Management Team
Ross Ashton
Chairman
Mr Ashton has 50 years experience as a geologist specialising in mineral exploration, financing and resource development internationally. Ross specialises in exploration and corporate strategy plus strong corporate governance to maximise returns to all shareholders and local communities.
He was the founding Managing Director of ASX listed Red Back Mining Ltd, that discovered the multi-million ounce Chirano gold mine in Ghana which has been in production since 2005.
As a director of TSX/ASX listed PMI Gold Ltd he was involved in the exploration and a corporate merger that resulted in re-opening the Obotan gold mine in Ghana in 2015.
Mr Ashton is currently Chair and significant shareholder of ASX listed, Colombian focussed Los Cerros Ltd where on-going exploration has discovered potential for multi-million ounce gold resources.
Paul Williams
Managing Director
Paul has been directly involved in Angola since 2008 and continues that association in his belief that the true potential of Angola’s mineral resources has not yet been discovered or developed.
He has proven performance in Angola via his involvement with the Longonjo licence. He recognised the potential of the Longonjo licence and was directly responsible for the establishment of Ozango Minerais SA in Angola (Ozango is the company that holds the Longonjo licence and Rare Earth Project in Angola).He introduced Pensana (originally Rift Valley Resources) to Angola and Ozango. Pensana have since developed the Longonjo Rare Earth Project into a world class deposit.
Paul spent his initial working years in accounting, finance and project management and the last twenty years in the mining and resources sector with Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed companies involved in Australia, Angola, Mauritania and Kenya. Paul is an executive director of ASX listed Tyranna Resources Ltd.
Peter Wall
Director
Mr Wall is a corporate lawyer and has been a Partner at Steinepreis Paganin (Perth based corporate law firm) since July 2005. Mr Wall graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1998 with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance). Mr Wall has also completed a Masters of Applied Finance and Investment with FINSIA.
Mr Wall has a wide range of experience in all forms of commercial and corporate law, with a particular focus on resources (hard rock and oil/gas), equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr Wall has significant experience in dealing in Africa and is the chairman of Minbos Resources Ltd, an Australian Stock Exchange listed company which holds the Cabinda Phosphate Project in Angola. This project has recently been affirmed and is supported by the Angolan Government as a “Project of National and Regional Importance to Angola”.
Peter Spitalny
Technical Director
Mr Spitalny is an exploration geologist specialising in early-stage lithium, gold, and copper projects. He has worked-on or assessed many early-stage mineral projects in Australia, and also Africa, Europe, North America, and South America, for a range of clients. His work has led to discoveries of significant mineralisation, most recently at the Ida Valley Gold Prospect (Techgen Metals Ltd) and at the Menzies Gold Project (Kingwest Resources Ltd), where his thorough review of the geological and structural controls of the numerous high grade gold shoots led to the highest-grade drilling intersections achieved to-date in the project and large increases in the JORC resources.
Mr Spitalny has experience in developing advanced projects and has acted as chief technical adviser and Competent Person (compliant with the JORC Code 2012) for several companies including AVZ Minerals Ltd for their Manono Lithium and Tin Project, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
His work for AVZ included ranking the development potential of the pegmatites, recommending focusing upon the Roche Dure pegmatite, and subsequently was responsible for oversight of all technical data and reporting. He developed the geological model that underpinned the maiden Resource Estimate of the spodumene mineralisation in the Roche Dure pegmatite, the largest hard-rock lithium Mineral Resource in the world.
Mr Spitalny has experience in the operation of public companies, having served as a director of Ardiden Ltd, and having served as a high-level consultant collaborating with directors of several other public companies. Peter is an executive director of ASX listed Tyranna Resources Ltd.
Blair Snowball
Strategic Investor
Mr Snowball is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has over 25 years’ experience in senior roles across sectors including resources, technology and audit, whilst working in Europe, Latin America and Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance from Kaplan Professional.
Mr Snowball is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Minbos Resources Ltd, an Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed exploration and development company with a vision to build a nutrient supply and distribution business that stimulates agricultural production and promotes food security in Angola and the broader Middle Africa region, through development of its world-class phosphate ore project within the Cabinda Province of Angola.
Mr Snowball spent seven years in Portuguese speaking Brazil as Finance Director of the operating gold mine of former ASX-listed Beadell Resources. During his tenure, the company completed a DFS, obtained project finance for and completed the construction of a US$110M CIL plant, before the company successfully merged with Canadian miner Great Panther Mining.