Ironwood Gold’s executive team is a diverse mix of top talent in the industry. All members of our Board are highly regarded by industry peers for their expertise in the engineering, geological and financial components of hard-rock precious metals production.
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Behzad Shayanfar, CEO
Mr.Shayanfar first began his career with a degree in civil engineering which led to a series of management roles overseeing major construction projects in his native Iran. During the late 1990’s he was a vital member of an engineering team tasked with the design and implementation of the network strategy for a multimillion-dollar oil exploration project in Southern Iran. The project was noted at the time as one of the most cost effective developments of the era. He further escalated his career as one of the lead project managers for Seda Va Sima, a state-owned media broadcasting corporation. This particular venture undertook a three-year design and build of the corporation’s primary national broadcasting center. The project was successfully completed on time and under budget in 2000.
Mr. Shayanfar subsequently determined to further his education and broaden his horizons by travelling abroad and attending the London School of Economics in order to achieve his second degree - in economics. He enjoyed several years in the highly intellectual and stimulating environment of one of the world’s leading economic institutions which provided him a certain expertise in the development of complex economic problem-solving skills. Upon completion of his degree, he pursued a highly productive period in the financial markets as a commodities futures trader. His success in this area provided him with the latitude to move into private investor/developer real estate opportunities in Dubai, India, the U.K. and the U.S.A. His business and financial acumen continued to fuel his desire to undertake new and exciting projects which ultimately led to his interest in the resource sector. Consequently, in 2009 he was appointed CFO of Ironwood Mining Corp., a private company where he provided key support to the company’s aims. His main responsibilities included all strategic and tactical matters relating to budget management, cost benefit analysis, forecasting needs and the securing of new funding. |
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Robert J. Reukl, President
Mr Reukl has been employed as a geologist in the mineral exploration and mining business for over 25 years. A graduate of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, he is also a member in good standing with the Canadian Institute or Mining and Metallurgy and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Mr. Reukl’s field work has taken him to many of Canada's major mining camps including Val D'Or, Rouyn/Noranda, Timmins and Hemlo. Prior to 1994, Mr. Reukl worked for a variety of major mining companies and consultants including Placer Dome Canada, Noranda and A.C.A. Howe International Ltd.
Mr. Reukl worked as an underground geologist on Placer Dome’s Musselwhite gold mine near Pickle Lake, Ontario, as underground production geologist with Noranda’s GECO Division at the company’s copper/zinc/silver mine in Manitouwadge, Ontario and as an underground geologist on A.C.A. Howe International Ltd.’s exploration and development program in a gold mine in Kirkland Lake and a silver mine in Cobalt Ontario. Since 1994, he has worked as a mine geologist, engineering technician, and is currently the Diamond Drill Co-ordinator at the Williams Mine, one of Canada's largest gold producers.
His responsibilities include the daily monitoring of four diamond drill rigs underground as well as a surface drill. The Williams Mine will be drilling about 46,000 meters in 2009. Mr. Reukl has also been the principal of R.J. Reukl Geological Services, a proprietorship involved in the provision of geological consulting services, as well as the acquisition and sale of mineral properties since 1995. Mr. Reukl has also acted as a director of several publicly listed junior exploration companies over the past 15 years. |
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Rodney A. Blakestad, Director
Mr. Blakestad is a senior exploration and resource geologist with more than thirty years North American and international experience. In the early 1970s, Mr. Blakestad was involved in regional porphyry Cu-Mo exploration throughout interior Alaska. Between 1975-80, he was a lead geologist for volcanic massive sulfide (VMS) and sediment-hosted massive sulfide exploration projects in the Alaska Range, resulting in more than 20 mineral discoveries. Between 1980-90, he was Principal Investigator for numerous placer gold, lode gold, and tungsten exploration projects in central Alaska. During the period 1990 through 1993, Mr. Blakestad was regional manager for environmental firms based in Denver, CO. Since 1994, Mr. Blakestad has been involved in regional reconnaissance and exploration for gold, silver and/or platinum group metals (PGM) deposits in Mexico, Ghana, Guyana, Alaska, and Nevada. He was appointed V.P. Exploration for Robex Resources for gold exploration in Mali, West Africa until April 2005, Director for Nevada Star Resource Corp. until March 2007, and a Director for Columbia Metals Corp. Ltd. until May 2007. From June 2007 until August 2008, Mr. Blakestad was V.P. Exploration for Little Squaw Gold Mining Co. concentrating his efforts toward resource development opportunities in Alaska, Nevada, Mexico and Brazil. In 2008, he rejoined Columbia Metals (now NWM mining) where he is Senior Geologist developing the Lluvia de Oro and La Jojoba gold deposits in Sonora, Mexico. Mr. Blakestad was also the co - discoverer of The Ft. Knox gold deposit (+4 million ounces gold) in Alaska. |
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Dr. Howard Lahti, VP Exploration, Director
Dr. Lahti has worked in a wide variety of exploration roles beginning in 1967 with Texas Gulf Co, followed by stints with Dresser Minerals Inc, Boliden Preusag, Millennium Gold (Thailand) Ltd., Pancontinental (Canada) Ltd, Barringer Research and Cerro Canada Ltd. He has focused on both precious and industrial metals throughout a career that has taken him around the world, from Canada, to South America, to Africa and Asia. In 2006 he directed a drilling program for UC Resources centered on the McFaulds #3 VMS deposit and subsequently the Noront new MMS Copper-Nickel-PGE deposit located about 20km to the west from the McFaulds Lake Camp. He served as the "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 for Salazar Resources Inc. that bought the Curimining SA gold properties. In 2005 he completed a proprietary geochemical survey for Kitsault Resources in northwest British Columbia and supervised an MMI geochemical survey for a South African company at Victoria Island in the Arctic. Early in the 2000s, Dr. Lahti managed drilling and other mineral exploration projects for diamonds, gold and base metals in Ontario, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Panama, Brazil, Peru and Africa. He also incorporated and ran Deep Search Exploration Technologies Inc. (DSET), a geochemical service company. |
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Dr. Petra I. Zasterova, Director
Dr. Zasterova is currently the Chief Operating Officer responsible for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) affairs for Calyon CIB of London, a subsidiary of Credit Agricole Group S.A., the largest retail bank in Europe with more than 21 million clients and a presence in over 60 countries. Her responsibilities include the establishment of an organizational base for the EMEA region fielding a team of more than 130 individuals located throughout the territory. Since entering the financial world in 1998 in Vienna, she has attained her master degree in Finance and Tax from the Institute of Higher Studies, Third Level College, Wiener Neustadt, in Austria. Thereafter, Dr. Zasterova went on to successfully complete a PhD degree in Economics and Finance at the Russian Science Academy, Economics Institute, Moscow. She is fluent in seven European languages and upon a wide variety of EMEA banking issues. In addition to her current position at Credit Agricole, Dr. Zasterova was Vice President, EMEA for Merrill Lynch International, London (2003-2006); Senior Fixed Income Sales Manager responsible for German-speaking, Russian and former CIS region clients for Commerzbank Securities, London and Frankfurt (2001-2003); and Fixed Income Sales Manager, CEE Markets, for Bank Austria, Vienna (2000-2001). |
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Andy McCreath, Advisory Board Member
Mr. McCreath is a noted marketing, public relations and communications professional and producer of sophisticated geopolitically relevant and market-centric conferences and events. His projects encompass such topics as bilateral relations, macro-economics, leadership and global communications. He has produced many national events and has worked with Alan Greenspan, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani. Mr. McCreath formerly worked at Wellington West Capital, Nesbitt Burns, and the National Hockey League's head office in New York. |
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David Bensimon, Advisory Board Member
Mr. Bensimon is an award-winning author, acclaimed forecaster, hedge-fund manager and prolific speaker at industry conferences, educational seminars, and company roadshows around the world. His insightful analysis can regularly be found in the financial media on television, radio, print and the internet. He brings over 20 years of experience with interbank, exchange-floor, and proprietary trading and investing across foreign exchange, interest rate, equity index, and commodity markets. His institutional career at top-tier global banks in Europe over the course of a decade included senior positions with Citibank, CNCA, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank -- rising to chief dealer, head of trading, and chief of staff. He also spent a year as a local on the floor of the Singapore futures exchange. For the past decade Mr. Bensimon has published and presented his bold forecasts of global markets with well-documented precision via his Australia-based consulting firm Polar Pacific (www.polarpacific.com). Mr. Bensimon graduated in 1988 with multiple national awards and top of his class specialising in finance at the University of British Columbia. He currently resides in Singapore where he runs the Polarcap Prosperity investment fund.
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