ASCENDANT RESOURCES - Key Persons
CARL CALANDRA - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary, VP
Job Titles:
- Corporate Secretary
- General Counsel
- Legal Executive
- Vice President
Mr. Calandra is a legal executive with more than 15 years of advisory, transactional and public company experience. Prior to joining Ascendant, Mr. Calandra was Vice President and General Counsel of Dundee Corporation, a Canadian investment company focused on mining, and was an associate at a top-tier Canadian national law firm. Carl holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Business Administration from the Ivey Business School. Carl has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since 2006. .
Job Titles:
- Director
- Professional Chartered Accountant, Business
Mr. Jones is an experienced professional chartered accountant, business valuator, Chief Financial Officer and financial advisor. His significant experience, keen strategic insight and ability to form partnerships with his clients lead to the ultimate goal of increasing their net worth while achieving significant corporate growth. His diverse experience enables him to offer unique solutions for maximum success and profitability. Chris is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA), Licensed Public Accountant (LPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Business Valuator (CBV). As the youngest Partner at Williams & Partners, he advises on complex taxation strategies, growth strategies, cash flow management, financing strategies, wealth management, and succession planning. Chris advises several private equity firms on acquisition targets and appropriate due diligence requirements highlighting key risk areas and maximizing target potential while serving as an advisor to high-net worth clients and families. Chris has served as CFO to several mid-market companies. He is the CFO of both AGTA Home Health Care and Bloom Care Solutions. He currently acts as Audit Committee Chair for Lara Exploration Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Ethics and Governance Team
Mr. Hale-Sanders is one of the founding partners in the formation of Ascendant Resources Inc. Prior to this Mr. Hale-Sanders' had a career that spanned over 20 years in the capital markets industry working as a leading Base Metals and Bulk Commodities research analyst in Canada working at RBC Capital Markets, TD Securities, CIBC World Markets and Cormark Securities. During this period, Mr. Hale Sanders visited and reviewed numerous mining operations and corporate entities around the world. Mr. Hale-Sanders holds a B.Sc. in Geology and Chemistry, an MBA from McMaster University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Business Development
Mr. Ball was most recently Chief Financial Officer of Santiago Metals Limitada, a private Chilean based copper producer and portfolio company of US Private Equity group, Denham Capital. Prior to his current role he held several positions at Macquarie Capital, an Australian Investment Bank During his career in the metals and mining sector, Mr. Ball has been actively involved in M&A, corporate advisory and fund raising of both equity and debt Mr. Ball brings mining focused operational and capital markets experience from Australia, South East Asia and North South America Mr. Ball holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction (Curtin University) and a Masters of Finance (INSEAD).
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Exploration
Dr. Sergio Gelcich is an exploration geologist with over 20 years experience in geological sciences with emphasis in the mining and exploration industries through Canada, United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. He most recently served as Director Exploration for Hudbay Minerals where he led the corporate geology/exploration team, contributing with green to brown field exploration and also with the geological understanding of Hudbay's operations. Prior, Sergio was the Regional (Americas) Exploration Manager for GlobeStar Mining. Sergio's field experience includes almost every country in the Americas, encompassing precious and base metals, and a broad range of geological environments. Sergio has an Honours Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Master of Science in Geology from the Universidad de Chile, and a PhD in Geology from the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Ethics and Governance Team
- Chartered Professional Accountant
Mr. Brooks is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 18 years of experience in finance and accounting at international mining companies. Prior to joining Ascendant, he was Vice President, Finance of Caldas Gold until it was acquired by Aris Gold. Prior to his time at Caldas, Mr. Brooks served in progressively senior roles at several international mining companies including Golden Star Resources, New Gold and Barrick Gold.
Job Titles:
- President
- President of the Ethics and Governance Team
Mr. Barros has 17 years of mining experience including green fields and near mine exploration, environmental impact studies for open pit and underground mine operations as well as mine development and operations. Mr. Barros was responsible for licensing the underground gold mine operation from exploration to development, for Minaport-Minas de Portugal, Lda, and the planning and execution of the exploration and licensing for Blackheath Resources (TXS: BHR), Borralha EML tungsten project. Mr. Barros is the President of Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda., and has been with that company since 2008, responsible for managing, coordinating and executing the exploration works in the Lagoa Salgada VMS Project. Mr. Barros is also a Member of the Portuguese Engineers Association.
Mr. Menchen has over 37 years' of experience operating and managing mining projects, including over 20 years as General Manager at the Jacobina Gold project in Bahia State, Brazil where he successfully operated the underground project for Anglo American, Desert Sun Mining and eventually Yamana Gold, through low gold price environments. His prior experience includes Anglo American's Vaal Reefs underground gold mine in South Africa and De Beers Goldfields in Angola. Mr. Menchen holds a degree in mining engineering from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Job Titles:
- Executive Chairman
- Founder
- Founding Partner
- Member of the Ethics and Governance Team
Mr. Brennan is a Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Ascendant Resources Inc. He is Cerrado Gold's CEO and Co-Chairman and Executive Chairman of Voyager Metals, and has more than 30 years of financial and operating experience in the Americas and Europe. Mr. Brennan most recently served as president and CEO of Sierra Metals Inc., a major zinc-lead-silver-copper mining company with operations in Peru and Mexico. Prior to that, he was the president and CEO of Largo Resources Ltd., and a founder of several resource companies, including Desert Sun Mining, Brasoil Corp., James Bay Resources, Morumbi Oil and Gas, and Admiral Bay Resources.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Investor Relations
Mike McAllister has over 19 years of experience working with public mining companies, the last 12 as a mining specialized investor relations professional. He most recently was with Superior Gold and prior to that Sierra Metals where he helped the company complete the dual US listing progress and helped see the company progress from a small to a mid-tier diversified producer. Mr. McAllister also has worked at Avion Gold Corp., which was acquired by Endeavour Mining. Before working in investor relations roles, he worked at BMO Capital Markets in the Metals & Mining Group. Mike holds the Certified Professional Investor Relations (CPIR) designation completed at the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
Mr. Campbell is an exploration geologist with over 40 years experience in mining and exploration industry through Canada, United States and Latin America. He is currently a member of the board of Directors for Ascendant and has prior experience working at major mining companies, most notably Largo, Noranda, Lac Minerals and as Vice President of Exploration for Apogee Minerals Ltd. Mr. Campbell holds a M.Sc. in geology from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario.
Mr. Sellars has 40 years experience in capital markets and financial services and has significant experience on investment industry committees within the IIROC. Mr. Sellars previously sat on the board of directors of Android Industries, United Hydrocarbons International and Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada and currently serves on the board of directors for Dundee Sustainable Technologies. Mr. Sellars holds the position of Chief Financial Officer at Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. Previously, Mr. Sellars served as Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President for Dundee Corp., Chief Financial Officer at Dundee Energy Ltd., Chief Financial Officer & Director at CMP 2017 Resource LP, Chief Financial Officer & Director at CMP 2019 Resource LP, Chief Financial Officer & Director at CMP 2021 Resource LP, Chairman for Dundee 360 Real Estate Corp., President of Dundee Securities, Inc., Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer at Dundee Securities Ltd., Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President at Dundee Insurance Agency Ltd. and Chief Financial Officer of Dundee Global Investment Management, Inc
Mr. Santos is a lawyer based in Portugal who is widely regarded as a leading authority in the mining sector in Portugal. Mr. Santos has spent over 20 years representing/assisting domestic and international corporations in negotiations and disputes with the State regarding land acquisitions, exploration, extraction and environmental licenses, for both the mining and oil and gas industries in Portugal, Angola, Brazil and East Timor. Most notably, he was the legal advisor for major privatization transaction regarding the acquisition of Somincor by EuroZinc, which is now Lundin Mining's Portuguese subsidiary operating the large-scale Neves-Corvo mine in Portugal. Mr. Santos is a Partner of CRA - Coelho Ribeiro e Associados - Portuguese Law Firm, where he leads the firm's Arbitration and Mining practices. Mr. Santos is a member of the Portuguese Bar Association, the Brazilian Bar Association, the Lawyers' Association of the Republic of Timor-Leste and the Lawyers' Association of Macau. Mr. Santos is also a recognized author on arbitration and dispute resolution.
Job Titles:
- Lead Director
- Member of the Ethics and Governance Team
- President and Chief Executive Officer of Cancap Investments
Stephen Shefsky has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cancap Investments since 1985. He is currently the President & CEO of James Bay Resources and a Director of Crestar Integrated Natural Resources. Mr. Shefsky is a Founder and Executive Chairman of tilr Corporation, Mr. Shefsky was the co-founder of Brasoil do Brasil Exploracao Petrolifera S.A., from 2006 to 2017. From 1996 to 2007, Mr. Shefsky held the positions of the President and Chief Executive Officer of Verena Minerals Corporation (currently Belo Sun Mining). Mr. Shefsky is a Director of Ascendant Resources and was a Founder of Silver Bear Resources and Castle Resoures. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a Master of Science Degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and a Juris Doctor Degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.