Patrick Cheetham has a first class honours degree in Mining Geology from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, University of London. He is also a former winner of the Cominco (Europe) prize for mining geology. Patrick co-founded Archaean Gold N.L. in 1993 with his wife, Karen. At the 1995 "Diggers and Dealers" mining forum in Western Australia, Archaean Gold N.L. was awarded "Best Junior Explorer of the Year", and in July 1996 it was the subject of a successful $50 million takeover bid by Lachlan Resources NL. Prior to founding Archaean Gold, Patrick was, from 1986 to 1993 joint managing director of Dragon Mining NL, during which time he was responsible for the formation of that company, the identification of and acquisition of its exploration projects, its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange and the subsequent development of its exploration projects. Patrick operated a private mineral exploration company, Sovereign Mining Limited, in the UK from 1983 to 1985 and prior to that worked for Western Mining Corporation in Western Australia, and for Imperial Metals Corporation in British Columbia, Canada. He is Executive Chairman of Sunrise Resources plc.
Mr Cheetham is Chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees.
Richard Belcher has a BSc Honours (First Class) in Exploration Geology from Cardiff University and a PhD in Geology from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. More recently he was awarded an MSc Finance (with distinction) from Leicester University. Richard has over 22 years post PhD geological experience working as a contractor and consulting geologist on a variety of commodities from early stage through to resource definition. He has extensive African experience and was based in South Africa for over a decade. He is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and a Chartered (CGeol) Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
Mike has some forty years’ experience in the mining industry. He spent his early career working underground as a geologist in South Africa and then completed his PhD assessing alternative methods of reserve estimation at the Renco Mine in Zimbabwe. He then joined SRK Consulting as a resource geologist in 1991 and over the next 30 years held various technical and management roles before leaving in early 2022. These roles included being Chairman of SRK Global, Managing Director and Chairman of SRK’s UK practice and Chairman of SRK’s Russia, Kazakhstan and Exploration practices.
Mike also spent many years as joint course co-ordinator of a MSc in Mineral Resources at Cardiff University and then as external examiner for the MSc in Metals and Energy Finance at Imperial College, University of London. He has also been a council member and Vice President of the Geological Society and is currently Chairman of the Geological Society Business Forum and Honorary Chairman of the Critical Minerals Association.
Mike continues to act as a consultant to the mining industry generally and is managing director and founder of Sarn Helen Gold Ltd., a company exploring for gold in the UK. Mike also currently serves as a non-executive director of Central Asia Metals Ltd, Atalaya Mining Copper S.A. and Oriole Resources plc.
Mike is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees.
Lorenz Werndle is a finance executive with experience across mining, strategy, corporate development and mergers and acquisitions, both internationally and in southern Africa. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director for Kavango Resources plc, an LSE-listed exploration and development company with projects in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Prior to this he served as CFO of Blue Gold Limited, a Nasdaq-listed company, and has also had leadership roles with Mwana Africa Plc, Lonrho Plc and Ambrian Plc.
Lorenz is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees.
Rod Venables is a qualified solicitor who worked for 6 years in private practice, specialising in company and commercial law, before moving to the financial services sector. He worked in corporate finance and corporate broking with a number of stockbroking and advisory firms, including Greig Middleton & Co Limited, Old Mutual Securities Limited, Allenby Capital Limited, Northland Capital Partners Limited and City Group Plc focusing on equity capital markets and, in particular, the AIM market. Over the last 30 years, he has advised the boards of both private and public companies, based in the UK and overseas. He has experience across a wide range of sectors but, in recent years, he has been mostly involved with the resources, technology and support services sectors. He is Company Secretary for Sunrise Resources plc.
