Speaker Bios
To start the conference we are privileged to have secured the services of Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer (between June 1983 and October 1989) in Margaret Thatcher's government.
Roger Hardaker
Roger Hardaker has spent 25 years in the investment industry and is the Managing Director of HBS Financial Planning Limited, a business which he set up in 1989 as a sole trader. The primary focus of HBS Financial Planning Ltd is to deliver high quality and profitable investment advice, which is often at odds with mainstream advice.
Brad Aelicks
Brad Aelicks is Corporate Strategist at B & D Capital Partners. Graduated from Laurention University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1984. He has served as a Director & Officer in a wide variety of public companies listed on both the main Toronto Stock Exchange and the Venture Exchange.
Chris R Anderson
Geodex’s V.P. Business Development, Christopher has a proven record of success as an entrepreneur in all phases of business with an emphasis on strategic planning, communications, and creative marketing. Christopher has developed and published several news magazines/papers still in circulation today, created an Internet service provider company, and started and operated several retail operations. Christopher was the financier of all his own projects.
Joanne Calverley
Joanne Calverley is an associate with B&D Capital Partners (B&D Capital), Joanne brings more than 25 years of corporate finance, investment and communications experience to the company.
Anthony Eaton
Fund Manager with JM Finn since 2001. Responsible for a number of investment funds including JM Finn Global Opportunities Fund for which:
Morning Star - 5 Star
Citywire - A Star
Lipper 3 Year Score - 5 (total return), 5 (consistency)
Previously with Greig Middleton since 1990 and a director of that company since 1996. Economics graduate of Bangor University.
Professor Michael Economides
A trained chemical and petroleum engineer he holds a number of positions including professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, Chairman of the Board of Paleon Oil and Gas, a Vancouver, BC firm, Partner in Eclipse Resources a Canadian oil and gas producer, Managing Partner of Dr. Michael J. Economides Consultants, Inc. with a wide range of industrial consulting, including major retainers by several Fortune 500 companies and national oil companies, Editor-in-Chief of Energy Tribune, a newsletter in the energy and related industries and activities and Editor-in-Chief of the newly established peer-reviewed Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, published by Elsevier. Following his 2000 best seller The Color Of Oil and a large number of publications in international magazines, he is considered by many as the premier world expert on the geopolitics of energy, giving about 50 speeches per year to groups from many large professional societies, organizations and corporations. His latest wide appeal book is From Soviet to Putin and Back: The Dominance of Energy in Today’s Russia.
Michael Hunter
Mr. Hunter has over 25 years experience in the coal mining industry, principally in British Columbia and Alberta. He co-founded Hunter-William Coal Corporation with a view to acquiring coal properties in the Appalachians, and serves as the company’s President & CEO.
Mr. Hunter is also a co-founder of First Coal Corporation (“First Coal”) and served as their Vice President of Investor Relations and Director of Exploration, in addition to serving on the company’s Board of Directors.
While in their employ, Mr. Hunter managed all aspects of First Coal’s exploration programs and was instrumental in raising over $55 million for the company. His expertise also involves acquisition of key coal assets, development of strategic alliances with industry partners, human resources, and mine operations.
Mr. Hunter formerly held the position of Development Manager with Canadian Dehua International Trading Ltd. and previously worked at the BullMoose Coal Mine in British Columbia, and the Luscar Sterco Coal Mine in Alberta.
Mr. Hunter has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta. He recently finished up a three year term as a municipally elected official for the District of Tumbler Ridge, where he has resided with his wife and three children for the past 15 years.
John McAdam
A seasoned executive and business owner, John McAdam a geological engineer with a strong technical background, has 25 years of experience in managing and directing public resource companies and almost 30 years of North American and international industry experience. He has been involved in all aspects of founding, financing, structuring, acquiring, divesting and running of resource companies. John McAdam’s career began in the seventies as a contract geologist and geophysicist for junior and major resource companies. In 1980, he accepted a job as Investment Analyst for Mutual Life of Canada, followed a year later by another job in Corporate Planning at Kidd Creek Mines. By 1982, he had returned to contract engineering, and in 1984, founded his own businesses. John McAdam has participated in resource projects throughout Canada as well as in the US, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, and Namibia. He has reviewed projects in many more countries including most recently several in China. An experienced geologist, he maintains a thorough understanding of the entire resource spectrum beginning with exploration program conception; through to field implementation, execution, discovery, and development; and including feasibility, environmental permitting and project construction. He has also served as director and/or officer of several other public resource and private companies, and been involved in the raising of significant capital. Mr McAdam graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Geological Engineering in 1978 and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers in both Ontario and British Columbia. He is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Jim O’Rourke
Jim O’Rourke is a Director of Copper Mountain Mining Corporation, graduated in 1964 with a BA.Sc degree in Mining Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He has served as a director of the Mining Association of Canada (1987-1990), the Vancouver Board of Trade (1990) and Chairman (1992) and Director (1987 – present) of the British Columbia Mining Association and was the 2005 recipient of the Edgar A Scholz, Medal for Excellence in Mine Development in British Columbia and the Yukon. He has had more than 30 years experience of mine evaluations and financing development in Canada, the United States, South America and the Philippines.
Mark Pryor
Mr. Pryor is a Geological Consultant with a private mining and exploration group, based out of the United Kingdom. He has 20 years of management experience in advanced stage exploration and mine development projects worldwide. He has worked for major and mid-tier mining companies and has extensive contacts within the venture capital sector of the mining industry. Mr. Pryor has extensive global experience having worked in Mexico, EurAsia, Southern Africa and South America, holding management positions in recognized companies in the industry including Placer Dome, Minefinders, Monarch Resources and Anglo American.
Rick Sandri
Rick Sandri is the President of Duluth Metals Ltd., obtained his PhD in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines in 1991, and has been involved in the mineral, energy, power and transport industries for over 30 years.
He has worldwide experience in precious metals and base metals, and industrial mineral and construction material deposits and operations. He has worked with and assisted international banks, corporations and governmental organisations securing and syndicating public and private financings of domestic and international mining and energy projects.
Bryan Slusarchuk
Bryan Slusarchuk has significant experience structuring, financing and managing companies involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. Particularly, he is focused on utilizing his network in North America and Europe to finance international exploration and development projects in emerging markets. Mr. Slusarchuk is the Chief Executive Officer of Tirex Resources, a Canadian-based company that is conducting the first ever large-scale, modern exploration in Albania’s history. Tirex Resources has a very large District of projects rather than an individual project and is targeting copper-zinc-gold-silver VMS mineralization within their 344 sq km property. Tirex flew the first ever airborne geophysical survey in Albania’s history and is now conducting a very intense drilling program following up on the results of that survey along with historical information.
Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor joined HBS in 2007 following a chance meeting with Roger on a train from London to Preston, when they discovered a joint interest in gold markets and investing. Born at Steamer Point, Aden, Jon had a nomadic early existence as a child of the UK forces, settled near Stamford in Lincolnshire and completed an English education at Stamford School. Attended Liverpool University studying history, eventually specialising in SE Asian history. Spent 14 years with an international aerospace company in commercial and engineering roles and, in the process obtained an excellent education in the application of statistical techniques to engineering improvement. Jon spent 4 years in the financial services industry with a major international insurance company, who again provided a great education in the workings of the financial services industry.
James Turk
James Turk founder and chairman of Gold Money has specialized in international banking, finance and investments since graduating in 1969 from George Washington University with a B.A. degree in International Economics. His business career began at The Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan Chase Bank), which included assignments in Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong. He subsequently joined the investment and trading company of a prominent precious metals trader based in Greenwich, Connecticut. He moved to the United Arab Emirates in December 1983 to be appointed Manager of the Commodity Department of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a position he held until resigning in 1987. Since 1987 James Turk has written The Freemarket Gold & Money Report, an investment newsletter that publishes twenty issues annually. He is the author of two books and several monographs and articles on money and banking. He is the co-author of The Coming Collapse of the Dollar (Doubleday, December 2004), which has been updated for a newly released paperback version, now entitled The Collapse of the Dollar (www.dollarcollapse.com).
Pat Varas
Pat is a Professional Geoscientist with over 22 years experience in mineral exploration, project and corporate management. Pat has worked and collaborated with major and junior mining companies in exploration projects that span North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia in search for Potash, Copper, Gold, Silver, Diamonds and Base Metals.
Mr. Varas was involved in the discovery of the Diavik Diamond mine as a project manager while at Kennecott Canada Inc., a division of Rio Tinto and was instrumental in the project management that led to the discovery of the Santo Domingo Sur Copper deposit in Chile with Far West Mining. Pat brings a breath of experience in executing and managing methodical, integrated exploration programs from grass roots projects, through feasibility, mine development and production. Pat is well regarded by mining industry peers and his solid reputation has helped him finance multi-million dollar exploration projects world-wide.
Dale Wetherbee
Dale Wetherbee, President and Chief Executive Officer. Dale Wetherbee has been in the international oil and gas business for 30 years, leading the international growth of companies such as Apache and Diamond Shamrock/Maxus through very successful exploration and acquisition programs. As New Ventures leader at Apache, Wetherbee managed a significant portion of the growth portfolio worldwide, identifying new country entries and driving existing growth opportunities to the next level. With Wetherbee’s leadership, Apache’s operated reserves in China grew from 17 million barrels to over 70 million barrels. Later, as Director and Vice President of Apache’s Argentina subsidiaries, he oversaw the rapid expansion of production from less than 2,000 boepd to over 50,000 boepd through acquisitions and exploration success. Prior to Apache, Wetherbee held various technical and senior management positions with Diamond Shamrock/Maxus including responsibilities for all activities in Latin America, Africa, and Europe while residing in The Hague and London as Managing Director. Early in his career, he was employed by Exxon in Kuala Lumpur where, as a senior geoscientist, he was responsible for new oil and gas discoveries and the development of major oilfields including one of Malaysia’s largest, the Tapis field. Dale joined Turkana in 2007.