Technical Advisory Committee
Dr. Neil O'Brien
ChairDr. O'Brien is a consulting economic geologist and former mining executive who holds a Queen's University PhD in Geological Sciences and has over three decades of industry service with expertise in base metal exploration, including magmatic nickel-copper-platinum group element ("Ni-Cu-PGE") sulphide deposits. He has international experience on 6 continents, in all stages of mineral exploration and development of economic mineral resource projects, mining project evaluation and strategic corporate development activities. Dr. O'Brien retired in 2018 from Lundin Mining Corporation as Senior Vice President, Exploration & New Business Development. He has participated in many economic mineral discoveries, including the Eagle East Ni-Cu-PGE deposit currently being mined by Lundin Mining. Since 2018, Dr. O'Brien has been President of MOAR Consulting Inc and a public company director, including for NGEx Minerals, a Lundin Group company.
Brian Booth
AdvisorMr. Booth is an experienced mining executive, who brings over 40 years of experience across the mineral exploration and mining sectors with major and junior mining companies. During his career, Mr. Booth has held various CEO roles where he was responsible for developing and executing high-level growth strategies across the mining lifecycle, implementing, and progressing key ESG objectives and securing ongoing funding requirements through the capital markets. Prior to this, Mr. Booth held various exploration management positions at Inco Limited over a 23-year career, including Manager of Exploration - North America and Europe, Manager of Global Nickel Exploration and Managing Director PT Ingold for Australasia. He is credited with the discovery of the Douay West gold deposit in Québec, conducted the preliminary assessment of the Voisey's Bay Ni-Cu-Co discovery for Inco, and was involved, through a joint venture with Highlands Gold, in the discovery of the Beutong copper porphyry in Sumatra.
Alan King
AdvisorMr. King has over 40 years of experience in geophysics, mineral exploration and resource development in Canada and internationally. While with INCO/Vale, he served as a senior geophysicist and then as Manager of Geophysics with responsibility for their global exploration programs that included extensive experience in exploration target development for Ni-Cu-PGE deposits. Mr. King has worked on geophysical applications for base metals, iron, manganese, coal and other commodities as well as target generation using regional and global data sets. Mr. King's professional interests include the use of geophysics, new technology and ideas, and data integration in exploration, mining, environmental, geotechnical and other applications. Mr. King received a B.Sc. in Geology and Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.Sc. in Geophysics from Macquarie University. Mr. King is currently working as a consultant through his own company, Geoscience North.
Dr. Michael Lesher
AdvisorDr. Michael Lesher is Professor Emeritus of Economic Geology in the Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC), Harquail School of Earth Sciences, and Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University. Dr. Lesher was Research Chair in Mineral Exploration, Founding Director of MERC, and as Director of Mining Initiatives designed and founded the Laurentian School of Mines (now Goodman School of Mines). Dr. Lesher has worked on Ni-Cu-PGE deposits in Brazil, China, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, Russia, and Western Australia; Cr deposits in northern Ontario; the geochemistry of felsic volcanic rocks associated with VMS systems; Au deposits in Ontario, Western Australia, and the southern Appalachians; and Fe deposits in Labrador-Québec. Dr. Lesher was the Principal Investigator and Director of the $15M NSERC-CMIC-funded Mineral Exploration Footprints project and is currently a Co-Investigator on the $100M Canada First Research Excellence Fund Metal Earth project.
