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LEADERSHIP TEAM

Experience, Strategy and Knowledge at Work

Dale Wallster

CEO, President & Director

Dale is a prospector and geologist with over 40 years’ experience in North American mineral deposit exploration. As President and founder of Roughrider Uranium Corp., which was acquired by Hathor Exploration Limited in 2006., Dale and his team are widely credited for the discovery of Hathor’s Roughrider deposit. In January of 2012 Rio Tinto plc acquired Hathor for CAD$650 million. 

James (Jim) Currie, P.Eng.

Director

Jim has held the role of Chief Operating Officer for several multi-operational mining companies. In May, 2018, he led the Aurizona Mine development for Equinox Gold Corp.; becoming COO in November, 2018 until Equinox merged with Leagold Mining Corporation in 2020. Prior to Equinox, Jim was COO of Pretivm Resources Inc. where he led development of their Brucejack Mine. Jim previously worked on the Mesquite Gold Mine when he was COO of New Gold Inc. where he also led the construction and development of their New Afton gold mine, which went  into production in 2012.

Alex Heath

Alex Heath

Director

Alex is a CFA Charterholder and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with honours, from the University of British Columbia. He is currently President of Ethos Gold Corp., and also a VP of Corporate Development and Strategic Advisor to other “Discovery Group” companies. Previously, Alex worked as Director, Corporate Development & Investor Relations for a mid-tier precious metals producer. Alex has significant corporate finance experience, having spent eight years with Salman Partners focused on mining financings and merger and acquisition transactions, and as a Corporate Finance Manager for Seaspan Corporation, the world’s largest containership lessor, where he was involved in raising over $2 Billion in equity and debt from banks, institutions and public capital markets.

Joel Dryer

Director

Joel Dryer graduated from the University of Illinois – Urbana and holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. He is the former Chairman and CEO of M~Wave, Inc., a manufacturer of high frequency circuits for defense and telecommunications, a company he founded and took public on the NASDAQ. As an advisor to Crestview Capital, he was engaged in investments in the mining and oil and gas sectors which led him to become a consultant and advisor to companies in the rare earth elements and gold space. Today he is an active investor with a focus on oil and gas production and metals and minerals development opportunities.

Ted Kavanagh

Ted Kavanagh

Director

Mr. Kavanagh is an accomplished executive who most recently was Director of Metals & Mining Finance, Americas for Société Générale where he originated and executed corporate and project finance facilities, marketed metals and foreign exchange hedging and trading lines, and provided related advisory services. From 1991 until joining Société Générale in 2013, he acted in a similar capacity for a series of banks including Standard Americas, Inc. (Standard Bank), HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Republic National Bank of New York and Mase Westpac Inc.

Prior to 1991, Ted held senior geological and business development positions with companies including FMC Gold Company, Meridian Minerals Corporation and Denison Mines (US) Inc.

Ted holds a Master’s degree in Geology from Dartmouth College where his thesis explored the origin of copper mineralization at the Carr Fork deposit, last mined by Kennecott Copper Corporation, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc, as part of their Bingham Canyon operations in Utah. He is also a graduate of Western University where he completed his Honours Bachelor of Science thesis on porphyry copper-type mineralization in the Chibougamau Complex, Quebec.

Larry Kornze

Larry Kornze

Advisor

Mr. Kornze, and then colleague Keith Bettles, are credited with the discovery of Barrick Gold Corporation’s (Barrick) 40 million ounce Betze gold deposit at the Goldstrike Mine Complex on the Carlin Trend in Nevada. Larry was also an integral part of other Carlin Trend exploration efforts that resulted in the discovery of Barrick’s Miekle, Deepstar, Screamer and Rodeo gold deposits. At Goldstrike, he also managed reserve development drilling and resource estimation, ore control guidance, mine dewatering, and ore body metallurgical studies.

Mr. Kornze retired from Barrick as the General Manager of Exploration for México and Central America, and International Evaluations. For Barrick, prior to working internationally, he held positions including General Manager – Exploration; Manager – U.S. Exploration; and Chief Geologist – Operations & New Projects at Barrick Mercur Gold Mine, Inc. Prior to joining Barrick, he was with Getty Mining Co. and Newmont Corporation, including Chief Geologist for Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada.

Mr. Kornze received his Geological Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines and is a NI 43-101 Qualified Person, Member of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, Member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration, Inc., Member of the Association for Mineral Exploration, Member of the Geological Society of Nevada, and serves as a director or advisor to other publicly listed companies.

James Hutton

Advisor

James has over 37 years of resource company and capital  markets experience and is the founder of Owl Capital Corp.  James was the President CEO of Canada Dominion Resources  Group and President COO of CMP Resources Group that jointly  completed in excess of $1.4 Billion in flow through share  transactions for the Canadian resource industry. He has served  on multiple public boards and held several C level executive  assignments.

Andrew Davidson - CFO

Andrew Davidson, B.Comm., CPA, CA

Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

A graduate of the University of Calgary, Mr. Davidson is a CPA, CA, who has assisted multiple companies in financial and operations management, as well as playing a key role in raising capital for listed and private companies and leading a number of merger and acquisition transactions.  In the junior exploration space, Mr. Davidson has significant experience across multiple commodity types as well as investment entities focused on the junior natural resource markets.

Ronald Netolitzky, M.Sc.

Former Chairman & Director, Current Advisor

Ron is a geologist with 50 very successful years as a mine finder and developer who has received numerous honours  including Prospector of the Year (PDAC, 1990), Developer of the  Year (BC Yukon Chamber of Mines, 1996), and inductee into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (2015).

Ron’s achievements include:

  • Direct association with the discoveries of the Eskay Creek, Snip and Brewery Creek precious metals mines
  • As Chairman and President, he oversaw the transformation of Viceroy Exploration Ltd. (Castle  Mountain mine), Loki Gold Corporation (Brewery Creek mine) and  Baja Mining Inc. into Viceroy Gold Corporation, a 200,000 ounce gold  producer, which after the development of the  Gualcaymayo gold project in Argentina, was  ultimately sold to Yamana Gold Inc.

David Tupper, P.Geo.

Vice President, Exploration

Mr. Tupper is a geologist with over 35 years experience in the mineral exploration industry; having managed a range of projects from concept to discovery, ultimately leading to surface and underground resource development. Dave has primarily worked in gold and gold-copper exploration across Canada, the western United States, northern Mexico, South America and Asia. Mr. Tupper is a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) registered with Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia.

Lubica Keighery

VP Market Outreach & Investor Relations

Ms. Keighery is an experienced executive utilizing versatile skill sets acquired during her work for private, public companies as well as non-profit sector. After graduating, she had an experience working as a journalist and a broadcaster for a national radio in her native Slovakia before immigrating to Canada 17 years ago.

Lubica started in the mining industry in 2011 as Investor Relations Manager at Global Minerals Ltd. where she built up the corporate IR program into a fully diversified corporate public image.

A combination of a creative spirit and a practical mind, she understands that building a solid corporate and business development program and creating market awareness is not an isolated event, but a systematic, comprehensive process requiring multifaceted approach and continuous energetic effort.

CONTACT SMP

Lubica Keighery

lubica@smp.gold
+1 778-889-5476

Southern Empire Resources Corp.

Suite 420 – 789 West Pender Street
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6C 1H2

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