Ed CoughlanCommodities Analyst, Business Monitor International
Edward has been a commodities analyst at BMI since September 2010. He focuses on the mining sector, in particular regarding Latin America and Africa. His Masters dissertation covered Chinese involvement in the Zambian Copper sector. Edward holds an MSc in African Politics from The School of Oriental and African Studies.

Humphrey HarrisonManaging Director, EEE Mediation
Humphrey Harrison (Managing Director) is a South African lawyer and international investment advisor with particular experience of stakeholder engagement, cross-cultural communication and conflict avoidance and resolution strategies.

He has worked extensively in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, advising investors, governments and others on diverse resource and economic development issues. His early career was as Director of Energy Research at several major City financial institutions. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment and a former member of the London and Johannesburg Stock Exhanges.

Louis CoetzeeCEO, Kibo Mining
Louis Coetzee has 25 years experience in business development, promotion and financing in both the public and private sector. In recent years he has concentrated on the exploration and mining area where he has founded, promoted and developed a number of junior mineral exploration companies based mainly on Tanzanian assets. Louis has tertiary qualifications in law and languages, project management, supply chain management and a MBA from Bond University (Australia) specializing in entrepreneurship and business planning and strategy. He has worked in various project management and business development roles mostly in the mining industry throughout his career. Louis is currently a Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Mzuri Group which has coal projects in Tanzania and coal, oil and gas projects in Russia. He is also Chairman and acting CEO of Australian listed East African Resources limited (ASX: EAF) which holds copper and uranium exploration projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania respectively. Between 2007 and 2009, he held the position of Vice-President, Business Development with Canadian listed Great Basin Gold (TSX:CBG).

Dr Peter RuxtonPresident & CEO, Gentor Resources
Peter Ruxton was a Partner with Actis LLP responsible for all investment in the mining sector in Emerging Markets for the Fund. Prior to that he was Exploration Manager for mid-tier gold producer Ross Mining and involved in the evaluation and feasibility study of the Gold Ridge Gold Mine in the Solomon Islands. Peter also had 11 years experience with Billiton Australia as Regional Exploration Manager and Geologist. His Ph.D. studies were on sedimentary copper deposits in Namibia; he spent a further 18 months as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania, Australia researching VMS base metal and copper deposits. He has a B.Sc. in Geological Sciences, a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds and an MBA from Manchester Business School. Peter is also a Non-Executive Director of Platmin Ltd.

Tim WilliamsChairman, Andiamo Exploration
Tim Williams is a mining geologist with a strong financial background. Tim has thirty years' experience in the mining industry, ranging from the major companies Gencor, De Beers, JCI through to juniors such as Golden Star and MDN and mining finance with James Capel, Lehman Brothers and Ernst & Young. Tim has worked in Eritrea since 1995 where he is the chairman of Andiamo Exploration.

David SumichManaging Director, Volta Mining
David Sumich has over 17 years' experience in the capital raising, financing and management of public resource companies both in Australia and overseas. David was Managing Director and founder of West African Iron Ore Company, DMC Mining, in the Republic of Congo. DMC was the subject of an A$50 million on-market cash takeover. David was non-executive Director and co-founder of the rare element & rare earth company Globe Metals & Mining Limited, which has projects in Malawi and Mozambique.

David HargreavesCEO, Fairtrade Gemstones
David Hargreaves is CEO of his family company Fair Trade Gemstones Ltd, which specializes in the ethical sourcing and marketing of gemstones worldwide. David has over 40 years of senior experience in the mining industry. After qualifying in coal mining he worked in the iron ore mines in Canada before diversifying into other bulk minerals including bauxite. He was Head of Research for stockbrokers James Capel in London and voted Mining Analyst of the year on three successive occasions. Since forming his own metals and brokering company in 1977, he has successfully promoted and been a director of several public companies. He currently writes 'The Week in Mining'. He is a Chartered Mining Engineer, Fellow of the Geological Society and the Institute of Mining, Minerals and Materials, and a member of the Royal Institution. He was a representative to the House of Commons Select Committee on Strategically Important Metals.