MANAGEMENT
Henri van Rooyen CEO
Mr. van Rooyen is Talon Metals’ Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Talon, he was a member of Tau Capital, a private investment and advisory services company, where he was primarily responsible for the new business evaluation process and the implementation of exploration and development programs for mineral projects in countries across Africa and South America. Prior to joining Tau Capital, Mr. van Rooyen was President & CEO of Groupman, a private company that built the largest silica mine in South Africa, as well as one of South Africa's largest offshore diamond exploration projects.
Mike Kicis President
Mike Kicis is President of Talon Metals and has been with Talon Metals for over 10 years. Prior to his appointment as President, Mr. Kicis served as Talon’s Chief Legal Officer. Prior to joining Talon Metals, Mr. Kicis worked as a Senior Associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, working out of their London, England and Calgary, Canada offices. Mr. Kicis obtained his Honours Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws degrees concurrently (with Honours) at the Richard Ivey School of Business and the University of Western Ontario, respectively.
Vince Conte CFO
Mr. Conte is Talon Metals’ Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Talon, Mr. Conte was Vice President of Corporate Development and Financial Evaluation at Tau Capital, a private investment and advisory services company, responsible for financial modelling and project valuations. Prior to Tau Capital, Mr. Conte was a Senior Manager with Deloitte LLP in Toronto, practicing in the Financial Advisory Group where he advised numerous mining companies and investors in the areas of valuations, mergers & acquisitions, and financial due diligence. In addition, while at Deloitte, he provided audit, accounting, internal control and consulting services. Mr. Conte obtained Bachelor of Mathematics and Master of Accounting degrees from the University of Waterloo and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), CFA and CBV.
Brian Goldner Chief Exploration and Operations Officer
Brian Goldner is Talon Metal’s Head of Exploration for the Tamarack Project, bringing 14 years of experience, previously with Rio Tinto Exploration. Over his career, Brian has focused on nickel and iron exploration in North America, with most of his time being spent on the Tamarack Project. Brian has degrees in Geology and Geography from Gustavus Adolphus College, and he completed his master’s thesis on the Tamarack Intrusion from the University of Minnesota Duluth, which has given him a deep understanding of the Tamarack geology and geophysics. Brian brings extensive experience in both technical and operational aspects and has managed many multi rig drill programs throughout his time with Rio Tinto and Talon Metals.
Mark Groulx Vice President, Project Development and Innovation
Mr. Groulx is Vice President of Project Development and Innovation. Mr. Groulx is a mining engineer with more than 20 years of global mining experience that includes mine operations, consulting and project execution. Prior to joining Talon Metals, Mr. Groulx held senior positions since 2008 with Rio Tinto, Amec Foster Wheeler and PT Freeport Indonesia. Prior to that, he worked in various roles of increasing responsibility as an independent consultant with Inco and with McIntosh Engineering on major projects for BHP, Falconbridge, Vale and Kinross. Mr. Groulx is considered an expert in mine project evaluation and delivering front-end engineering studies. Mr. Groulx obtained his B.Sc.E in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University and an MBA from the University of Arizona and is a licensed professional engineer in Ontario and Arizona.
Chris Wallace Vice President, Environmental and Permitting
Chris Wallace is Talon Metals’ Vice President of Environmental and Permitting. He was the Environmental Manager and the Permitting and Compliance Coordinator at the Hecla Greens Creek mine in Alaska. Before entering mining, Mr. Wallace worked in environmental research at the University of Michigan, primarily with the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research project, which aimed to understand and predict the effects of environmental change on arctic landscapes, both natural and anthropogenic. Mr. Wallace obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Aquatic Ecology from the Eastern Michigan University.
Jessica Johnson Vice President, External Affairs
Jessica Johnson is the Vice President of External Affairs at Talon Metals. She is responsible for all external company engagement (media, communities and government relations). Prior to joining Talon, she spent 8 years as a natural resource educator in the state of Minnesota. With a B.S. in Natural Resource Management and Communications, her focus is on external engagement, social performance and supporting sustainable community development.
Dr. Etienne Dinel Vice President, Geology
Dr. Dinel is Talon Metal's Vice President of Geology. Dr. Dinel is a Geologist with over 10 years of experience in the mining industry, with expertise in structural geology, petrology and geochemistry of ore deposits. He has led multiple field mapping projects with various Canadian governmental geological surveys in collaboration with major mining companies such as Goldcorp, St. Andrew Goldfields and Globestar Mining. In his capacity as Senior Geologist with Tau Capital Corp., a private investment and advisory services company, he has been responsible for structural geology and geochemistry. Dr. Dinel has a Bachelor's of Geology Physics (Honours) and a Ph.D. in economic geology, both from the University of Ottawa. He completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Toronto and the Geological Survey of Canada.
Brian Bengert Vice President, Geophysics
Brian received a B.Sc. in Geophysics in 1994, and later obtained his M.Sc. from York University in 1996 specializing in Time series and Data Analysis. Upon graduation, Brian spent five years as a field Geophysicist working for Quantec Geoscience in North and South America. Brian worked as a geophysicist 15 years for Inco which later became a part of Vale. He started at Inco with major responsibility for the Voisey’s Bay nickel project, and was a principal member of the team that discovered the deposit that would become the future underground operation. After the takeover by Vale, Brian was quickly transferred to international work and was subsequently given the responsibility for best practices in global geophysics.
Over his career, Brian has gained extensive experience collecting, processing and interpreting geophysical data. He has been involved in the development of several geophysical methodologies, including Array MT/IP, natural field EM, borehole IP, and Groundfloor EM. His experience was gained from projects covering a wide spectrum of commodities, including nickel, copper, gold, iron, zinc, lithium, coal, and diamonds.
Over his career, Brian has gained extensive experience collecting, processing and interpreting geophysical data. He has been involved in the development of several geophysical methodologies, including Array MT/IP, natural field EM, borehole IP, and Groundfloor EM. His experience was gained from projects covering a wide spectrum of commodities, including nickel, copper, gold, iron, zinc, lithium, coal, and diamonds.
Oliver Peters Talon Metallurgist (Consultant)
Mr. Oliver Peters brings more than 20 years of experience in mineral processing and has worked on over 80 projects including over 20 Cu, Ni, and PGM projects. For more than 10 years, Mr. Peters have been advising clients on the metallurgical and engineering aspects of base metals, gold, and industrial minerals projects as Principal Metallurgist at Metpro Inc. and as a consulting metallurgist for SGS Minerals. Prior to that, he was part of an engineering team that built the DRA Americas branch. Mr. Peters spent 6 years at Falconbridge working on numerous copper and nickel projects and the Koniambo nickel laterite project. Mr. Peters obtained a Master’s degree in engineering with a specialization on mineral processing from RWTH Aachen University in Germany and an Executive MBA from Athabasca University. Mr. Peters in a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO).
Paul Stacey Talon Data Manager (Consultant)
GIS and Data Management Expert specializing in 2D and 3D deposit modeling, integration and data management for the minerals exploration and mining industry. 20+ years of experience providing broad insight into best-in-class software, data management, dissemination and visualization practices.
Todd Malan External Affairs Advisor
Todd Malan is an External Affairs Advisor for Talon Metals. He is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle and studied at Birkbeck College at the University of London as a Hansard Scholar. Malan is based in Washington D.C.