Team

Jan is the chief executive officer of Pala Investments AG, which he founded in July 2006. He is currently a Director of Alacer Gold Corporation (TSX:ASR, ASX:AQG), Capstone Mining Corp (TSX:CS), Nevada Copper Corp (TSX:NCU), Churchill Mining PLC (AIM:CHL), and Sierra Rutile Ltd (AIM:SRX), where he is the Chairman of the Board. He is also a director of Gemcom Software International Inc., a private company.

Prior to establishing Pala, Jan was Senior Vice President-Investments and Corporate Affairs for Mechel OAO, a major Russian mining and metals company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:  MTL), where his primary responsibilities covered mergers and acquisitions, non-core asset disposals, and investor and public relations.  He also managed Mechel’s IPO on the NYSE.

Before joining Mechel, Jan worked for Latham & Watkins LLP where he specialized in securities and M&A transactions.  In total, Jan led the IPOs of three out of the four IPOs of Russian companies on the NYSE, as well as worked on numerous mergers and acquisitions, and private equity transactions, including some of the largest M&A deals in Russia and Ukraine. Prior to Latham & Watkins, Jan was at Chadbourne & Park and White & Case, working primarily on project financings.

Jan received his J.D. and B.A. from Columbia University.

Michael is currently a Director of WDS Ltd (ASX:WDS), Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX:PEN), Sierra Rutile Ltd (AIM:SRX), Dumas Contracting Ltd and Tercon Investments Limited. In addition to his involvement in many of Pala’s largest transactions, including Pala’s investments in Anatolia Minerals Development Corporation, Avoca Resources Limited, Dumas Contracting Limited and Norcast Wear Solutions, Mike led Pala’s investments in Peninsula and Tercon.

Prior to joining Pala, Michael was at Hatch Corporate Finance, a company specializing in the metals and mining industry. Michael worked on a broad spectrum of transactions in the sector, including Rio Tinto’s investment in Ivanhoe Mines, the disposal of EnterTad’s steel distribution business, seed financing of RecovCo, a start-up aluminum recycler, negotiation of a major debt facility for Cambrian Mining, appraisal of and investment in metallurgical coal prospects for Tata Steel, and the development of several early-stage mining projects through partnership agreements, including Crew Minerals with Jilin Jien Nickel and Western Canadian Coal with Anglo American.

Michael began his career with Deloitte & Touche where he was involved with numerous clients, transactions and projects in the mining sector. Michael is a qualified chartered accountant (ACA) and a fellow of the Securities and Investment Institute.

Mike is currently a director of Sierra Rutile Ltd (AIM:SRX) and Dumas Contracting Ltd. Mike joined Pala from De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd (“DBCM”), where he was Chief Operating Officer (COO). As COO he was responsible to the DBCM Board for all operations in South Africa, including production at 5 separate mines, the planning and execution of construction projects, strategic business development and health, safety and environmental control. Mike managed a number of significant projects including the restructuring of DBCM in and 2009 in response to the global financial crisis.

Previously, Mike was Head of Strategic Business Development, where he was responsible for the full value chain from resource evaluation to strategic business planning, concept studies, feasibility studies and project implementation. He managed the following projects: the Finsch block 5 feasibility study for $750 million project; the $35 million Venetia resource extension project; the pre-feasibility study for a $1.3 billion underground mine at the Venetia project; the $1 million Finsch Mine Treatment Plant Upgrade; and the $200 million mine construction at the Voorspoed Project.

Mike began his mining career with De Beers in 1990 as a mining engineer, and during his tenure has held several senior appointments including those of Group Manager in Global Mining, General Manager Finsch Mine, and Mining/Area Manager Nambeb.

Mike is a registered Professional Engineer (Pr. Eng) with the South African Council of Professional Engineers and a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering.

As Vice President, Operations, Colin is involved in public securities transactions, transaction execution and structuring and regulatory compliance.

Prior to joining Pala Investments AG, Colin was Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Petroplus Holdings AG, where he participated in the initial public offering of Petroplus on the Swiss Exchange and in several follow-on equity and debt offerings. Prior to Petroplus, Colin worked in the finance department of Motiva Enterprises LLC and in investor relations at Premcor (acquired by Valero in 2005).

Before entering the private sector, Colin served for ten years in the United States Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator, attaining the rank of Major. He specialized in operations planning and safety.

Colin holds a BA from Gettysburg College, an MBA from the University of Phoenix and an Investor Relations Certificate from the University of California-Irvine.

As General Counsel, Greg is involved in various aspects of all of Pala’s portfolio companies and transactions. Greg is currently a Director of Coalcorp Mining Inc (TSX:CCJ) and Churchill Mining (AIM:CHL).

Prior to joining Pala, Greg was a Vice President and Corporate Counsel at Prudential Financial, Inc., responsible for all aspects of legal and transactional oversight of the pan-Asian and Mexican/Latin American asset management businesses of its Pramerica Real Estate Investors division. He specialized in the foreign investment regimes of various developing countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as the formation and management of investment funds for institutional investors from Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

In the late 80’s and through the 90’s, Greg split his time between Asia and New York, holding various positions in the legal sector in cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo and, in particular, began his legal career at Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells LLP, where he advised clients on public and private offerings of equity and debt, as well as on mergers and acquisitions involving both publicly and privately traded companies.

Greg received his J.D. from Columbia University and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard University.

John is Pala’s Assistant General Counsel and handles all legal matters including mergers and acquisitions, equity financings, securities compliance, employment and litigation. John provides legal and compliance support to Pala’s investment team and portfolio companies such as Sierra Rutile, Dumas Contracting and Tercon. He managed Pala’s sale of Norcast Wear Solutions and its successful mandatory tender offer for Sierra Rutile.

John joined Pala in November 2010 from international law firm Herbert Smith where he specialized in the energy and natural resources sectors. During his six years at the firm, John worked in London, Singapore and Jakarta advising major corporates such as British American Tobacco, BHP Billiton, PTT International, SouthGobi Energy Resources and Churchill Mining on acquisitions, disposals and equity financing. Prior to Herbert Smith, John was at Rajah & Tann, working primarily on commercial and banking litigation matters.

John obtained his LL.B. (First Class) from King’s College London and is qualified in England & Wales (solicitor) and Singapore (advocate & solicitor).

Stephen’s Pala investment experience includes several projects across broad range of commodities, including base metals, precious metals, and mineral sands, as well as the mining services sector. In addition to working on a number of Pala’s key transactions, Stephen has worked closely with a number of Pala’s investee companies to support them in a range of strategic initiatives, including the geographical expansion of Dumas Mining’s business both through organic growth and a series of acquisitions in Latin America.

Prior to joining Pala, Stephen worked as a senior consultant with AMEC Plc. Stephen advised on a range of natural resources transactions across the metals and mining, oil and gas and renewables sectors, including the IPO of the Kazakhstan state oil company and CITIC Resources' acquisition of the Karazhanbas oilfield. Stephen was also an advisor on several private equity transactions including refractory products manufacturers LWB Refractories and Magnesita, recycling technology company RecovCo and mining equipment manufacturer Schenck Process, as well as working on the implementation of the Equator Principles at projects such as the Rosia Montana Gold Project.

Stephen holds an MBA from the IE Business School in Madrid. He also holds an MSc from the University of North Carolina and a BSc from the University of Wales, Swansea.

With over ten years of direct mining experience, Martyn has worked closely with several of Pala’s portfolio companies, including Sierra Rutile Ltd (AIM:SRX) and Norcast Wear Solutions, to assist in their execution of strategic plans, product marketing strategy, corporate governance and achievement of operational goals.

Prior to joining Pala, Martyn was a Business Development Manager with Anglo American plc in its ferrous metals business unit.  Martyn’s primary responsibilities centered on the review and evaluation of potential iron ore investments in Canada, Brazil, West Africa and Australia. Martyn also spent five years working as a senior mining engineer with Rio Tinto in their technical services and industrial minerals groups.  In addition to industrial minerals, Martyn’s commodity experience also includes gold, copper, coal and potash operations.

Martyn holds an MBA (with distinction) from the London Business School and a MEng (First Class) in Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London.

Philip has over ten years of experience as an advisor in the natural resources sector. He has worked with several of Pala’s portfolio companies, including Alacer Gold (TSX:ASR), Sierra Rutile (AIM:SRX) and Dumas Mining to assist them with strategic development, business performance and planning, structuring and corporate governance. He has evaluated numerous opportunities across several commodities in the mining space.

Before joining Pala, Philip was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, where he was involved with advisory projects, transactions and consulting engagements in the mining and energy sectors. Philip has advised on the IPOs of Vedanta Resources plc, INA and Wilson Sons, various bond issues for Vedanta and OMV AG and other due diligence and consultancy projects. Additional companies he has worked with include Anglo American, Norsk Hydro, Hambledon Mining and the World Gold Council.

Philip graduated from Oxford University with a Masters in Earth Sciences. He is a qualified chartered accountant (ACA).

Evgenij’s Pala investments experience includes several Eastern European oil and gas interests, as well as base metals and bulk commodities companies and he is currently a Director of Winstar Resources Ltd (TSX:WIX). Evgenij’s commodities experience extends across a broad range of bulk commodities, precious and base metals.

Evgenij began his career in commodities trading at Mechel, a Russian metals and mining company. He continued his career at Mechel as a financial manager, where his responsibilities included all aspects of budgeting, forecasting and financial modeling.

Evgenij graduated from the University of Zurich with a Masters of Arts degree.

Prior to joining Pala Investments AG, Richard was a Director in the Global Group Treasury Department at UBS AG. Richard was responsible for daily financial control and risk reporting for the Interest Rates Desk and Group Treasury’s global balance sheet reporting.

Richard has over ten years of experience in finance, beginning his career working for Morgan Brown & Spofforth, where he was involved in auditing and accounting for companies in the electronics, manufacturing, trading and service sectors. After leaving at the level of senior auditor, Richard joined Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for corporate and regulatory reporting, as well as the product and financial control functions, in Germany and Switzerland.

Richard holds a BA from Exeter University, an MSc from the University of Surrey and is a qualified chartered accountant, ACA.

Natalia has seven years of experience in corporate finance and investment banking. Prior to joining Pala, Natalia was an Associate in Corporate Finance at Renaissance Capital in Moscow. She worked on a number of private and public placement transactions with focus on the natural resources sector in Russia and Emerging markets. Natalia was involved in an advisory role on the execution of public placements to several of Russia’s largest metals, mining and energy groups, as well as in a number of private M&A deals in the oil and gas sector.

Prior to that, Natalia worked in M&A and Corporate Finance department at Aton Capital Group in Moscow. Her experience includes financial analysis and valuation, advisory and execution assignments of sell-side, buy-side and capital raising projects in various sectors and geographies.

Natalia received MBA degree from IE Business School in 2010. She also holds an MSc in International Economic Relations from MGIMO-University, Moscow.

Martina has transitioned to the Analyst role with Pala after two years in our Operations team as an accountant. Prior to joining Pala, Martina was in the finance department of John Lay Electronics, Switzerland, where she was involved with all aspects of accounting and financial reporting. Martina began her career at Ascenseurs Schindler, and has over seven years of experience in accounting.

Martina is a professional accounting graduate.