Non-Executive Chairman
Mr Black has over 35 years experience in the mineral exploration and mining industry and has served as an executive director and chairman for several listed Australian exploration and mining companies. He part-owns and manages a substantial private Australian drilling business, has interests in several commercial developments and has significant experience in capital financing.
Managing Director
Mr Easterday is a geologist with over 20 years experience in the mineral exploration and mining industry. He holds an honours degree in geology from the University of Western Australia, a masters degree in Mineral Economics from Curtin University of Technology and a masters degree in Business Administration from Curtin’s Graduate School of Business. Mr Easterday has held several senior positions and exploration management roles with top-tier gold companies including Placer Dome, Hill 50 Gold and Harmony Gold, specialising in structural geology, resource development and mineral economic valuation. For the past eight years, Mr Easterday has been involved in various aspects of project negotiation. This work has involved negotiations and valuations covering gold, copper, uranium, iron ore, nickel, and tantalum resource projects in Australia and overseas. Mr Easterday is a member of The Australian Institute of Geoscientists.
Non-Executive Chairman
Dr Allan Trench is a geologist/geophysicist and business management consultant with over 20 years experience across a broad range of commodities. His minerals sector experience spans strategy formulation, exploration, project development and mining operations. Allan holds degrees in geology, a doctorate in geophysics, a Masters degree in Mineral Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration. He currently acts as independent director to a number of emerging resources companies, both in Australia and overseas.
Allan has previously worked with McKinsey & Company as a management consultant, with Woodside Petroleum in strategy development and with WMC both as a geophysicist and exploration manager. He is an Associate Consultant with international metals and mining advisory firm CRU Group and has contributed to the development of that company’s uranium practice, having previously managed the CRU Group global copper research team.
Allan maintains academic links as an Adjunct Professor to the Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University of Technology.
Non-Executive Director
Mr Anderson has 20 years’ industry experience, largely in southern Africa and Australia. His career commenced as a geologist with Anglo American, followed by roles in the metallurgical and engineering industries with Mintek, Bateman and Kellogg Brown & Root. He subsequently held senior management positions including Corporate Development Manager at Gallery Gold Limited, and most recently and relevantly as Managing Director at Exco Resources Limited, where he successfully oversaw the funding and development of the White Dam Gold Project, and the completion of feasibility studies on the Company’s Cloncurry Copper Project prior to its sale to Xstrata. He joined Taurus as a Director in August 2011 and is also a Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed Base Resources Ltd.
Non-Executive Director
Mr. de Andraca is a business manager with 20 years’ experience in the financial and mining business. Over the last 4 years he has been working in the main Iron Ore and Steel Producer in Chile, CAP S.A and is currently the Vice President of Business Development overseeing infrastructure development and new business related to non-core assets. He is also overseeing the construction of the first desalination plant dedicated 100% to producing water for mining companies in the north of Chile. Mr. de Andraca has finance experience working at Chase Manhattan Bank, ABN Amro and Citigroup, working both in Chile and in New York and holds a MBA from the Adolfo Ibañez Business School of Chile. He is currently a director of Puerto Las Losas, a port in the Atacama Region of Chile.
Non-Executive Director
Mr. Nickson has more than 35 years of global experience in the mining industry, including 14 years based in Chile devoted to copper exploration. His career includes work across a range of base and precious metals, bulk commodities and energy. He holds an honours degree in Geological Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration.
Randall is currently engaged as an independent consultant to the exploration sector, specializing in business development, commercial advisory and business evaluations. Prior to that he spent 16 years with BHP, where he worked in a variety of senior technical, exploration management and business development roles while based in Chile, Brazil and Australia. He is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
Company Secretary
Mr Flint, BAcc, FINSIA and MBA is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience in the corporate and financial services arena. He has held a number of management and senior administrative positions as well as providing corporate advisory services as a consultant to corporate clients.
General Manager- Technical Services Group
Ms Leighton holds a degree in Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and has greater than 15 years’ experience within the mineral exploration industry. She has held project and senior geologist roles with several Australian listed companies including Hill 50 Gold and Terra Gold, gaining practical and management experience within the areas of exploration, mining and resource development.
Ms Leighton has extensive experience in exploration, mining, feasibility studies and resource development in a range of commodities and acts in a project/ technical management role for Hot Chili in regard to resource estimation, land management, systems development and data integration and stakeholder relations.
Country Manager & Chief Legal Counsel
Mr Silva gained his law degree at the University of Chile, and studied Masters in International Business Law at the University College London. He has more than 10 years’ experience in litigation, commercial and mining law and business negotiations and in Tier 1 law firms in Chile. Mr Silva has also completed 2 years’ work experience in London, UK in Financial Fraud at the Serious Fraud Office, where his team successfully prosecuted a high level case of corruption of foreign officials. Mr Silva has been working with Hot Chili since July 2009 and in 2011 became Chief Legal Counsel. He is responsible for mining rights acquisitions, mining consolidation, deal negotiations and business development among other things, working directly with the board of Hot Chili.