Dr. West-Sells has over 20 years' experience in the mining industry. After obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in Metallurgical Engineering, he worked with BHP, Placer Dome, and Barrick in increasingly senior roles in Research and Development and Project Development. Dr. West-Sells has worked for Western Copper and Gold since 2006, where he has held a number of technical and executive positions, and is now the President and CEO overseeing the day to day operations of the company. Dr. West-Sells sits on the Yukon Minerals Advisory Board, the Board of the Yukon Mining Alliance and is also on the Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining Governing Council.
A graduate of Queens University (B.Sc., 1970) and the University of Toronto (M.Sc., 1973), Bruce Downing has over 30 years of experience as a senior geologist working for several corporations and as a consultant on surface and underground gold and base metal exploration and production projects in British Columbia and around the world. His early experience centered on exploration but since 1989 his career has expanded into mining, the environment and technology. Mr. Downing was involved in the exploration and pre-production at the Windy Craggy open pit and underground massive copper sulphide deposit (British Columbia); wrote reclamation and closure plan for an open pit copper -- gold mine (British Columbia): was involved in acid rock drainage studies for the feasibility studies for the Voisey's Bay massive nickel sulphide deposit (Newfoundland) and the Petaquilla copper porphyry deposit in Panama; and worked at the Falcondo nickel laterite mine in the Dominican Republic. He has published 18 papers concerning exploration, computing, history, electrochemistry, environmental and technology topics and is a co-author of the online acid rock drainage course offered by Edumine. As a consultant, he is aware of the education of junior companies in regards to meeting standards and their role in the environment and has given presentations to various elementary schools. In 1983, he co-founded a software company for developing commercial geochemical programs for use in the exploration and mining industry. In 1999, he founded a high tech company (MagPower Systems) to develop the magnesium-air technology for use in fuel cell commercial products. A subsequent spin-off from this technology led to research and development in zinc electrowinning. Mr. Downing has also been involved in mining-related environmental and reclamation programs and has initiated several research and development projects, some of which have led to patents. During his time with the software and technology companies, he was involved in promotions and marketing. He has been involved with several junior mining companies as a CEO, director and consultant. He presently sits on the Geoscience Committee and Practice Review Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists and is a member of several professional organizations. In 1997 the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists presented him with the Chris Westerman Award, which is the highest geoscience recognition.
Ron Bilquist has had a passion for, and been committed to, mining exploration and prospecting for more than 52 years. He has worked extensively throughout Canada and its territories, as well as parts of Mexico and Argentina. He is familiar with a wide variety of geological models and concepts and has been involved with the planning and carrying out of many regional exploration programs from the grassroots level and upwards. In Canada, his prospecting has resulted in the discoveries, and co discoveries, of mineral occurrences that have generated many exploration and mining projects. He has been actively exploring north western Argentina since 1995 with a variety of companies and was a key member of the team that discovered the Lindero Gold project of Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. In 2003, with three associates, Mr. Bilquist was instrumental in introducing Cascadero Copper to the potential for successful mineral exploration and discovery in Argentina. Significant discoveries he has made, or has been directly involved with since 2003 include the Quevar Silver project, currently owned by Golden Minerals and numerous gold and porphyry copper-gold occurrences along the Taca Taca trend with some of these adjacent to First Quantum’s advanced phase Taca Taca Cu-Au-Mo Project. Mr. Bilquist, with his prospecting partner Les Allen, submitted the first rocks for analysis that came back highly anomalous in cesium and led to the discovery of Cascadero’s Taron Cesium project.
