Management
& Board of Directors

Board of Directors

• John Shurko

  Director · Chief Executive Officer

  See Management for Mr. Shurko's full profile.

• Jimmy Gravel

  Director

  Mr. Jimmy Gravel graduated from a business school specializing in sales and marketing more than 25 years ago. Over the past decade, he has developed extensive geological knowledge through field work alongside leading geologists, with a particular focus on advancing mining projects throughout Canada.

  Mr. Gravel currently serves as Chief Executive Officer, President and director of SLAM Exploration Ltd., a New Brunswick-based exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SXL. He is also the President and founder of Florence Creek Inc., which is advancing a promising placer gold district in the Yukon, and the President and founder of NBGold Inc., a private exploration company that collaborates with several of New Brunswick's largest publicly traded mining companies. Previously, Mr. Gravel served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Genius Properties Ltd., a company listed on the CSE. Under his leadership, Genius Properties transitioned into Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc. through a strategic takeover, resulting in a company that currently has a market capitalization in excess of $450 million.

  Mr. Gravel remains a significant shareholder of several publicly traded companies and has been involved in the acquisition and disposition of numerous mining properties across Canada.

• George O'Reilly

  Director

  Upon graduating from Dalhousie University with a B.Sc. (Honours) in 1976, Mr. O'Reilly commenced his career with the Mineral Resources Division of the Nova Scotia Department of Mines and Energy (later the Department of Natural Resources), where he worked for 37 years. During his tenure, he obtained a Master of Science degree from Dalhousie University in 1988. The first 16 years of Mr. O'Reilly's career were devoted primarily to the mapping and study of mineral deposits associated with Nova Scotia's granitic terrains.

  In 1992, he assumed a supervisory role in the conversion of the province's hard-copy mineral occurrence card files into a digital Mineral Occurrence Database. Field verification of mineral occurrences throughout Nova Scotia, together with the maintenance and updating of the database, became the primary focus of the remainder of his career until his retirement in 2013. As part of this work, Mr. O'Reilly authored or coordinated the publication of 76 "From the Mineral Inventory" articles highlighting the geology and mineral potential of hundreds of mineral occurrences throughout Nova Scotia. The series became, and remains, among the most frequently downloaded information resources on the Mines Branch website.

  In 1982, Mr. O'Reilly coordinated and authored the Department's submission to the Nova Scotia McCleave Uranium Inquiry. Following the release of the Inquiry's final report in 1985, he was appointed Chair of the Interdepartmental Uranium Committee, comprising representatives from the Departments of Mines and Energy, Environment and Health. The committee examined issues arising from the Inquiry and delivered its final report to the Government of Nova Scotia in 1994.

  From 2000 to 2013, Mr. O'Reilly represented the Mines Branch on various interdepartmental committees addressing naturally occurring radiation concerns. This work resulted in the publication of Nova Scotia's first Uranium in Drinking Water Risk Map in 2009 and the Province's Radon in Homes Risk Map in 2013.

  Since retiring in 2013, Mr. O'Reilly has remained actively involved with both the Nova Scotia Prospectors Association and the Mining Association of Nova Scotia and currently serves as a director of each organization.

• Martin Dallaire

  Director

  Martin Dallaire is a mining executive with over 20 years of experience serving as CEO and director of publicly traded mining companies. He currently serves as President, CEO and Director of Visible Gold Mines Inc. Mr. Dallaire holds an engineering degree from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.

• Hani Zabaneh

  Director

  Hani Zabane has over 20 years of experience in the junior resource sector, serving as an officer, director and corporate consultant to publicly traded companies. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate development and capital markets.