Team
A knowledgeable group of committed and seasoned professionals make up the West Kirkland team. On the ground in Nevada we are fortunate to be partnered with experienced consultants that add to the depth of our management group for our exploration and development programs.
R. Michael Jones, B.A.SC., P.Eng
Director, President & CEO
Michael Jones brings over 25 years of experience as a professional geological engineer and has been involved with the raising of over $1 billion for exploration, mining development and production. He was a founder of Glimmer Resources Inc. and was responsible for the discovery of the Glimmer Gold mine, now Black Fox, in Ontario. During a six-year tenure as President of Cathedral Gold Corp., Mr. Jones ran a producing mining company and was involved in the review of a feasibility study and financing for a $1 billion mining project during two years as Vice President with Aber Resources.
Mr. Jones is President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Platinum Group Metals Ltd; a director of Nextraction Energy Corp.; a co-founder and former director of MAG Silver Corp.; and co-founder and former director of West Timmins Mining which was purchased in 2009 by Lake Shore Gold Corp. Mr. Jones served on the Securities Policy Advisory Committee of the British Columbia Securities Commission for six years and holds a B.A.Sc. in geological engineering from the University of Toronto.
Frank Hallam, B.B.A., C.A.
Director, CFO & Corporate Secretary
Frank Hallam was the original founder of New Millennium Metals Corp and Sydney Resource Corp. Mr. Hallam has extensive operating and financial experience at the senior management level with several publicly listed resource companies and has over sixteen years of experience working in East and South Africa, including his role as CFO and Director with Tan Range Exploration. In addition to his involvement raising over $1 billion for exploration, mining development and production, he has set up and administered exploration offices in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eritrea, among others and has been involved in negotiating and managing property deals with Anglo Platinum Ltd., Barrick Gold Corporation, Johannesburg Consolidated Investments and Newmont Mining Corporation.
Mr. Hallam is CFO, Corporate Secretary and a director of Platinum Group Metals Ltd., a director of Nextraction Energy Corp.; co-founder and former director of West Timmins Mining which was purchased in 2009 by Lake Shore Gold Corp.; and co-founder and former director of MAG Silver Corp. Mr. Hallam previously served as an auditor in the mining practice of Coopers and Lybrand. He is a chartered accountant and has a degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University.
Pierre Lebel, MBA, LLB
Director
Chairman of Imperial Metals Corp. since 2003, and its prior President from 1986-2003. Pierre has extensive experience in managing public companies serving as a Director of a number of public companies during his career. In 1998 he was the recipient of the E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development in British Columbia.
Pierre is also a director of HomEquity Bank, Business Council of British Columbia, Mining Association of British Columbia and the Mining Association of Canada. Pierre holds an MBA from McMaster University and an LLB from the University of Western Ontario.
Kevin Falcon, BA
Director
Prior to joining West Kirkland, Mr. Falcon served as the Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier of British Columbia. His extensive outreach to world capital markets following the global economic downturn, coupled with his introduction of a fiscally responsible budget, resulted in the re-affirmation of BC’s Triple A credit rating. As one of BC’s longest serving Ministers of Transportation and Infrastructure, he oversaw the largest capital investment program in BC history, including the Sea to Sky highway, Canada Line rapid transit project, Kicking Horse and Port Mann bridges, to name a few. Most recently, he has been hired as Executive Vice President of Anthem Capital Corporation. Mr. Falcon is a recipient of both the Queen’s Diamond and Golden Jubilee medals for his public service. Mr. Falcon received a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University and completed the Real Estate Mortgage and Licensing program from the Faculty of Commerce at UBC.
Sandy McVey, P. Eng. PMP, MSc
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. McVey joined the company in November of 2012 to oversee the development, permitting, mine design and construction of the TUG project for West Kirkland Mining. He has more than 30 years’ experience in management of underground and surface mines and project management of mine and heavy civil construction in Canada, USA, UK, and Africa. His most recent experience includes the successful planning and building an underground mine in Texas. Mr. McVey is a Professional Mining Engineer and a registered Project Management Professional. He holds a B. Sc. in mining engineering from Newcastle University, UK and a M.Sc. from Witwatersrand University, South Africa.