Dr. Michael Stocker - Director, President & CEO
Dr. Stocker holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Saint Gallen, Switzerland, and an MBA degree from the Community of European Management Schools, ESADE University, Barcelona, Spain. He has lived and worked in Latin America (chiefly in Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica) since 1993. Dr. Stocker hold several executive positions in different companies in Europe and Latin America. Among them FUNDES International, PROPEL and the company founded by himself in 2004; The Stocker Group.
The Stocker Group offers Risk and Knowledge Management to international clients in the mining business and other industries in 11 countries among them, since several years, Peru.
Dr. Stocker worked as well for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in its offices in Mexico, Spain and Switzerland, in connection of the development of strategies and cost efficiency programs for Fortune 500, mining and cement companies.
Dr. Stocker has been retained as an adviser and consultant by the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Organization of American states (OAS).
Gary Artmont - Director, VP Exploration
Mr. Artmont brings 33 years of mining experience to the company’s operations. He has served as chief geologist for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. In that capacity he oversaw the completion of 120,000 meters of drilling in 17 prospect areas that led to the discovery of the 8 million ounce Wabu gold deposit. He is also credited with evaluating acquisition opportunities in Eastern Europe, South America, Southeast Asia and Mongolia, with his work focused on minable deposits of copper, iron, coal and nickel.
Patrick C. Gorman - Director
Mr. Gorman is the president of Resource Consultants, a brokerage specializing in precious metals. For 18 years, Mr. Gorman has hosted Hard Money Watch, which is now the longest-running financial talk radio program in the Phoenix area. He is the author of the best-selling book, The Value of Honest Money and of Wealth Protection, a monthly investment newsletter dealing with opportunities in precious metals. He is widely respected as an expert on the markets for gold and silver.
Kenneth Phillippe - Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Phillippe is a Chartered Accountant licensed to practice in British Columbia. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia in 1976 and obtained his professional accounting designation five years later, after articling with the firm of Thorne Riddell (now KPMG). In 1982 he established a private accounting practice, which continued for 18 years.
From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Phillippe was employed by Urodynamix Technologies Ltd., a public, Vancouver-based medical device company, as Chief Financial Officer, director and chairman of the audit committee. In 2006 he accepted the position of Chief Financial Officer of Columbia Goldfields Ltd., a junior gold mining company that reports under the U.S. Exchange Act. In addition, Mr. Phillippe served as the Secretary, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer of Amazon Goldsands Ltd. from 2006 to 2008 and of Constitution Mining Corp. from December 2007 to September 2008, both of which companies report under the U.S. Exchange Act.
Since 2006 Mr. Phillippe has been Chief Financial Officer of Exchequer Resource Corp and of Bold Ventures Inc., the latter of which achieved a listing on the Toronto Venture Exchange in October 2007. In 2009 Mr. Phillippe was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Proteome Therapeutics Corporation.
Michael J. Schaefer - Chief Technology Officer Michael Schaffer is a skilled mining analyst and geologist who has worked for the world’s top mining companies, including Noranda Exploration, Inc. and AMAX Exploration Inc. with a focus on gold and silver. At Noranda Exploration, Inc. he served both as a district geologist and senior geologist managing Noranda’s western U.S. exploration efforts. At AMAX Exploration Inc. he served as a contract geologist, conducting gold exploration in Montana and Idaho.
Robert Van Tassell - Director
Robert E. "Dutch" Van Tassell holds a degree in Geology from Mount Allison University, where he graduated two years after beginning his mining career as a summer intern with Giant Yellowknife Mines. He is credited with leading the discovery of the Husky Mine in Canada, the Minto Copper Deposit and GoldCorp's High Grade Zone in Red Lake, Ontario.
Mr. Van Tassell has served as Vice President of Exploration for Dickenson Mines (a predecessor company to Goldcorp), as a director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines (two terms as its president) and as a director of the Prospector's and Developers Association of Canada, including terms as chairman of its Environmental Committee.
Mr. Van Tassell is currently a director of Lexam Explorations Inc., Plato Gold Corp., Rupert Resources Ltd. and Amazon GoldSands Ltd.
Alois Wiget - Chairman of the Board
Alois Wiget has accumulated extensive business experience in the areas of banking and accounting with Swiss firms including Nestle and Geneva Finabank. He has also practiced as a chartered accountant in Switzerland. Mr. Wiget has served on the board of Witrag Management Consultants SA, Vicorp SA and Atos-Origin. He is currently a senior member of the Swiss Economic Association in Zurich.
Peter Wiget - Director
Peter Wiget brings over 25 years of experience in finance and administration, working with both private and public companies. Mr. Wiget's broad network of contacts in North American and European financial markets should serve the company well as it continues to grow forward and increase its financing needs. In addition to serving as a director for Constitution Mining, Mr. Wiget is the President of WITRAG Management Consultants AG, Zug, Switzerland.
Hernan Zaballa - Director & VP Latin America
Hernan Zaballa is an experienced mining lawyer with extensive knowledge of both international and commercial law. His clients have included Barrick Gold Corporation, Yamana Gold, Newcrest Mining, Crown Resources, Newmont Mining, Penoles Mining and Meridian Gold. Mr. Zaballa has also served as a legal consultant to the government of Argentina. He is a member of the Mining Committee of the International Bar Association and has lectured on mining topics at a variety of international forums. He is the co-author of Establishing and Conducting a Mining Business in Argentina.
