Directors and Management

Mr Ian Middlemas B.Com, CA

Chairman

Mr Middlemas is a Chartered Accountant, a member of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He worked for a large international Chartered Accounting firm before joining the Normandy Mining Group where he was a senior group executive for approximately 10 years. He has had extensive corporate and management experience, and is currently a director with a number of publicly listed companies in the resources sector.

Mr Middlemas was appointed a Director of the Company on 9 March 2007 and Chairman on 16 May 2007. During the three year period to the end of the financial year, Mr Middlemas has held directorships in Salinas Energy Limited (November 1995 - present), OmegaCorp Ltd (October 2000 - August 2007), Global Petroleum Limited (April 2007 - present), Syngas Limited (May 2007 - February 2008), Indo Mines Limited (December 2006 - present), Mantra Resources Limited (September 2005 - present), Newport Mining Limited (September 2008 - present), Mavuzi Resources Limited (January 2007 - March 2008), Odyssey Energy Limited (September 2005 - present), Pacific Energy Limited (June 2006 - present), QED Occtech Limited (July 2001 - present), Sierra Mining Limited (January 2006 - present), Sovereign Metals Limited (July 2006 - present), Fusion Resources Limited (May 2002 - March 2009) and Berkeley Resources Ltd (July 2003 - November 2006).

Mr Eugene (Gene) Wusaty P.Eng.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

 Prior to becoming Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wusaty was President of Ivanhoe Mines' Coal Division and then Chief Operating Officer of SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd following its acquisition of Ivanhoe Mine's Coal Division in 2006. Prior to joining Ivanhoe Mines, Mr Wusaty served as Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Grande Cache Coal Corporation. 

Mr Wusaty is a professional mining engineer with 25 years of mining-related operational experience, with responsibilities in underground and open-pit coal mining and coal-fired power generation operations in Alberta and British Columbia. In the coal industry he has worked for Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, Elk Valley Coal Corp, Fording Coal Ltd, Quintette Coal Ltd and Grande Cache Coal Corporation in various positions including Mine Manager and Manager of Engineering.

Mr Wusaty was appointed a Director of the Company on 17 August 2009. During the three year period to the end of the financial year, Mr Wusaty has not held any other directorships in listed companies.

Mr Anastasios Arima

Executive Director

Mr Arima was directly responsible for identifying and negotiating the acquisition of the Hinton Coal Project. Mr Arima has previously worked in the hydrocarbon division at WorleyParsons Limited, and more recently was working as an analyst for an investment banking firm, where he specialised in the technical and financial requirements of resource projects. Mr Arima has a strong understanding of the technical and financial requirements of progressing resource projects from scoping study into production. 

Mr Arima has completed the requirements for a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia ("UWA") and is currently completing his Bachelor of Engineering from UWA.

Mr Arima was appointed a Director of the Company on 19 February 2009. During the three year period to the end of the financial year, Mr Arima has not held any other directorships in listed companies.

Mr Mark Pearce B.Bus, CA, FCIS, FFin

Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary

Mr Pearce is a Chartered Accountant and is currently a director of several listed companies that operate in the resources sector. He has had considerable experience in the formation and development of listed small cap resource companies and has worked for several large international Chartered Accounting firms. Mr Pearce is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Mr Pearce was appointed a Director and Company Secretary of the Company on 9 March 2007. During the three year period to the end of the financial year, Mr Pearce has held directorships in OmegaCorp Limited (October 2000 - August 2007), Salinas Energy Limited (February 2002 - July 2006), Newport Mining Limited (September 2008 - present), Fusion Resources Limited (May 2002 - February 2009), Syngas Limited (May 2007 - January 2008), Mantra Resources Limited (September 2005 - present), Mavuzi Resources Limited (January 2007 - March 2008), Odyssey Energy Limited (September 2005 - present), QED Occtech Limited (November 2004 - present), Sovereign Metals Limited (July 2006 - present) and Sierra Mining Limited (January 2006 - August 2006).

Mr Denis Lehoux

Vice President, Operations

Mr Lehoux has been directly involved in the coal mining sector for 20 years and has over 35 years of mining experience. Most recently he was Vice President and Operations Director of SouthGobi Energy's ("SouthGobi") Mongolian operations. In this role Mr Lehoux was based in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia for four years and was responsible for the development of SouthGobi's flagship coal mine, Ovoot Tolgoi. Prior to South Gobi, Mr Lehoux held senior positions at Grande Cache Coal, TransWest Mining Systems, Fording Coal, Westar Mining, and Denison Mines. Mr Lehoux is based out of the Company's Hinton office. 

As Vice President, Operations Mr Lehoux will be responsible for all phases of the upcoming development work on the Hinton Coal Project.

Mr Dermot Lane

Vice President, Development

Mr Lane has spent 30 years with Elk Valley Coal where he held a variety of senior positions including Director of Corporate and Public Affairs and Director of Environmental Affairs. As Vice President, Development he will be responsible for permitting, environmental, and government affairs work on the Project. Mr Lane will be based out of the Calgary office.