John Passalacqua, Int’l MBA
CEO and Director
John Passalacqua is an international business strategist with over 35 years of extensive technology and capital markets experience. In 1998, John gained the title of a top 50 international business strategist on the early internet. He is involved in private and public market planning for companies in nascent, visionary industries. John has lived in Quebec and is fluently bilingual.
Laurence W. Zeifman, CPA
Chairman
Laurence W. Zeifman is an audit partner of Zeifmans LLP, a mid-sized Toronto public accounting firm. Larry has four decades of experience in public accounting and served for many years as chair of Nexia Canada, the Canadian division of one of the largest international accounting networks. He is also former Director of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club / former Alternate Governor of the National Hockey League.
Bennett Kurtz
CFO and Director
Bennett Kurtz is principal of Kurtz Financial Group. He has experience in financing public companies and taking private companies public. Bennett has multi-faceted business experience in finance, management, sales, marketing and administrative functions including business analysis, public business unit segmentation, internal and external analytics.
Peter Nicholson
Director
Peter Nicholson is a recognized leader in Canadian tax assisted investments, with a specialized focus on philanthropic tax planning and tax reduction and the mining industry. Through work with numerous donors, foundations, institutions, and boards, Peter has helped generate over $350 million for client donations. Peter is also a generous philanthropist in his own right and a tireless supporter of community initiatives.
Armand MacKenzie
President
Armand MacKenzie was raised in traditional Innu territory. He has practiced law for 15 years and was chief legal advisor on land rights for the Innu Nation. He was special advisor/negotiator on the drafting and adoption of the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He has negotiated numerous impact benefit agreements. He has been a mining executive for the last 15 years.
David Dufour
Executive Vice-president
David Dufour has over 30 years experience in the development and the management of high-growth businesses in Saguenay, Quebec. He has worked as land surveyor, project manager and director of economic development. He also worked in economic development for the Government of Quebec. David specializes in the areas of eco-responsibility and local governance issues.
Steeve Lavoie, P. Geo
Chief Geologist
Steeve Lavoie completed a bachelor’s degree in geology, with a concentration in environmental studies, at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC). He has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration. Steeve has planned and supervised drilling projects in Quebec and Nunavut. He has participated in two mining project start-ups for Agnico Eagle Mines and promoted them to local communities.
Mario Bouchard
Project Development Manager
Mario Bouchard was Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries and Major Economic Projects at the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec. He was also Associate Deputy Minister for Energy, Natural Resources and Finance. Mario was involved in major corporate financing by the Québec government, the creation of state-owned companies / privatizations.
Gary Stanley
US Government Relations
Gary Stanley is former Director of the Office of Critical Minerals and Metals at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He has 40+ years experience serving under every U.S. President from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden. Mr. Stanley worked with both public and
private sector stakeholders to strengthen American supply chains and U.S. global competitiveness in critical minerals. He was lead author of the 2019 US Federal Critical Minerals Strategy.
Yves Desrosiers, Eng.
Director of Mining Operations
Yves Desrosiers is a metallurgical engineer having managed major site operations and engineering projects in the mining sector as manager, general manager, and vice-president. He has knowledge of mining, concentrators, engineering, environment, health & safety/maintenance. He focuses on production costs while respecting deadlines and budgetary constraints.
Eva Carissimi
Project Manager, Phosphoric Acid / LFP CAM
Eva Carissimi is a metallurgical engineer with over 35 years experience in the efficient operation of large-scale industrial plants. She was most recently responsible for the greenfield commissioning of a lithium-ion recycling plant in Québec. Eva has also served in c-suite and board level positions for private and public companies and other organizations alike.
Mehrdad Taheran
Senior Metallurgist
Mehrdad Taheran has a solid foundation in chemical engineering and water sciences combined with a drive to advance innovative metallurgical solutions. With over 15 years of experience in research, product development, and project management, he specializes in optimizing extraction and refining processes, enhancing operational efficiency, and ensuring consistent product quality.
Frédéric Lalancette, Eng., M. Sc.
Project Manager
Frédéric Lalancette has three years of experience as an environmental project manager at an engineering consulting firm. She holds a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering and a master’s degree in earth sciences—environmental technologies. She brings unique expertise, particularly in geology, environmental law, environmental impact studies, and hydrogeology.
Arnab De, CPA, CGMA, CMA, MBA
Corporate Finance Director
Arnab De has over 20 years of experience in financial management, financial planning, business optimization and strategy development. He worked for Tata Group as CFO in the JCAPCPL joint venture with Nippon Steel and Tata Steel Minerals Canada, where he oversaw the DSO project from conception and managed a +$1.5B investment of in equity/debt.
Valérie Morin
Chartered Professional Accountant
Valérie Morin brings experience gained in accounting firms, both in audit and assurance as well as advisory services, where she worked with organizations with a wide range of business models. She brings a rigorous and structured financial perspective as to the viability and economic potential of projects and supports informed investment decisions.
Cindy Romero-Luarca
Manager, Project Initiatives
Cindy has advised on tax credits and government incentives for capital-intensive, innovation-driven projects across advanced manufacturing, AIoT, optics-photonics, aerospace, critical minerals and the electric battery value chain. At former Big Four firms, she supported global clients in securing governmental funding from key agencies.
Alexis de la Renaudière
Team Lead, Strategic Development
Alexis de la Renaudière is a business development professional with extensive capital markets experience. He was at the core of the development of Peterson Capital building and managing relationships with strategic and institutional investors. He is an out-of-thebox thinker who pursues new business opportunities from a strategic perspective.
Peter Kent
Peter Kent was an international broadcast journalist, reporter, producer (CTV, CBC, NBC, Monitor, Global) for four decades. Elected to Canadian Parliament in 2008, Peter served in the Department of Foreign Affairs as Minister of State for the Americas, and as Environment Minister. He oversaw improvements to the environmental assessment of resource projects and responsible resource development.
Dr. Peir Pufahl, P. Geo
Dr. Peir Pufahl is professor of Earth Science at Queen’s University, Canada, and co-director of the Queen’s Facility for Isotope Research. He is an internationally recognized expert on the geology of phosphorites. Dr. Pufahl and his team have developed state-of-the-art phosphorite exploration models and fine-tuned production strategies. Dr. Pufahl is a Fellow of both the Society of Economic Geologists and the Geological Society of America.
Yves Caprara
Yves Caprara is an international expert in purified phosphoric acid technologies and their applications with focus on sustainability. He was CEO of Prayon SA, Europe’s largest producer of food and technical grade phosphoric acid. Yves ran operations in Europe, the United States, Canada, China, India, Brazil and Morocco. Board member of the International Fertilizer Association from 2015-2020.
Paul Pitman, P. Geo
Paul Pitman is a registered professional geologist who has over 50 years’ experience as exploration geologist, as corporate officer of mining companies and as geological consultant. He is a former director/officer of several junior resource companies that he founded including three fertilizer companies: Pueblo Potash Inc., Murdock Mt. (phosphate) and Boreal Agrominerals (mineral soils).
Ford Nicholson
Ford Nicholson is a Managing Partner and founder of Kepis & Pobe Financial Group. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Nicholson has invested in and provided executive management to multiple international projects in the traditional energy and renewable energy sectors. Mr. Nicholson is the former deputy chairman of the board of InterOil Corporation before its sale to ExxonMobil. Ford is also a former member of the President’s council of the International Crisis Group.
Bernard Lapointe
Bernard Lapointe founded Arianne Phosphate in 1997 and was president of the company until 2013. Bernard holds a Ph.D. in mineral resources from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC). Prior to Arianne Phosphate, he was director of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Mining Fund. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of several public companies in the resource and fertilizer sectors.
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