John R. Nelson, President and CEO
Mr. Nelson has over 25 years of resource industry experience in geology and geophysics. He has served as an exploration geologist and project manager in numerous worldwide frontier areas, including the Central and East African rift basins for Mobil Oil Corp. He is the former president and director of Winslow Resources Inc., which subsequently completed a plan of arrangement with Dualex Energy International Ltd. He is currently a director of Liuyang Fireworks Ltd., Resource Hunter Capital, DualEx Energy and was a co-founder of Ceres Capital Corp., now Reliable Energy Inc. He holds a BSc and an MSc in geology from Michigan State University, and is a member of APEGGA and AAPG.
Kevin Elliott, CFO
Mr. Elliott holds both a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1983. He brings over 25 years of diverse experience in Canadian and international oil and gas industries covering exploration, production and downstream operations in Canada and internationally. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Elliott held positions with BP, Gulf, Nexen, Petro-Canada and Tarim Resources.
Brian G. Thurston, Director
During his two years at the helm, Brian Thurston has advanced Lion Energy Corp. through a change of business into the mineral exploration sector, raised over $32-million and acquired quality assets for the company. Mr. Thurston brings over 17 years of exploration management and operational experience in Canadian and Latin American projects. He was part of the initial geological exploration team that evaluated the current land holdings of Aurelian Resources Inc. in Ecuador in 2002, and held the position of Country Manager for Aurelian in 2004 and 2005. Aurelian was taken over by Kinross Gold Corp. in a transaction valued at $1.2 billion.
Ian Gibbs, Director
Ian Gibbs is a Canadian Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University of Calgary where he obtained a bachelor of commerce degree. Ian Gibbs has held a variety of prominent positions within the Lundin Group of Companies; most recently as CFO of Tanganyika Oil where he played a pivotal role in the recent $2 billion acquisition by Sinopec International Petroleum. Prior to Tanganyika Oil, Mr. Gibbs was CFO of Valkyries Petroleum which was the subject of an $800 million takeover.
R. Gordon McKay, Director
Mr. McKay has more than 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry in both Western Canada and several of the major petroleum basins in Africa. Mr. McKay is currently President and CEO and Director of a private corporation focused on exploration and production in Alberta. Prior to this, he was COO of Gentry Resources Ltd., an oil and gas company with activities in Western Canada which sold for approximately $300 million and was VP Exploration of a public company focused on oil and gas activities in Africa. Mr. McKay began his career in mining exploration geophysics in West Africa and holds a B.E.S. degree from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
David John Birkenshaw,
With over 20 years' experience, Mr. Birkenshaw brings a solid investment management track record to the Company. In 1989, Mr. Birkenshaw formed Birkenshaw & Company Ltd., a firm specializing in investment and merchant banking. Between 1997 and 2001, Mr. Birkenshaw was also a Senior Vice-President and Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.