Board of Directors
Rosario Astuvilca-Rojas is an experienced talent management consultant with over 15 years of experience in the mining and metals sector. She is a third-generation mining professional who started her career in 1996 at Centromin (Empresa Minera del Centro del Perú) in Perú and years later moved to Canada and joined Falconbridge Ltd (Glencore). Since 2007, she has worked for leading global executive search firms and in her most recent executive role, as Partner, Head – Global Mining & Metals practice. Rosario has partnered with numerous Canadian and international major, mid-tier and junior companies, helping them attract and recruit executives and board directors globally.
Rosario is a lawyer from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, with a masters in Human Resources Management from York University and executive education from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto), the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), and a postgraduate certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She is also a member of several governance associations, including the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and has completed a corporate governance program at The Wharton School of Management (University of Pennsylvania). Rosario is a proud immigrant with Indigenous roots, and she brings more than 10 years advocating and actively supporting initiatives to advance the inclusion of marginalized groups in all sectors of the economy.
Charles Beaudry is a seasoned mining executive with over 40 years of experience in project generation, business development, and international project management. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from University of Ottawa (1979) and a Masters degree from McGill University (1983). Charles is a Professional Geoscientist and permitted to work in Ontario (PGeo) and Quebec (géo).
He has been involved in a number of deposit discoveries during his carreer and worked with Noranda/Falconbridge (now Glencore) from 1989 to 2006 and worked overseas in Brazil (country manager 1996-2001) and Papua New Guinea (2004-05). In 2008-2009 he was General Manager for Iamgold Inc. and from 2010 to 2013 he was founding President of Xmet Inc., outlining a 850,000 ounce gold deposit in the Abitibi greenstone belt. Charles is currently VP Exploration for QC Copper and Gold Inc. and just published a 100MT copper-gold open pit deposit in Chapais, Quebec.
With over 25 years of experience across the mining value chain - from mineral exploration through to mine development - Kurt Breede specializes in technical due diligence and financial modelling supporting structured financing and corporate development. He's been lead resource geological engineering author, co-author, and peer reviewer to over 40 technical reports as an independent Qualified Person (QP) and mining industry expert witness on multiple international arbitration cases. In June 2023, Kurt joined Scotiabank's Global Mining and Metals Investment Banking team as Technical Director, overseeing technical reviews of mining assets in support of Scotiabank’s advisory to mining clients around the world, with key responsibilities in technical due diligence and risk/reward analysis. Over the course of his career, Kurt has provided technical advisory services to government, finance, and mining sectors on over $100B worth of assets for private and publicly traded mining companies, including various venture capital, private equity, First National groups, government agencies, and sovereign wealth funds from Canada and abroad.
Kurt holds a B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering from The University of Toronto, and is registered as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) and Geologist (P.Geo.) in the province of Ontario.
B.Sc.(Chemical engineering), MBA, P.Eng.
MaryAnn has over thirty years of international experience in the mining, exploration, infrastructure and energy industries. Her experience in ESG, capital markets, finance, and project development provides a broad base of skills to support the PDAC and its members. MaryAnn has an excellent technical and business background to address complex exploration, development and mining industry challenges and opportunities, specifically:
- Comprehensive understanding of all aspects of project development including: strategy, financability assessments, valuations, ESG, reviews of capital projects and major investments for companies, financial institutions, private equity, pension funds and investors.
- Broad based ESG expertise, developed from strong technical base and range of industry viewpoints, currently including as Director and Chair of ESG Committee for an exploration and development junior company.
- Successfully worked with a broad range of mining, metals and exploration executives to support operations improvement, climate change resiliency, M&A and investment and business decisions.
Conrad Dix has over 28 years in the minerals industry, beginning with conducting and managing geophysical surveys exploring base metal, precious metals, and diamond projects, globally, before taking on a variety of management positions. In 2011, he became a Senior Project Geologist of Raglan Mine, managing a team of professionals exploring for nickel to discover new, and expand on existing, resources in northern Quebec, with a strong emphasis on health and safety, environmental and social impact. Conrad joined Agnico Eagle Mines Limited in 2019 and currently holds the role of Exploration Manager, Nunavut, managing all aspects of the exploration strategy, focusing on health and safety, environmental management, and sustainability.
Conrad has been an enthusiastic and proactive volunteer in his roles as Second Vice President and a member of the PDAC board, as Chair of the Health and Safety Committee, member of the Human Resources Development Committee, and the S-IMEW committee. Mr. Dix is a graduate of the University of Windsor (B.Sc. Geology) and is a practicing member of both Professional Geoscientists Ontario (PGO) and Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (NAPEG).
I have been working in the mineral exploration industry since 2005. When I started in the industry, I worked on the side of First Nations but I soon began to realize that real help was needed by industry, thus started my consultancy working on behalf of industry to assist companies in navigating their way in building relationships with Indigenous communities and helping them to design their approach. Along the way, I have had several opportunities to volunteer for organizations like AME BC, Geoscience BC CIM and PDAC. I am also on the Board of Kodiak Copper as an Independent Director.
I also spend time on public speaking engagements and lecturing. For the past several years I have been lecturing at UBC at the Mining School of Engineering on the topic of Reconciliation.
I have worked around the world on major capital projects and have developed particular expertise in sustainability, strategic planning, risk management as well as supply chain solutions. For the last 10 years, I have been running BRIDGE© - a boutique advisory firm working with boards and leadership teams developing a sustainable business model. I sit on the boards of three junior mining companies as Independent Director, and Chair of the Sustainability and Governance Committees. I am also a non-registrant (public) Council member of the PGO.
As a board member of PDAC, I also sit on the Sustainability, Lands & Regulations, and EDI Committees.
Previously I worked with a number of major international mining companies, as well as Canadian engineering companies. I am a trained mediator, and began my career as a partner in a major Canadian law firm. I am also perfectly fluent in English, French and Spanish.
David Harquail graduated as a Geological Engineer from the University of Toronto, and as an MBA from McGill University. He has been involved in mineral exploration and mine finance throughout his career, as well as serving as a PDAC director from 1997 to 2002. In 2007, he co-founded Franco-Nevada Corporation - leading its successful $1.3 billion initial public offering. During his 13-year tenure as CEO, Franco-Nevada grew into the leading precious metals royalty company with a market value exceeding $30 billion.
David Harquail now serves as Chair of the Board of Franco-Nevada. He also serves as a director of the Bank of Montreal, on the Board of Governors at Laurentian University, was past Chair of the World Gold Council and served as a cabinet member of the United Way. He is also the benefactor of the Harquail School of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury, as well as the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Mary Louise Hill, Ph.D., P.Geo., is a Professor of Geology at Lakehead University. Her research program on structural control of orogenic gold deposits includes collaborative work with prospectors, junior exploration companies and producing mines in Canada. Through teaching, mentoring and research supervision she has helped many students launch their careers as geologists in the mineral exploration and mining sector. As former Vice-President of Lakehead University,
Mary Louise is experienced in executive management, government relations, and not-for-profit governance. She has served on many not-for-profit boards and councils over the past 20 years, and she is a founding director of the Northwestern Ontario chapter of Women in Mining - Canada. At PDAC Mary Louise serves on the Executive and Human Resource Development committees, chairs the Membership Committee, and co-chairs the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.
Mr. Roger Lemaitre is a Professional Engineer and Geologist (Saskatchewan) with more than 30 years of professional experience spanning with both senior and junior mining companies.
Currently, Mr. Lemaitre is President and CEO of Valleyview Resources, as TSXV-listed company focused on uranium exploration in the USA. Prior to joining Valleyview, Mr. Lemaitre was the Vice President of Consolidated Lithium Metals Inc. From 2014-2022, Mr. Lemaitre was President & CEO of TSX-listed UEX Corporation, until the company was sold to Uranium Energy Corporation. While at UEX, Mr. Lemaitre was able to build a successful and entrepreneurial exploration team, acquired additional Tier 1 exploration assets and doubled the company’s uranium resources through both discovery and acquisition.
Mr. Lemaitre held a variety of senior management positions with Cameco Corporation from 2001 to 20012, including Director of Worldwide Exploration Projects, Manager of Regional Exploration, Saskatchewan and was involved in Cameco’s strategic growth team. In both senior and junior positions at Cameco, Mr. Lemaitre was involved in multiple uranium deposit discoveries on multiple continents.
Mr. Lemaitre has a M.Sc (Applied) from McGill University, a degree in Geological Engineering from Queen’s University and an MBA from Athabasca University.
Ms. Liu-Ernsting is an accomplished executive and professional engineer with 20 years of experience in the natural resources industry. She is Chief Corporate Development Officer of FireFly Metals, responsible for establishing and delivering the Company's strategy around developing its flagship Green Bay Copper-Gold project in Newfoundland. She was previously Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications of TSX Venture 50™ and OTCQX Best 50 company, G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX:GMIN) where she was part of the leadership team responsible for a share price increase of 600%, taking the market capitalisation to C$4.7B.
Prior to joining GMIN, Ms. Liu-Ernsting led a junior mining company as its inaugural VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations to achieve 14x share price accretion. Before that, she guided a public mining company to achieve settlement on a disputed proxy. Previously, as investment manager at Resource Capital Funds, Ms. Liu-Ernsting sourced, evaluated, structured and managed a portfolio of natural resources investments. Ms. Liu-Ernsting started her career with two of the preeminent Canadian engineering firms conducting backfill, mine, mill and mining innovation capital projects.
She is currently a director of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and of Aston Bay Holdings. She holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business with specializations in Mining, Finance and Strategy, and an Electrical Engineering degree from Queen’s University.
I have operated as an entrepreneur most of my adult life. Running as a CEO of public companies in distribution (Pallet Pallet) and mining (Firstgold and Power Nickel), and as a co-founder of NASDAQ listed biotech Cardiol Therapeutics. I have been a full partner in a Limited Market Dealer and have been a frequent investor and board member.
I am a family man with four terrific kids and now four grandkids and have benefited greatly by having a great partnership with their mother.
I am an avid golfer and swimmer. I was born and raised in Nova Scotia and graduated from St. Francis Xavier. Post graduation I moved to BC and subsequently Alberta before moving to Ontario in 1986.
Graduated with an Honours BSc degree in Geology from the University of Manitoba. Basically, worked for one company, Noranda, Falconbridge, Xstrata and Glencore. Started with Noranda Exploration, Winnipeg in 1979. Thunder Bay ON, Prince George BC, back to Winnipeg, back to Thunder Bay, Toronto, Navan, Ireland, Laval QC, Timmins and back to Toronto. I started my career as a geologist and finished as Exploration and Business Development Manager.
I was awarded two major industry awards; David Barr (AMEBC) for Health and Safety and the Skookum Jim (PDAC) for Industry Service as an Aboriginal. My service has taken me all over the world (35-50 countries) to work on all kinds of deposits and their financial significance. My career has spanned new technology to health and safety, I currently sit on the board of the PDAC and the board of CESME. Member of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.
Dr. McCracken is the Vice President, Exploration & Geoscience at Teck Resources Limited where he leads the greenfields and near-mine exploration teams - and the Geoscience Orebody Knowledge team - focused on maximising and de-risking the value extraction from Teck’s advanced projects and operations.
Stuart completed his BSc (Hons) at MacQuarie University in 1989, and his PhD at the University of Western Australia in 1997 - where his research focused on the genesis of the Admiral Bay Zn-Pb-Ag carbonate hosted deposit. During his PhD studies, Stuart also participated on Leg 150 of the Ocean Drilling Program.
Stuart worked with Pasminco Exploration as a contract geologist from 1996 to 1997, and then joined Western Metals as a Project Exploration Geologist from 1997 to 2000. In July of 2000, Stuart joined Anglo American. Over a 20-year period, Stuart worked in a variety of exploration, operational and corporate roles in Australia, Chile, Peru, Canada, Southern Africa, Europe and London. Stuart joined Teck Resources Limited in April 2020.
Stuart is a current member of the Industry Advisory Committee for the Irish Center for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Economic Geologists Foundation from 2013 to 2017.
David is a professional geoscientist with more than a decade of experience in mineral exploration and mining. His technical experience has been gathered throughout the Americas and Europe in exploration and resource geology roles, with various technical consultancies and major mining companies. David’s commodity experience is diverse, including both base and precious metals, in addition to critical materials such as Rare Earth Elements, Lithium, and Antimony.
Now a full-time entrepreneur, David is the founder and principal consultant of Resourceful Geoscience Solutions; a value focused geological consultancy committed to responsible mineral exploration. David has been an engaged member of PDAC for 13 years, since first participating in the 2010 Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop (S-IMEW).
Scott Parsons has more than 15 years of experience in progressively senior exploration roles. Mr. Parsons joined Alamos in 2018 and was appointed Vice President, Exploration in 2020. Prior to joining Alamos, he was Manager of Regional Exploration and Geoscience at TMAC Resources where he was responsible for resource expansion and regional exploration of the Hope Bay Project in Nunavut. Previously, Mr. Parsons served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Northern Superior Resources Inc., and as Exploration Geologist and later Project Geologist, Resource Development & Long-Range Planning at BHP Billiton. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Master of Science in Geology from the University of Western Ontario, and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University. Mr. Parsons is a registered Professional Geoscientist in Ontario and Manitoba, and as a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Valerie has been working in CSR, Community Engagement, and Diversity and Inclusion in the Exploration, Mining and Mineral Development sectors for 14+ years. She has a passion for holistic global development, making the world a more beneficial place for all, and leveraging partnerships and areas of mutual benefit for the greater good. Valerie has developed strategies, policies and guidelines for mining and mineral exploration companies to help them carry out activities and operations responsibly and sustainably in the areas where they operate. She also focuses on building trusting partnerships with local community and stakeholder groups to maximize the local benefits of mining and to achieve effective, sustainable community development. Valerie was the Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Goldcorp (Newmont) for over 10 years.
She has worked closely with the PDAC for 12 years, both on the CSR Committee and as the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion working group. Before working with the private sector, she worked with NGOs, governments, First Nations communities, and other interest groups. Valerie's expertise includes human rights, stakeholder/community engagement, community investment & development programs, supply chain, grievance mechanisms, diversity and influx management. She studied International Development, specializing in Latin America. She speaks Spanish.
Karen Rees has a B.Sc. Honours Geology degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1984), is a member of Professional Geoscientists Ontario (2002), and has enjoyed a geoscience career spanning more than 30 years in the mineral exploration industry in Canada. She has held roles as Project Geologist, Exploration Manager, Vice-President of Exploration, and Corporate Secretary. Currently, Karen is a consultant to the industry and serves on the boards of three junior exploration companies with mineral exploration projects in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. As an enthusiastic volunteer in the industry, Karen is on the Board of Directors of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), is a member of PDAC committees including Executive, Awards, Human Resource Development, and the PDAC Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop (S-IMEW). Prior to being appointed President, Karen was also a member of the Governance and Nominating Committee.
Mr. Spence is CEO of Global Mining Capital, which is involved in Private Equity Investments and M&A in the mining sector.
He held positions in Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Mining Finance at RBC, Scotia Bank and BMO. He has been involved in numerous significant Canadian and international mining financings and investments.
As Geologist, he has experience in gold and base metals exploration in Canada, Africa, China and internationally.
Co-Chair and Co-Founder; Canadian Mining Valuation Standards & Guidelines for Valuation of mining projects (CIMVAL). Published and presented extensively on Mining Valuation.
CEO; Alliance Pacific Resources, Canadian exploration Company in western China.
Often quoted in the media on international mining investments, including: Bloomberg, Financial Times, Globe & Mail, AP and Reuters.
Received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal Award, for contributions to Canada; is a CIM Fellow and received the PDAC Distinguished Service Award, CIM Distinguished Lecturer Award and the Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award.
A Commonwealth Scholar; Global Management program at Harvard University; Honors B.Sc. in Geology & Geophysics and an MBA, both from Western University.
Graduate and Valedictorian of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).
Recipient of the Harry Jerome Award for Outstanding Black Canadians.
Dr. Rob Stevens is a professional geologist and a technical director, facilitator and policy advisor. He is the author of the best-selling book ‘Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials’ and an engaging and skilled trainer who works with governments, industry and communities. Rob has been a professor and Associate Dean at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, a director of international programs at the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute at UBC and the Vice-President of technical and regulatory policy at the Association for Mineral Exploration.
Rob supports the work of the PDAC through his Canadian and international experience in mining policy including geoscience, land use, taxation, permitting and environmental management. He is an advocate for education and communication and works to improve the understanding and appreciation of mineral exploration and mining by Indigenous people, government, and the public. Rob has two decades of Board-level experience with industry associations, geoscience agencies, Indigenous training organizations and post-secondary education.
Rob is passionate about the mineral exploration and mining industry and enjoys the mix of science, engineering, business, community, discovery and entrepreneurialism that are integral to the industry.
Jeff is a senior mining executive with 25 years experience in the mining sector. He is a recognized thought leader with an extensive network and brings a strategic perspective focused on business objectives, ESG, diversity, M&A, and raising capital. Currently he is the CEO of Exploits Discovery and prior to this was the Canadian Mining & Metals co Leader & Partner at EY. He has served on Boards of many publicly traded companies (Chair of Imperial Mining, Audit Chair of Excellon Resources, Radisson Resources, First Cobalt and Tonbridge Power). He was CFO of numerous public companies (Torex Gold, HudBay Minerals, Golden Star Resources and North American Palladium) and CEO of First Mining Gold as well as an Officer, Director, Finance of Barrick Gold for seven years. He has led numerous project financings totalling over $2 billion and raised over $400 million in equity.
CPA, MBA & Honours Economics degrees.
Kerem is a Geological Engineer and is a Mining entrepreneur with more than 23 years of industry experience, from all stages of exploration and mine development. He worked in various technical and management roles in Turkey, Canada, South America, Middle East and Europe. Kerem worked in various types of deposits, discoveries to mine building, greenfield and brownfield exploration projects, worked on projects from scoping studies to mine closure, PEA and Feasibility Studies, Rock Mechanics, ground control, ground stability analyses, and also trained geologists, mine engineers and miners on ground control, geomechanical logging. He has been running a junior Mining company and currently he is the CEO and President of Volta Metals Ltd. He is a licensed engineer in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. Kerem currently sits on the board of the PDAC and and Chair of the Securities Committee of the PDAC.
Born and raised in Peru, I have lived in Canada since 2001. I’m a geologist by trade. In my early years I worked in field exploration in Peru, Chile and Australia. Upon my arrival in Canada, I joined Wemindji Exploration Inc. as the company’s CEO. In 2010, I started my consulting practice in ESG, Business Development and Indigenous Relations in the Mineral sector. Since 2011 to present, I have served as Senior Advisor to the Cree Mineral Exploration Board, having conducted Community awareness sessions and Mining 101 workshops delivered to Indigenous Communities and to the industry on how to optimize their relations with the communities.
I joined SGS Canada as Senior Account Executive in Geochemistry in 2022. Currently I serve as Board Member for the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association and as an Executive Board Member of CIM – Val d’Or.
I'm interested in mentoring youth and continue my involvement in the Industry Associations (PDAC, AEMQ, CIM).
Valerie Wilson has been involved with the PDAC at the committee level since 2018, including the last two years as the co-chair of the CPC. During her tenure on the CPC, and as a PDAC member (since 2012), she has participated and led the working group on PDAC short courses, contributed as a chair on many technical sessions, contributed as a panelist for Mentorship for Women in Mining as part of the Student Industry Forum (2016) , as a speaker at PDAC’s annual S-IMEW Workshop in Sudbury and the Convention Kickstart event designed to orient students at the PDAC (both in 2023). She has also been a short course presenter in 2018, 2021, 2022 and will present again in 2024.
Outside of PDAC, she manages a team of Resource Geologists within the consulting group SLR. Her work at SLR includes team supervision and mentorship in addition to carrying out various technical assignments that span due diligence reviews, Mineral Resource estimation and audits, technical report writing and training to support public disclosure, and corporate decision making. Valerie has experience working across all continents and in most commodity and deposit types.