Board of Directors

David M. Beatty - Chairman

David brings 25 years of experience in investment banking, principally focused on equity financing, and on mergers and acquisitions of mining and natural resource companies. He is currently the Chairman of Rio Verde, the Vice-Chairman of Vertichem Corporation, and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as well as a Director, of Rio Novo Gold (RN - TSX). In 2002, David co-founded Westwind Partners Inc., an investment bank acquired by Thomas Weisel Partners in 2008, where he remained as Deputy Chairman, Investment Banking, and a Managing Director, until January, 2010. David was formerly Head of the Mining & Metals Group at First Marathon Securities (now NB Financial), and a partner and Head of Mining Group at Gordon Capital Corporation. David was also a member of the TSX/OSC Mining Standards Task Force in 1997-98 that drafted the National Instrument 43-101 regulations, and he is also a past member of the IDA Corporate Finance Committee. David co-founded Yamana Resources Inc. with Victor Bradley in 1994, and he advised on the acquisition of the Santa Elina property in May 2003. David holds a B. Comm. (Queen’s University), M. Phil., International Affairs (Cambridge) and an MBA (Harvard Business School).

Julio Carvalho - Director

Julio brings over 38 years of experience in the Brazilian mineral resource sector. In addition to his involvement with Rio Verde, Julio is the President and Director of Rio Novo Gold Inc. Previously, Julio was President and CEO, and a Board Member, of Peak Gold Limited (now New Gold Inc.), and the Executive Vice President of South and Central America for Goldcorp Inc. In addition, he held the titles of President and CEO of Mineração Onça Puma Ltda., the Brazilian subsidiary of Canico Resource Corp., and of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Rio Tinto Brazil, where he worked for more than 33 years. Julio is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA (Queen's University).

John Van Brunt - Director

John has over 40 years of managerial experience in the mining and fertilizer industries. From 1965 to 2003, he worked for Cominco Ltd. and its subsequent IPO, Agrium Inc., where he sequentially held the positions of Vice-President Operations, President and CEO, and Director. Under John's leadership, Agrium demonstrated significant growth, expanding its geography and product portfolio, increasing wholesale and retail sales, and modernizing its production assets. Since 2004, he has been Vice-Chairman and Director of Spur Ventures Inc., and, since 2008, a Director of Cyprus-based Uralchem Holdings PLC. John was previously Director and Chairman for the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI), Potash/Phosphate Institute (IPNI), Foundation for Agronomic Research (FAR), The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), Canpotex Ltd. and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA).

Victor Bradley - Director

Victor brings over 45 years of experience in the international mining sector and is currently Chairman and Director at Osisko Mining Corporation. In 1994, he founded Yamana Gold Inc. and worked as CEO, Director, Chairman and Lead Director. A Chartered Accountant, Victor began his career with positions such as Chief Financial Officer at a number of mining companies. Over the last five years, Victor has created a number of companies, and he has held Director positions at Nevoro Inc., Nortec Minerals Corp., Frontier Pacific Mining Corporation, Aura Minerals Inc., Caerus Resource Corporation, Meridian Gold Inc. and Castillian Resources Corp.

Luis Mauricio F. de Azevedo - Chief Operating Officer, Director and General Counsel

Luis, both a lawyer and geologist in Brazil, has over 20 years of experience in the mining industry, dealing primarily with gold, industrial minerals, copper and nickel. Luis is a Partner of FFA Legal Support for Mining Co., and he is also a Director and Chief Operating Officer of Talon Metals Corp. Previously, Luis worked as an attorney and geologist at Western Mining and Barrick Gold Corp., based out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He holds a B.Sc. Geology (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro), a LL.B (Faculdade Integradas Candido Mendes), and a LL.M (Pontifice Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro).