The Board provides senior management with independent, objective advice while promoting a culture of integrity. Together, the Board works with senior management to set long-term goals, develop strategy, and monitor Doré Copper’s progress toward achieving its goals. The Board also regularly evaluates our principal business risks and monitors the effectiveness of our risk management process. The Board is composed of the Audit; Compensation and Nominating; Corporate Governance; and Health, Safety, Environment and Community Committees.
Mario Stifano is a seasoned mining executive and Chartered Professional Accountant with over 16 years of experience working with exploration, development and producing mining companies. Mr. Stifano is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Galantas Gold Corporation. Mr. Stifano has held a number of senior executive positions including Chief Executive Officer of Cordoba Minerals Corp., Executive Chairman with Mega Precious Metals Inc., Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with Lake Shore Gold Corp Inc., and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ivernia Inc. Mr. Stifano has been instrumental in raising over $700 million to explore and fund mining projects, including raising over $500 million at Lake Shore Gold Corp Inc., to develop three gold mines which are currently producing over 180,000 ounces of gold annually, and are now part of the Canadian assets within Pan American Silver.
Ernest Mast has 30 years of experience in various technical and executive roles in the mining industry, across a wide range of commodities, geographies and development stages. Mr. Mast is on the Board of Scottie Resources. Corp. Mr. Mast previously held the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer at Primero Mining Corp., Vice President of Corporate Development at Copper Mountain Mining Corporation, Vice President of Operations at New Gold Inc. and President and CEO of Minera Panama S.A., Inmet Mining Corporation’s subsidiary, developing the $6B Cobre Panama project. Mr. Mast began his career with Noranda Inc. and its affiliates, where he took on roles of increasing responsibility over a 20-year timeframe. Mr. Mast is a member of l’Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and has a Bachelors’ and Masters’ degree in metallurgical engineering from McGill University. Mr. Mast also received post-secondary business training at Henley College in the UK and at the Universidad Catolica in Chile.
Frank Balint is a seasoned mining executive with over 35 years of broad ranging experience in the mining industry. Mr. Balint has been involved in all aspects of the mining life cycle from exploration, discovery, delineation and estimation of reserves, feasibility, financing, acquisition, development and closure. Mr. Balint possesses strong technical skills backed up by solid financial experience that has resulted in a strong exploration and acquisition track record. As a senior member of the executive team at Inmet Mining Corp. for nearly 20 years, Mr. Balint has had significant involvement with shaping, communicating, winning board support and executing a successful corporate strategy that saw Inmet Mining Corp. grow from a market cap of less than $200 million to over $5 billion when it was purchased by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. in March 2013. Mr. Balint was also a former director of Wolfden Resources Inc., a TSX-listed company which was sold to Zinifex in 2007 for $363 million. Mr. Balint is a licensed professional geologist (P. Geo) in Ontario.
Joseph de la Plante holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and brings with him more than 15 years of experience in M&A and financing within the mining sector, with a particular expertise in royalty and stream financing. Mr. de la Plante was Co-Founder, Chief Investment Officer and Director for Nomad Royalty Company Ltd. prior to its acquisition by Sandstorm Gold in August 2022. He also previously served as Vice President, Corporate Development for Osisko Gold Royalties from its creation in June 2014 until 2019. He was responsible for leading Osisko’s corporate development activities, including the sourcing and execution of acquisitions and equity, royalty and streaming investments. Prior to this, Mr. de la Plante held the position of Senior Advisor, Investment and Corporate Development of Osisko Mining Corporation until its acquisition by Agnico Eagle and Yamana in 2014. Before joining Osisko in 2010, Mr. de la Plante was an Analyst in BMO Capital Markets’ Global Metals & Mining Investment Banking Group in Toronto. Mr. de la Plante previously served as a director of Aquila Resources Inc. and has been a member of the board of directors of L’Association de l’exploration minière du Québec.
Sara Heston is currently an Associate Director at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She was Vice President of Investments at ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited from January 2010 through March 2019. Prior to joining ASA, Ms. Heston worked at hedge funds in New York and San Francisco. Ms. Heston has been a director of the Denver Gold Group, Inc. since December 2017 and is currently a director of Millennial Precious Metals Corp. and Nighthawk Gold Corp. Ms. Heston holds a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Martha Manuel is a consultant specialized in Indigenous relations and intergovernmental affairs. Ms. Manuel is a member of the Neskonlith Band, which is one of the 17 communities within the Secwepemculecw (Shuswap territory) in British Columbia. She worked with New Gold Inc., an intermediate mining company as Manager Indigenous Relations for 12 years and prior to that worked with Indigenous groups in the areas of education, trades training, housing, language and healthcare. Since leaving New Gold in 2020, she started he own consulting business and completed a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA).
In 2019, Ms. Manuel received the Michelle Pockey Leadership Award. The award is named in honor of the memory of a prominent lawyer and community activist, Michelle Pockey, who dedicated herself to making a positive impact with energy, mining, environmental and Indigenous issues, increasing the economic success and impact of women. She also received the Trailblazer Award through Women in Mining Canada at the PDAC conference in Toronto in March 2020.
Brent Omland has served as the Chief Financial Officer and a Director of Ocean Partners Holdings Limited, an international base and precious metals trader since 2013. Before joining Ocean Partners Holdings Limited in 2013, Mr. Omland was the Chief Financial Officer for Ivernia Inc. and Enirgi Metals Group, companies focused on lead mining and secondary lead smelting in Australia. Mr. Omland also worked in finance roles for Teck Cominco. Mr. Omland is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (Commerce) and a Canadian Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience in the mining, metals and trading business.
Ewan Downie is a founder of Doré Copper Mining Corp. He is an accomplished company builder and entrepreneur with more 25 years experience in the mining sector. Mr. Downie is currently Chief Executive Officer and Director of i-80 Gold Corp., a spin-out from Premier Gold Mines Limited (“Premier”). He served as founder, President and CEO of Premier and prior to this, founder President and CEO of Wolfden Resources Inc. Both companies enjoyed significant value appreciation following inception resulting in both being acquired with spinout vehicles to the benefit of shareholders. In his extensive career, Mr. Downie has participated in several gold and base metal discoveries and has been awarded accolades to reflect this success, including the 2003 recipient of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, Bill Dennis Prospector of The Year and several Exploration, and Development acknowledgements from the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association.
André Gaumond, M.Sc., P. Eng., is a veteran of the Québec and Canadian mining industry. Until November 2016, Mr. Gaumond was Senior Vice President, Northern Development and Exploration and until May 2019, as Director of Osisko Gold Royalties. He was the founder, President and CEO of Virginia Gold Mines Inc. from 1993 to 2006 and successor company Virginia Mines Inc. from 2006 to 2014 when it was acquired by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. Mr. Gaumond received, on behalf of Virginia Mines Inc, no less than 16 awards such as Québec Prospector of the Year (twice) bestowed upon important work carried out in the James Bay region. Mr. Gaumond serves on the board of Altius Minerals Corporation, Altius Renewable Royalties, and Harfang Exploration Inc.