People (December 01, 2006)

Mark Tessier has joined Vancouver’s Aurora Energy as general manager of mining projects. He will head the team that designs, evaluates and prepares cost estimates for the uranium explorer. He counts 10 years of experience in the uranium mines of Elliot Lake and seven years at the Red Lake gold mine among his 28 years of experience.

Gordon Davidson has joined Vancouver’s Bayswater Uranium Corp. in the newly created role of vice-president exploration. He has played a role in uranium discoveries in the Thelon and Athabasca basins. He also directed exploration at Cumberland’s Meadowbank gold project.

The world’s largest publicly traded, stand-alone molybdenum producer, Blue Pearl Mining of Toronto, has named Kevin Loughrey as president and CEO. Most recently he held those positions at Thompson Creek Metals, which Blue Pearl bought.

Saskatoon-based Cameco has made two changes to its leadership. Tim Gitzel will become senior vice-president and COO in the first quarter of 2007, and former cabinet member and Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Anne McLellan has joined its board of directors.

Toronto’s Castillian Resources has named David Gower as president and CEO, effective Dec. 1. He was previously general manager of global nickel and PGM exploration at Falconbridge.

Engineering firm Gartner Lee has opened a new office in Halifax, and Ken Hamilton is the manager. He holds a chemical engineering degree from St. Mary’s University and the Nova Scotia Technical University. Hamilton can be reached at 902-435-0792.

Vancouver-headquartered Gold Canyon Resources has a new vice-president exploration, Garry K. Smith. He will be responsible for advancing the company’s gold, uranium and gallium projects.

The board and management of Vancouver-based Goldcorp have been revamped following the merger of that company and Glamis Gold. Ian Telfer moves from president and CEO to chairman of Goldcorp. Kevin McArthur is to be president and CEO as he was at Glamis. Charles Jeannes is the new executive vice-president, and Doug Holtby, former Goldcorp chairman becomes vice-chairman and lead director. Kevin McArthur, A. Dan Rovig, P. Randy Reifel and Kenneth Williamson are also joining the Goldcorp board of directors.

The boards of Rio Tinto Plc and Rio Tinto Limited have chosen Tom Albanese to succeed Leigh Clifford as CEO. Albanese is a 49-year-old U.S. citizen who holds degrees in mineral economics and mining engineering from the University of Alaska. He joined Rio Tinto in 1993.The appointment will take effect on May 1, 2007, following the company’s annual meeting.

Mike Dolin has joined St Andrew Goldfields as manager for the Aquarius gold project near Timmins, Ont. He will also co-ordinate efforts on the feasibility study on the property.

Hugh S. Duncan has been hired by Skye Resources of Vancouver as project director for the Fenix ferronickel project in Guatemala. He played significant leadership roles in several Falconbridge projects, most particularly in the development of the Koniambo ferronickel project in New Caledonia and the EPCM implementation of the Collahuasi copper project in northern Chile.

Dr. Paul West-Sells is the new senior metallurgist at Western Copper of Vancouver. Over the past five years, West-Sells held the same position at Placer Dome Technical Services where he helped develop the MATS gold thiosulphate leaching process. He also developed programs to investigate a wide range of gold extraction and copper heap leaching technologies.