About
Our company was founded by a team of metallurgists, entrepreneurs, and environmentalists passionate about closing the loop on resource extraction. We partner with mining companies to deploy our technology in operating mines and waste stockpiles to vastly increase resource recovery, aiming to neutralize hazardous material, lengthen mine life, increase economic feasibility, and reduce liabilities and adverse environmental effects.
Management
Mark Thorpe, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director
Over 30+ years in 30+ countries, Mark built his career on improving mining operations with an emphasis on sustainability. He previously served as Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Torex Gold Resources, Senior Vice President of CSR and Environmental Affairs at Golden Star Resources Limited, and Senior Vice President for ESG at INV metals.
Brock Hill
Chief Technology Officer
Brock has extensive international experience in the mineral development and energy resources industries. His career includes senior positions with KBR and WorleyParsons where he focused on beneficial re-use of formation water derived from coal seam gas for each of the four major LNG projects being constructed in Gladstone.
Ian Hodkinson
Chief Geologist
Ian has over 40 years of mineral exploration and open pit/underground mining experience across a broad range of metalliferous commodities. His recent roles include Geology Manager with Auctus Resources’ Mungana and King Vol operations in North Queensland and Exploration Director with Murrumbo Ltd, managing grassroots exploration programs in the Tanami Desert.
Zoya Shashkova
Chief Financial Officer
Zoya has over two decades of experience spanning audit, tax structuring, risk management, reporting, disclosure, and mining finance. Before joining EnviroGold Global, Zoya was the Treasurer for Torex Gold where she raised over $1B in debt capital. She also served as CFO for UraniumOne’s operations in Central Asia and in leadership roles with Deloitte and E&Y.
Sergio Di Giovanni
Chief Metallurgist
Sergio has over 30 years’ experience in operations and project development roles, including initial project evaluation, study management, project development, process design, commissioning, operations management. He has worked for both operating and engineering service companies.
John Walsh
Executive Vice President
Over his 30+ year career in finance, John has held a variety of leadership roles with Drexel Burnham, Citi Group, UBS, and boutique institutional energy investment banks. John previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Vigilent, Inc., an early-stage technology company creating hardware and software solutions for autonomous unmanned aerial systems.
Dan Elvera
Senior Vice President
Dan’s career has spanned operations, international business development, strategic planning and finance in corporations including ExxonMobil and Golden Star Resources. Dan completed his undergraduate studies in Petroleum Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and post-graduate MBA at the University of Houston.
Board of Directors & Advisors
Allan Bezanson
Chair
Allan has spent his 35-year career building and investing in high-growth companies. He previously served as Managing Director of Nowsco, President of Oballan Capital, Managing Partner of Cornerstone Capital, Director of Voxtur Analytics Corp, and CEO & Director of FCF Capital where he led major investments in Polaris Infrastructure and Founders Advantage.
David Cam
Founder, Executive Director
With over 35 years of experience as a founder and serial entrepreneur, David has an eye for untapped opportunity. He previously founded and served as CEO of Hydrus Technology, commercializing advanced wastewater treatment-as-a-service technology, , which he a eventually sold to a Fortune 100 company.
Bruce Higson Smith
Independent Director
Bruce has over 40 years of mining, metals and capital markets experience, most recently leading Golden Star Resources’ corporate strategy and M&A. Prior to that he was a portfolio manager for both Resource Capital Funds, and the Emerging Markets Gold Fund where he structured equity and convertible debt products for mining companies.
Harold Wolkin
Independent Director
Harold is an investment banker with over 30 years of industry experience. He spent 25 years at BMO, and then served as Executive Vice-President and Head of Investment Banking for Dundee Capital Markets. Harold now serves on several public company boards, including Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Inc. and Baylin Technologies.
Phil Creagh
Independent Director
Phil is a founding partner of Anderson Creagh Lai Limited, a commercial law practice with offices across New Zealand. His governance experience includes private family office directorships, chairing and serving on the boards of charitable and member-based associations, and serving on the Board of Management of a leading Australasian law firm.
Philipa Varris
Independent Director
Philipa has led environment, health, safety and community management in the mining sector for over 25 years, currently as Head of Sustainability with Golden Star Resources. She has won the Australian Centenary Medal for leadership and was recognized in 2020 as one of the UK 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.
Leah Dionne
Corporate Secretary
Leah is the Managing Director of Corporate Advisory Services for Partum Advisory Services Corp., a leading Vancouver corporate administration and financial reporting firm. She focuses on securities and corporate finance and assists with managing public company listing requirements on the CSE, TSXV, NEO and TSX stock exchanges, as well as the OTC Markets.
ESG
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) refers to the key non-financial domains of corporate performance related to (E) environmental stewardship and sustainability, (S) relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where a company operates, and (G) values-based management around company leadership, internal controls, auditing and reporting, and shareholder rights.
Fundamentally, using ESG to assess corporate performance is founded on the recognition that businesses have a social responsibility to influence positive social change, and that environmental, social, and corporate governance are a fundamental part of a business’s bottom line. The increasing consideration of ESG criteria in assessing corporate performance and allocating investment capital is a transformational trend – The World Economic Forum and KPMG report that Sustainable and Responsible investments have surged from $30.7 trillion in 2018 to $35.3 trillion in 2020, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA). This trend looks set to continue through increased awareness about ESG and a general trend within younger investors to seek socially and environmentally responsible investments.
Why is ESG Critical for the Future of Metals & Mining?
The ongoing transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy demands increasing amounts of metals and minerals. Metals and minerals are natural resources that are vital to an evolving world and its requirement for modern technology, infrastructure and low carbon options. Applications for metals and minerals are diverse and ubiquitous in the modern global economy and are founded in the need to generate and store renewable energy. Metals are required for the production, conduction, distribution, and storage of electricity as well as being critical components for batteries, electric vehicles, data transmission systems, mobile devices, circuitry, advanced medical devices, and aerospace. Additionally, gold remains a wealth store with an estimated 95% of gold being used in this way.
Metals and minerals have served important cultural and economic functions for thousands of years. However, structural factors and demographic trends including continuous population growth, the acceleration of technological development, and rapidly rising incomes and standards of living in emerging markets are increasing the demand for these nite and unequally distributed resources.
Concerns over the environmental effects of the carbon-based economy are driving the adoption of renewable energy resources and the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles. According to Deloitte, global electric vehicles are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 29% over the next decade. With this growth comes an accelerating demand for metals across the entire electrical value chain.
The importance of securing stable access to precious, critical, and strategic metals is receiving strong, bipartisan support in the United States. Both the Trump and Biden administrations issued Executive Orders intended to direct national policy efforts to secure access to 35 “critical” metals and minerals including nickel, zinc and platinum group metals.
The convergence of the rapid transition to a low carbon economy with its huge appetite for metals and society’s requirement for improved ESG performance place the metals supply business at the center of the ESG lens. Supplying the precious, critical, and strategic metals that are vital in the shift to a more sustainable, more technologically advanced global community will require the development of new, agile business models featuring improved technical capabilities, reduced CAPEX/OPEX, and shorter development lead times. These business model changes will be coupled with an increased focus on the mining companies decades long ongoing work to earn and maintain social license to operate through the consistent demonstration of environmental stewardship, positive social impact, and efcient and equitable use of natural resources.