Chris WatlingCEO, Longview Economics
Based in London, Longview Economics is an independent consulting firm focused on global macroeconomics, asset allocation, commodities and short term trading tools. Longview Economics is free from any corporate leaning and have the space to develop ideas and strategies to assist economic and financial market understanding. The company aims to establish long-term relationships and enhance client performance.

Chris Watling, founder and CEO of Longview Economics is also Economic Advisor to Liquid Capital Securities. Chris regularly writes for the financial press and his monthly podcast is watched in over 40 countries worldwide.

Aidan DavySenior Programme Director, International Council on Mining & Metals
Aidan Davy joined ICMM in June 2007. He is responsible for ICMM's Community and Socio-economic Development Program, including issues relating to Human rights and Indigenous Peoples. He also leads ICMM's work on sustainability reporting and independent assurance. Aidan has over 23 years of cross-sectoral experience on sustainable development issues, working with a range of private, multi-lateral and not-for-profit organizations. For the past 12 years, his primary focus has been on social responsibility and accountability issues relating to the extractive industries.

The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) was established in 2001 to act as a catalyst for performance improvement in the mining and metals industry. Today, the organization brings together 19 mining and metals companies as well as 30 national and regional mining associations and global commodity associations to address the core sustainable development challenges faced by the industry. ICMM's vision is one of member companies working together and with others to strengthen the contribution of mining, minerals and metals to sustainable development.

Nick ParryPartner, Inception Partners
Nick managed the UK office of an International Search firm focusing on the Natural Resource and Manufacturing sectors. Previously, Nick trained as an auditor before embarking on a career in Executive Search. His audit work was focused on technology/material science based companies developing intellectual property and helping them bring their IP commercialisation in-house. Subsequently, Nick has worked across a broad range of industries mainly focused in the mining and metals sector. His expertise covers the full supply chain from project finance for minesite development, material handling & processing, and manufacturing. He is also working closely with the emerging companies involved in Cleantech and Disruptive technologies. Nick is also currently Special Advisor to a technology fund (GDI) that invests in early stage material science based technologies.

Andy BoneDirector, World Diamond Council
Andrew Bone is Director of International Relations at De Beers. He started with De Beers as a diamond valuer and subsequently worked in various other departments within the company's Rough Diamond Division, including overseas secondments in South Africa and Belgium. Later, he became an overseas buyer, managing buying offices, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following a year in the Sales Department, he joined Marketing Liaison and Corporate Communications where contributed to the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. He went on to develop the concept of the Diamond Development Initiative with the NGOs Partnership Africa Canada and Global Witness. Andy is also a director of the World Diamond Council and the Diamond Development Initiative, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster's Business School.

Ross NormanCEO, Sharps Pixley, London Bullion Brokers
Ross Norman is an entrepreneur in the bullion market and the owner of Sharps Pixley Ltd. Ross started his bullion career at Johnson Matthey and Royston as Gold Refining Manager (then the worlds largest gold refinery). Then Ross became a gold trader at NM Rothschild & Sons and later Credit Suisse, where he was a Senior Dealer in physical bullion trading. As such, Ross has wide experience in the precious metals markets covering both the trading and refining of gold and the platinum group metals.

Ross went on to co-found leading precious metals website TheBullionDesk.com about 10 years ago until recently turning his energies to selling physical precious metals at Sharps Pixley, London and has launched a new specialist platinum website at www.pgm.net.

Ross has an enviable record within the London Bullion Market in forecasting the gold price over the last decade and is frequently sought by the media for commentary on the bullion markets. Ross has made frequent appearances on TV (BBC, CNBC, CBC) in newspapers (FT, Wall Street Journal) as well as in the newswires (Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones).

Angelos DamaskosChief Executive Officer, Sector Investment Managers Limited
Mr Damaskos is a Greek national who arrived in the UK in 1981 to attend university. Graduated in 1985 from the University of Glasgow with a Degree in Mechanical Engineering and in 1989 obtained a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Sheffield. He benefits from more than 14 years investment banking experience with major banks in the City of London concentrating on natural resources. Most recently he worked with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development where he was responsible for some of the bank's equity investments in Russia and the CIS. In 2004, subscribing in the belief of a new commodities super-cycle, he set up Sector Investment Managers Ltd, an FSA-authorised investment advisory company and launched the Junior Oils Trust (JOT) which he advises. JOT grew from a launch NAV size of £3.7m to in excess of £17m by 30 June 2006. Discreet 2005 annual performance was +64% (on a bid to bid basis) placing it the 12th best performing fund among 1,925 UK-listed Unit Trusts and OEICs.

Barbara ManuiPresident, Blue Future
Barbara Manui is the founder and president of Blue Future. Previously, Barabara was Vice President of Howard Bronson Associates, a New York-based investor relations firm established in the early 1960s, and viewed by many as the first company to create a liaison between seminal companies and the financial community.

Barbara's background is in anthropology, linguistics, the establishment and nurture of young companies, and she was a co-creator of the Continuum interactive role-playing game.

Gary BillingsleyExec Chairman, Great Western Minerals
Gary is a professional engineer and geoscientist with more than 30 years' experience in the mineral industry–24 of them in Saskatchewan. He has been an officer and director of several public mining and mineral exploration companies during the past 18 years. In addition to his experience with uranium and base-metal exploration, Gary has been directly involved with putting Saskatchewan's largest gold mine into production and, on three separate occasions, has played a major role in the discovery of diamond-bearing kimberlite.

Gerry 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.

John ClarkeChairman, CEO & Director, Great Metals Quest Ltd
Dr. John Clarke brings considerable experience in mineral exploration, corporate acquisition and development in the gold mining sector in Africa. Dr. Clarke has held roles as Vice-Chairman and CEO of Nevsun Resources and, prior to joining Nevsun, he was Executive Director of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited of Ghana. He joined Ashanti in 1982 and contributed to establishing Ashanti's gold exploration program throughout sub-Saharan Africa. He is the Director of several companies which have exploration and development activities in Africa. Dr. Clarke holds a B.Sc. in metallurgy from University College Cardiff, a Ph.D. in metallurgy from Cambridge University and an MBA from Middlesex Polytechnic.

Peter 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.

Pierre BoulangerAgent-General, Quebec Government in London
Pierre Boulanger has been the Agent-General of the Québec Government in London since 2008. He has extensive experience in the fields of business and international relations. Pierre's diplomatic career began in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1974. His postings include the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, Africa and Western Europe, Boston and then Paris, where he acted as trade delegate and investment counsellor.

Returning to Québec in 1993, Pierre was president and general manager of the Greater Québec Economic Development Corporation (SPEQM), vice-president of business development at CO2 Solution Inc., chair and general manager of the National Capital Commission and president and general manager of the Québec City 400th Anniversary Society.

Pierre received a degree in administrative sciences from Laval University in 1973 and a master's degree in city planning from Boston University in 1981; he completed an advanced certificate program in economics at Harvard University in 1982.

Stuart RussellSenior Trade & Investment Manager, Western Australia Government
Stuart is an ordinary public servant who has been serving the Western Australian government for some time. Some of his formative years were spent in Australia and having returned to the UK he has continued to serve the Western Australian Government. Stuart works on trade development and investment attraction, particularly in resources, commodities, oil and gas and renewables and clean technologies.

David HargreavesCEO, Fairtrade Gemstones
David Hargreaves is CEO of his family company Fairtrade Gemstones Ltd, which specialises in the ethical sourcing and marketing of gemstones worldwide. David has over forty 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 broking and research company in 1977, he has successfully promoted and been a director of several public companies. He currently writes "The Week in Mining", an incisive review of world mining events, for stockbrokers X Cap. 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 is a representative to the House of Commons Select Committee on Strategically Important Metals.

Andrew WilliamsonPartner, McClure Naismith
Andrew is one of the Partners in our Corporate Unit with extensive experience of advising on debt and equity issues; joint venture relationships; AIM and full list transactions; public offers; takeovers and private company mergers and acquisitions. Andrew's legal know how is enhanced by three years spent as an institutional corporate stockbroker, enabling him to offer clients well-informed, commercial legal advice.

Andrew's clients include both public and private companies, ranging from private equity fund managers, FSA-regulated Limited Liability Partnerships and telecommunications companies to a New York hedge fund. Examples of work recently undertaken include providing advice on an acquisition finance strategy; the creation of a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT); advising off-shore investment fund vehicles in respect of fund raising in the UK and subsequent property acquisition and the de-merger of a FSA-regulated investment business.

Tim WeirInvestment Director, Wessex Asset Management
Tim Weir is CEO and Investment Director of Wessex Asset Management, a UK-based equity long-short hedge fund manager. Wessex launched an Asia Pacific fund in 2000, a global natural resources fund in 2004 and a gold fund in 2007. Prior to co-founding Wessex Tim was head of equity investment at Swiss Bank Corporation institutional fund management in London, where he managed SBC's award-winning GoldPortfolio, Director of European Equities at NatWest Investment Management, and a director of Geoffrey Morley and Partners. He has a 1st class Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from The Queen's College, Oxford.

Brian WessonCEO, Woulfe Mining
Brian is an engineer with 30 years' experience, an MBA and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Brian has extensive experience in the operation, design and construction of mines and process plants. Brian is als a Director of Westech International a Resource engineering company based in Sydney Australia. Westech bought the Vatukoula Mine in Fiji after mine closure, Westech refinanced, refurbished and brought the mine back to production and on listing Vatukoula Gold took over.

Phil AndersonManaging Director, Economic Indicator Services
Phillip Anderson is Director and founder of Economic Indicator Services, an economic forecasting service operating out of London and Melbourne, and the world's leading authority in the area of business, real estate and commodity cycles. Economic Indicator Services Ltd (EIS) is a London based company that provides subscribers with a framework in which to better understand current market, banking and property related events. Phil is the author of the book 'The Secret Life of Real Estate and Banking.'

Malcolm BucholtzCEO, Strategic Resources
Malcolm Bucholtz spent 16 years in the Canadian steel industry in the areas of R&D and Operations Management. Following this he joined the independent brokerage firm of Union Securities where he primarily focused on Commodity Trading. In 2007, Malcolm was appointed V.P. Investor Relations for Strategic Resources and joined the Board of Directors in June 2008. Malcom graduated from Queen's University (Metallurgical Engineering) and holds an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School.

Dr Ernesto SirolliFounder, Sirolli Institute
Italian-born, Dr. Ernesto Sirolli received a Laurea di Dottore in Political Science from Rome University in 1976 and a Ph.D. from Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia in 2004. He has worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom in the field of economic development.

Dr. Sirolli is a noted authority in the field of sustainable economic development, and is in demand as a speaker worldwide.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli is the Founder of the Sirolli Institute, an international nonprofit organization that teaches community leaders how to establish and maintain Enterprise Facilitation projects in their community.

Mike DevjiExecutive Vice President, Orko Silver
Mike Devji has been executive vice president and director of Orko Silver since 2007. Mike is also President & CEO of Blackcomb Minerals Inc. Prior to this he served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Dobhai Ventures Inc. and Neuer Kapital Corp. Mike has over 15 years experience as Financial Consultant for several public companies. Mike led a group of investors who financed a 40% interest in the South Kemess Gold-Copper Deposit in British Columbia, Canada. That interest was subsequently sold for over $400 Million.

George CaveyDirector, Orko Silver
George Cavey is a Director of Orko Silver. He is a consulting geologist with over 30 years' experience, since 1982 he has been the President and CEO of OreQuest Consultants, a company providing geological consulting to resource companies, both public and private. George has supervised mineral exploration projects throughout North, South and Central America as well as Africa since 1982. He has authorized or been involved in, the writing of more than 300 geological reports for Canadian junior resource companies' prospectus and/or public financing documents. In addition, George has acted as a consultant to both the BC Securities Commission and the TSX Venture Exchange in matters relating to 43-101 mining and mineral exploration disclosure issues from 2001-2007.

Steve WhiteEcuador Capital
Stephen White has over 25 years experience on the Boards of Directors of 25 companies and has performed the role of Managing Director / CEO for 13 of these and has provided hands on corporate development advice to numerous North American public companies. Over the last decade, his experience includes mining exploration, for resources that include gold, uranium, iron ore, oil & gas, potash & phosphate. He has a passion for the resources sector and is now totally focussed on the promotion of projects with significant growth potential, such as Ecuador Gold, offering proven reserves and inherent value to investors who seek multiple returns.

Todd HoulahanDirector International Mining Group, Innov-X
Todd Houlahan is ther Director of International Mining for OIympus Innov X. After 7 years as a contaminated land consultant, Todd first used a handheld X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer in 2000. Since then, Todd has been at the heart of the Portable XRF revolution in the mineral exploration and mining industry. He worked with Niton analyzers for 8 years in various positions based in Australia, Germany and the UK, finally as Global Business Development Manager (Exploration and Mining). For the last 3 years Todd has led the International Mining Group at Olympus Innov-X. Todd graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia in 1993 with a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in soils and hydrology.

Robert MackayCEO, Stans Energy
Robert has worked extensive in the mining and investment industry. He has experience of various facets of mineral exploration including diamond drilling, geophysics, geological mapping & prospecting and in mining, mine planning, surveying, grade control, industrial engineering, open pit and underground production. He has also previously served as Vice President of two national brokerage firms over his career in the investment business.

He is a graduate of the Haileybury School of Mines and has a mining engineering degree from The South Dakota School of Mines Technology.

Greg PenduraManaging Director, Solid Resources
Greg Pendura has more than 35 years of experience in founding, financing and advising emerging private and public companies. Mr. Pendura spent 12 years in the public sector with Resin Systems Inc. An original founder of the company he retired in 2007 as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. During his tenure with Resin Systems Inc., he was instrumental in the company achieving a market capitalization of over $200 million as well as raising in excess of $100 million during its formative years.

Rexford KontorExecutive Director, Weston Capital Group
Rex Kontor is an Executive director of Weston Capital Management Ltd., a UK based Private Equity and Venture Capital Consultancy. Weston Capital also has an office in Ghana from where deal-sourcing for investment projects from the West Africa region is coordinated. Rex is project managing the setting up of a Ghana-focused microfinance Investment fund which will be managed by Weston capital which will invest in MFI's. Prior to Joining Weston Capital, Rex was Compliance and Productivity Manager for Tesco stores Limited, UK where he project managed several Cost Saving initiatives for the company.

Rex holds an advanced diploma from the Association of business executives A.B.E and is an Associate member of the A.B.E. He also holds a post graduate certificate in Corporate Finance from London School of Business and Finance, and a CeMAP certificate from the Institute of Financial Services, London.

Mike Smyth Investment and Risk Manager, Lionhart
Michael Smyth has been a member of Lionhart's Investment Team and Risk Management Team since 2006. Based in Toronto, he's focused on opportunities in mining and natural resources, particularly in Africa. Prior to joining Lionhart, Mike was CEO of Geoinformatics Exploration LTD, a TSX-listed global mineral exploration company, and before that, he was CFO of Bactech Mining Ltd. Mike held progressively more senior financial roles in Canadian public companies including TransCanada PipeLines, Lac Minerals, and Bell Canada, and also spent 8 years on the Capital Markets Team at Scotiabank and RBC in Canada. Mike is a board member of Mukuba Resources Ltd. and SparCap One, as well as not-for-profit Shwachman Diamond Syndrome Canada.

Dr Antony HarwoodCEO, Montero Mining & Exploration
Dr. Antony Harwood (Tony) is an economic geologist with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, and graduated from the University of Wales, Cardiff in the UK with a BSc (Hons) cum laude and a PhD degree in Economic Geology. Tony is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Montero Mining and Exploration (TSX-V) a rare earth element focused company with its flagship property, the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Project in Tanzania. Montero also holds uranium licences in Quebec, Canada and a phosphate asset in South Africa. Additionally, Tony is a Director of various listed companies involved in mining and exploration in Africa, namely; Universal Coal (ASX), Adamus Resources (ASX/TSX), Auryx Gold Corporation (TSX) Prior to joining Montero, Tony was President and CEO of Africo Resources, which he took to the TSX, raising $124 million during his tenure and from 1998 to 2006, Tony was Vice President Generative Exploration for Placer Dome Inc. Tony was founder of Harwood International, a geological consulting company which he operated for 10 years and prior to this he held the position as a lecturer at Cardiff University, UK and Natal Durban University in South Africa.

Christopher GossHead of Business Development in Oil, Gas, Mining and Chemicals, International Finance Corporation
Christopher Goss is a consultant to the IFC (International Finance Corporation), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Chris plays a lead role in the $4bn project financing for Ivanhoe Mines, Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia. He is also on the board of Triple Plate Junction.

From 2006, Chris led IFC's business development for mining and oil and gas from London. Chris previously led IFC mining transactions in Africa, Russia, Central Asia and Latin America. He was earlier with IFC's Global Advisory Group, focusing on Emerging Europe. Prior to IFC, Chris was an Assistant Director in the Commonwealth Secretariat, advising African Governments in natural resource policy and negotiations. He also worked with the UK Department of Energy on North Sea Oil and with the UNDP. He has a MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and a BA in Economics from Cambridge University.