc. (Geology) from the University of Waterloo.  She currently sits on the PDAC Technical Planning Committee.

Scott Parsons
Alamos Gold

Scott Parsons has more than 15 years of experience in progressively senior exploration roles. Mr. Parsons joined Alamos in 2018 and was appointed Vice President, Exploration in 2020. Prior to joining Alamos, he was Manager of Regional Exploration and Geoscience at TMAC Resources where he was responsible for resource expansion and regional exploration of the Hope Bay Project in Nunavut. Previously, Mr. Parsons served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Northern Superior Resources Inc., and as Exploration Geologist and later Project Geologist, Resource Development & Long-Range Planning at BHP Billiton. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Master of Science in Geology from the University of Western Ontario, and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University. Mr. Parsons is a registered Professional Geoscientist in Ontario and Manitoba, and as a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Valerie Pascale
Modern Core

Valerie has been working in CSR, Community Engagement, and Diversity and Inclusion in the Exploration, Mining and Mineral Development sectors for 14+ years. She has a passion for holistic global development, making the world a more beneficial place for all, and leveraging partnerships and areas of mutual benefit for the greater good. Valerie has developed strategies, policies and guidelines for mining and mineral exploration companies to help them carry out activities and operations responsibly and sustainably in the areas where they operate. She also focuses on building trusting partnerships with local community and stakeholder groups to maximize the local benefits of mining and to achieve effective, sustainable community development. Valerie was the Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Goldcorp (Newmont) for over 10 years. She has worked closely with the PDAC for 12 years, both on the CSR Committee and as the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion working group. Before working with the private sector, she worked with NGOs, governments, First Nations communities, and other interest groups. Valerie's expertise includes human rights, stakeholder/community engagement, community investment & development programs, supply chain, grievance mechanisms, diversity and influx management. She studied International Development, specializing in Latin America. She speaks Spanish.

Karen Rees
Consultant

B.Sc., P.Geo.

Karen Rees has a B.Sc. Honours Geology degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1984), is a member of Professional Geoscientists Ontario (2002), and has enjoyed a geoscience career spanning more than 30 years in the mineral exploration industry in Canada.  She has held roles as Project Geologist, Exploration Manager, Vice-President of Exploration, and Corporate Secretary.  Currently, Karen is a consultant to the industry and serves on the boards of three junior exploration companies with mineral properties in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba.  As an enthusiastic volunteer in the industry, Karen is on the Board of Directors of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), is a member of PDAC committees including Executive, Governance and Nominating, Human Resource Development, and is involved with the PDAC Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop.

Rob Stevens
Pakawau Geomanagement Inc.

Dr. Rob Stevens is a professional geologist and a technical director, facilitator and policy advisor. He is the author of the best-selling book ‘Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials’ and an engaging and skilled trainer who works with governments, industry and communities. Rob has been a professor and Associate Dean at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, a director of international programs at the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute at UBC and the Vice-President of technical and regulatory policy at the Association for Mineral Exploration.

Rob supports the work of the PDAC through his Canadian and international experience in mining policy including geoscience, land use, taxation, permitting and environmental management. He is an advocate for education and communication and works to improve the understanding and appreciation of mineral exploration and mining by Indigenous people, government, and the public. Rob has two decades of Board-level experience with industry associations, geoscience agencies, Indigenous training organizations and post-secondary education.

Rob is passionate about the mineral exploration and mining industry and enjoys the mix of science, engineering, business, community, discovery and entrepreneurialism that are integral to the industry. 

Jeff Swinoga
Exploits Discovery Corp.

Jeff is a senior mining executive with 25 years experience in the mining sector. He is a recognized thought leader with an extensive network and brings a strategic perspective focused on business objectives, ESG, diversity, M&A, and raising capital.  Currently he is the CEO of Exploits Discovery and prior to this was the Canadian Mining & Metals co Leader & Partner at EY. He has served on Boards of many publicly traded companies (Chair of Imperial Mining, Audit Chair of Excellon Resources, Radisson Resources, First Cobalt and Tonbridge Power). He was CFO of numerous public companies (Torex Gold, HudBay Minerals, Golden Star Resources and North American Palladium) and CEO of First Mining Gold as well as an Officer, Director, Finance of Barrick Gold for seven years. He has led numerous project financings totalling over $2 billion and raised over $400 million in equity.

CPA, MBA & Honours Economics degrees.

 

Ciara Talbot
Vale Base Metals

Ms. Talbot is the Director of Exploration at Vale Base Metals since August 2023. She draws on her 25+ years of international mineral exploration experience to set global exploration strategies and develop new discovery opportunities at existing projects and operations. Previously she worked as Vice President for Lundin Mining Corporation in Exploration and New Business Development. Ciara joined Lundin in 2005 as a Senior Exploration Geologist and gained experience as a director on the board of six Lundin companies before moving to Canada in 2012. Ciara was a founding member of Lundin’s Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee, as well as an advisory group member of the company’s Sustainability Committee.

Outside of work, Ciara volunteers with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) by being a member of its Geoscience and Innovation Committee, and also contributes to the Industry Advisory Committee for the Irish Center for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG). 

Before joining Vale Base Metals, Ciara held several technical roles with Lundin Mining, Boliden Limited, BHP Limited and Teck Resources Limited. Ciara holds a BSc. (Honours) in Applied Geology from Staffordshire University in England.

Kerem Usenmez
Lican Exploration

Kerem is a Geological Engineer and is a Mining entrepreneur with more than 23 years of industry experience, from all stages of exploration and mine development. He worked in various technical and management roles in Turkey, Canada, South America, Middle East and Europe. Kerem worked in various types of deposits, discoveries to mine building, greenfield and brownfield exploration projects, worked on projects from scoping studies to mine closure, PEA and Feasibility Studies, Rock Mechanics, ground control, ground stability analyses, and also trained geologists, mine engineers and miners on ground control, geomechanical logging. He has been running a junior Mining company and currently he is the CEO and President of LICAN Exploration. He is a licensed engineer in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. Kerem currently sits on the board of the PDAC and is the Co-Chair of the Public Affairs Committee and Chair of the Securities Committee of the PDAC.

Mary-Carmen Vera
SGS Canada Inc.

Born and raised in Peru, I have lived in Canada since 2001. I’m a geologist by trade. In my early years I worked in field exploration in Peru, Chile and Australia. Upon my arrival in Canada, I joined Wemindji Exploration Inc. as the company’s CEO. In 2010, I started my consulting practice in ESG, Business Development and Indigenous Relations in the Mineral sector. Since 2011 to present, I have served as Senior Advisor to the Cree Mineral Exploration Board, having conducted Community awareness sessions and Mining 101 workshops delivered to Indigenous Communities and to the industry on how to optimize their relations with the communities.

I joined SGS Canada as Senior Account Executive in Geochemistry in 2022. Currently I serve as Board Member for the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association and as an Executive Board Member of CIM – Val d’Or.

I'm interested in mentoring youth and continue my involvement in the Industry Associations (PDAC, AEMQ, CIM).

Valerie Wilson
SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd.

Valerie Wilson has been involved with the PDAC at the committee level since 2018, including the last two years as the co-chair of the CPC. During her tenure on the CPC, and as a PDAC member (since 2012), she has participated and led the working group on PDAC short courses, contributed as a chair on many technical sessions, contributed as a panelist for Mentorship for Women in Mining as part of the Student Industry Forum (2016) , as a speaker at PDAC’s annual SIMEW Workshop in Sudbury and the Convention Kickstart event designed to orient students at the PDAC (both in 2023). She has also been a short course presenter in 2018, 2021, 2022 and will present again in 2024.

Outside of PDAC, she manages a team of Resource Geologists within the consulting group SLR. Her work at SLR includes team supervision and mentorship in addition to carrying out various technical assignments that span due diligence reviews, Mineral Resource estimation and audits, technical report writing and training to support public disclosure, and corporate decision making. Valerie has experience working across all continents and in most commodity and deposit types.