Mr. Pirie has over 29 years experience in senior management roles within the mining industry, specifically related to underground gold and base metal companies. Mr. Pirie's career began in Timmins, Ontario with Noranda's Pamour Porcupine Mines, joining with Dome Mines in 1985 to begin an impressive 20-year career with Placer Dome Canada. Various senior positions were held during this period including chief financial officer with Placer Dome North America and Placer Dome Canada, culminating as president and chief executive officer of Placer Dome Canada, as well as executive vice-president of Placer Dome Inc., responsible for Canadian operations which included Red Lake, Timmins and Musselwhite. Mr. Pirie has also held the president and chief executive positions at Breakwater Resources and Northern Star Mining and has served on a number of boards including the Mining Association of Canada, Ontario Mining Association, the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council and Mirarco. Mr. Pirie has also served on the board of Pallidan Uranium and continues to serve on the board of Auryx Gold and Lithium Americas Corporation.
Mr. Kristjansson has been involved in Finance and Business Development in a career spanning 14 years. He has been CFO of another publicly listed entity and has held executive management positions with real estate investment funds, capital corporations and has been employed as a consultant. He is on the board of another public company and brings a wealth of financial and accounting experience with him to the Company.
Mr. Berzins is a mining engineer with 30 years of experience in the mining industry having worked in gold, oil sands, coal and base metals. He previously held senior management positions with Sherwood Copper, Albian Sands and Suncor Energy and served as General Manager at several gold mining companies including Harmony Gold (Canada) Limited, Echo Bay Mining (Lupin Operations) and Miramar Con Mine. He is registered as a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba.
Mr. Ferreira has more than 25 years experience as a mining exploration geologist. Mr. Ferreira developed San Gold's geological model of gold emplacement which led to the discovery of the Hinge, 007 and Cohiba gold deposits in the Rice Lake Greenstone Belt of Manitoba. Mr. Ferreira previously worked for Esso Minerals, Falconbridge Limited, Noranda Exploration Company, Granges Exploration Inc. and Canmine Resources Corporation. Mr. Ferreira also owns W. S. Ferreira Ltd., a private company focused on grassroots mineral exploration. Mr. Ferreira joined San Gold as a consultant in 2004.
Mr. Setchell has been working in the mining industry for more than 25 years, holding positions in mining, engineering and geology. He has extensive underground and open pit gold experience, working with various companies including Placer Dome Canada, Goldcorp, Harmony Gold (Canada) and Echo Bay Mines. He was Manager of Mining at Goldcorp's Red Lake Mines and at San Gold's Bissett Mines before being appointed General Manager of the Rice Lake Mining Complex. He has a B.Sc. in Geology from Mount Allison University.
Mr. Rai is a Chartered Accountant with significant accounting, finance and audit experience working with large public corporations. He started his career at Deloitte & Touche LLP where he worked in the Assurance & Advisory practice focusing on publically listed companies. Prior to joining San Gold, he worked in the manufacturing industry for a public company headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mr. Rai has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Manitoba, and is a designated Chartered Accountant (CA).
Mr. Friesen has more than 15 years of communications experience, working in a variety of marketing, regulatory consulting, and community relations roles. Mr. Friesen has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Communications (BA) from the University of Winnipeg.