Overview

A region with rich and underexploited mineral resources but varying levels of political stability and infrastructure development. Is investing in African mining a sensible idea?

Speakers

 

Speaker Bios

tony harwoodTony HarwoodExecutive Chairman, Universal Coal
Tony is an economic geologist who graduated from the University of Wales, Cardiff in the UK with a BSc (Hons) and a PhD degree in Geology. Tony is Executive Chairman of Universal Coal plc and President and CEO of Montero Mining and Exploration. Tony is also a director of two gold companies Adamus Resources, a gold producer in Ghana and Auryx Gold Corporation with advanced gold exploration assets in Namibia.

Prior to joining Montero, Tony was President/CEO of Africo Resources. Tony opened Placer Dome's office in Johannesburg which identified 17 million ounces of PGM resources in the Bushveld of South Africa. Prior to joining Placer Dome, Tony was founder and Managing Director of Harwood International Ltd., a geological consulting company specialising in mining and exploration in Africa. Tony has also lectured in Applied Geology at the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, and at the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK.

Simon VillageSimon VillageChairman & CEO, Banro Corporation
Simon Village was formerly a Managing Director, World Gold Council, and principal of Exchange Traded Gold, a company responsible for developing and managing a series of direct physical gold investment products that have revolutionised the dynamics of the gold industry. Previous to this he was a Managing Director with HSBC responsible for Global Mining based out of London, and also Head of HSBC's South African Securities business. Simon holds a B.Eng (Hons) degree from Camborne School of Mines, and brings some 20 years of gold industry and investment experience to Banro.

Nigel FergusonNigel FergusonPresident, CEO & Director, African Metals
Nigel Ferguson is a resource and development geologist with 23 years of experience developing precious and base metal resources in Saudi Arabia, South East Asia, Central and Southern America and Africa. Mr Ferguson has held senior management positions for the past 13 years as Project Manager for St Barbara Mines Paulsen's Project; Country Manager for Tanzania Ashanti Goldfields; CEO for Condor Resources plc. In addition Mr Ferguson has several non executive roles with various listed entities on both the TSXV and ASX exchanges.

Jack ScottJack ScottSenior Vice President-Strategic Projects, Allana Potash
Jack is Senior Vice President, Strategic Projects at Allana Potash. Over the last 25 years, Jack has built development and operational experience worldwide in the resource, energy, infrastructure, industrial technology and telecommunications industries. Jack spent ten years with AGRA. (now part of AMEC). More recently he has worked with NaiKun Wind Energy Group, been CEO of Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, and Vice President, Corporate Development at Atomic Energy of Canada. He also has positions on a number of technology company boards. Jack is a Registered Professional Engineer, a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and a past member of the Conference Board of Canada Strategy Development Council. Jack has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario Ivey School of Business.

Greg IsenorGreg IsenorPresident & CEO, Merrex Gold
Greg is the President & CEO of Merrex Gold. He is a professional geologist, an NI 43-101 'qualified person' and businessman. He has over 35 years' experience in the mineral and oil and gas resource industries and has worked throughout the world including North America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Greg was President, CEO and Director of Jilbey Gold Exploration prior to its takeover by High River Gold Mines and was instrumental in the identification of the Bissa gold deposit in Burkina Faso. Greg is a director of Riverstone Resources, Frontline Gold and involved in several private companies. Greg initiated the start-up of Jubilee Minerals, which via a reverse takeover formed Merrex Gold. He is also President & Director of Glencoe Resources and Vice President of Prince Edward Gas. Greg has served as a Director of the PDAC for 12 years and is a Director and past president of the Chamber of Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia.

John CummingJohn CummingVice President, General Counsel & CFO, Merrex Gold
John is a corporate and securities lawyer and businessman who has been active in the public securities markets and in the resource sector for over 30 years. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in Laws from King's College, University of London. John worked as Director and General Counsel to Yaletown Entertainment, a public corporation active in television production, and was co-executive producer of over 150 episodes of Yaletown's television productions. John also serves as President and Director of ComWest Enterprise, formerly Chatworth Resources, a public corporation that was active in diamond exploration and now carries on business in the publication industry.

andre-vanzylAndre Van ZylExecutive Chairman, Oak Ridge Mining Solutions
Andre is an social entrepreneur whose past experience includes operational military duty, owner of a start-up that developed the first commercial PC based, fully integrated, accounting system for the South African market, IT director for Lloyds based President Insurance, a South Africa insurance company, and 10 years with BP as Global Business Solutions Architect and International Programme Manager for a number of large scale business transformation solutions across 32 countries.

After leaving BP, Andre started Oakridge Business Solutions, a business consulting and knowledge management company five years ago. He formed Oakridge Mining Solutions three years ago to focus on the development potential of the artisanal mining sector in central Africa. Andre is also Chairman of Kalminco, the first Congolese minerals company with a majority shareholding by local community stakeholders, developed in partnership with Oakridge Mining Solutions and co-founder of Mission Restoration, a trust aimed at social development in Bulgaria.

lance-hooperLance HooperVice President, Kilo Goldmines
Kilo Goldmines Ltd. is a gold exploration and development company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'KGL' and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol '02K.FSE'. Kilo's principal focus is to advance its projects in the Kilo-Moto area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from exploration, feasibility, project development and ultimately to full production.

Matt SearleMatthew SearleSub-Saharan Africa Analyst, Business Monitor International
Matthew has been an Africa analyst with BMI since March 2008 focussing predominantly on Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. He is a native of Zimbabwe and has travelled extensively throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Matthew is frequently cited in media outlets such as Reuters and Bloomberg on the countries that he covers. He holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Western Australia with majors in economics and finance and has passed Level 1 of the CFA designation. He is fluent in French.

jono lawrenceRonald "Jono" LawrenceVP Exploration & Country Manager DRC, African Metals
Ronald Lawrence has over 19 years experience in managing geological programs in Australia, Asia, Africa and Central America including exploration and development of copper, gold and base metal assets. He also has gained over seven years of experience in senior technical management positions in such companies as Pan Aust Ltd, AGRC (Vedanta), Condor Resources Plc and Medusa Mining Ltd.

Kit StenningKit StenningPartner, McClure Naismith Solicitors
Kit specialises in all forms of public company fundraising work which includes advising on the Listing Rules for companies quoted on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange as well as advising companies seeking admission to AIM and the PLUS Market. Kit also advises companies as to their continuing obligations once admitted and future acquisitions. He also has experience in advising brokers and nominated advisers.

Kit is experienced in advising on a broad range of general company and commercial matters including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate restructurings, MBOs, shareholder matters and Stock Exchange work with a particular focus in the financial services sector where he has widespread industry experience and is the principal contact for a number of clients.

Peter GanyaPeter GanyaVice President, Mayfair Mining & Minerals
Peter Ganya is a native of Zimbabwe, now resident in the UK. Peter previously held senior management positions within the Zimbabwe government including within the Zimbabwe Ministry of Finance. He has also worked as the Under Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture. He holds an MSc degree in finance at the University of Leicester and a Diploma in Accounting and a BA in Business Studies at the University of Derby in the UK.

Glenn LaingGlenn LaingCEO, Plains Creek Phosphate
Glenn has over 30 years of experience in the mining and financial industries. For over 25 years he has been President / Managing Director of mining and exploration companies and has raised in excess of $1 billion for mining exploration and development projects. Whilst at St. Andrew Goldfields from 2001-07 when on its way to being a 200,000 ounce per year gold producer, Glenn raised in excess of $100 million for its gold mines and exploration assets. Glenn holds a BSc in Mining Geology from the University of Witwatersrand SA and a MSc in Mining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.

Tapiwa MashakadaHon. Tapiwa Mashakada, MPMinister of Economic Planning & Investment Promotion, Republic of Zimbabwe






Hal KentHal KentPortfolio Manager, Roulston's Resource Opportunities Fund
Hal is the founder of Castor Asset Management and has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently Hal was portfolio manager and CFO of Donville Kent Asset Management of Toronto, a firm he co-founded in 2007. Donville Kent was the recipient of the Best New Hedge Fund in Canada 2009. Hal has also managed domestic and offshore mutual and hedge funds with a variety of mandates including large-cap Canadian equities, Canadian resources, Canadian financial services, and a multi-strategy hedge fund.

Hal has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. Hal has a Canadian Investment Manager designation, is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute, and a member of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts.

Giulio CariniGiulio CariniCampaigner, Global Witness
Giulio Carini is a Campaigner at Global Witness where he has been instrumental in the preparation of various submissions to the SEC on Section 1504 of Dodd-Frank on the disclosure of payments by resource extraction issuers. He was also involved in successfully lobbying the European Commission to commit to implement mandatory transparency reporting standards in the European Union. Prior to joining Global Witness, Giulio received a Juris Doctor from Cornell University Law School and spent several years working as an international associate with two leading energy law firms in their offices in New York, Milan and London as well as publishing an article on the oil industry in an academic journal. He is registered with the New York Bar and is specialised in securities offerings and energy law.

Prince MupazvirihoPrince MupazvirihoPermanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth Development Indigenisation and Empowerment, Republic of Zimbabwe
Prince has held various posts in the Public Sector at Senior level over the past twenty years. Currently as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment he is responsible for managing the Youth Development Fund and Employment Creation Fund. Is also a Board Member of National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board and Public Service Housing Development Company. In the past ten years he has been instrumental in implementing Performance Management and Results Based Management in the Zimbabwe Public Service. Prince holds a MBA from the University of Huall and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administration and Commerce.

Andrew CranswickAndrew CranswickCEO, African Consolidated Resources
Andrew Cranswick is a fourth-generation Zimbabwean and has lived almost all of his life in the country. He has a geological background with extensive commercial experience in the mining and metals industry of Southern Africa. In addition, in the 1990s he established a successful group of IT companies in Zimbabwe, including the nation's first Internet Service which he sold to an international concern before the dot com crash. More recently he was an important stakeholder in the West-Australian cattle ranching industry.

Ritesh AnandRitesh AnandInvestment Director, Invictus Investment Management
Ritesh Anand is founder and CEO of Invictus Investment Management, a Zimbabwe focussed investment management firm. Prior to this, Ritesh spent over seven years in various roles at the Wellcome Trust. Ritesh joined the Trust in 2002 as an Investment Officer with responsibility for the Trust's external long only equity manager program. Then he was the Head of Risk Management. Laterly, Ritesh was responsible for investments in Africa and Middle East. Prior to moving to the UK, Ritesh worked as a fund manager for First Mutual Asset Management in Zimbabwe. Ritesh holds a BSc(Hons) Economics from the University of Warwick, and MSc Strategic Management from the University of Derby. He has also completed the Executive Finance Program at London Business School.

Martin PrinslooMartin PrinslooCEO, Dreamstone Mining
Martin Prinsloo began his career in the diamond mining sector in 1991 when he acquired his first diamond mining license in South Africa. His experience has spanned virtually all aspects of alluvial diamond mining and recovery, including exploration, plant commissioning, earthmoving and machinery, staff management, production, sales of diamonds, and logistics, as well as team building and leadership, technology implementation and operations administration. His diamond mining career includes Von Weilligh mining, Dodeca Diamonds Ltd and Jasper Mining Ltd. Martin is also a qualified South African lawyer. He spend one year with Sasol Nitro explosives as training officer and visited all the gold, coal, platinum and diamond mines that Sasol supplied. Martin holds a Diploma in management and an MBA.

gerry clarkeGerry ClarkeMinerals Expert
Gerry is a Mine Geologist and Applied Mineralogist and former lecturer in Applied Mineralogy at the University of Plymouth, UK. He is a former Editor for the Industrial Minerals, and an Executive Director of Metal Bulletin. Mr Clarke has written extensively across the spectrum of industrial minerals, and organised and chaired many conferences on behalf of Industrial Minerals Magazine and made numerous presentations to others' events over the years. Gerry is also the compiler and publisher of the Magnesia Availability Wall Map and, in partnership with P W Harben, Inc., the creator of the Lithium Availability Wall Map. Gerry has a Masters degree in Applied Mineralogy and a Bachelors degree in Mining Engineering and Geology.

James MaberlyJames MaberlyManaging Director, Critical Discussions
James is a social entrepreneur with a focus on the youth of today who will become the future leaders of Africa. Working closely with Professor Mandivamba Rukuni (Zimbabwe) and Chantell Ilbury (South Africa), he has developed a programme to bring young Westerners and Africans together to help neutralise the issues of racial perceptions. James also has his own facilitation, negotiation and mentoring business, Crucial Conversations in the UK. Born in Kenya and brought up in Zimbabwe, James has experience in management, transport, marketing, the financial sector and the arts in both Southern Africa and in the UK. He has a BA (Hons) Fine Art, has served in the British Army and is a skilled facilitator and negotiator. He has spent the last 10 years working closely with business, the agricultural and also the charitable sectors in Zimbabwe.

David WillbeDavid WillbeAssociate, Crowell & Moring
David has significant expertise in a wide range of corporate and associated commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private debt and equity financings, restructurings and equity capital markets offerings. David has extensive experience in the AIM market, advising both issuers and banks. He has advised various metals and mining companies, with operations in a wide range of jurisdictions including the USA, Zimbabwe and Tajikistan.