Board Of Directors

Eng., M.Sc., D.Eng., ICD.D. – Mr. Gignac Sr. has more than 45 years of experience in the mining industry. He has been involved, during his professional career, in the development and operations of some 20 mines throughout the Americas and West Africa. For 20 years, he served as President and CEO of Cambior Inc., an intermediate public mining company listed both in Canada and the USA and was involved in many M&A transactions and financings in addition to project development and operations management. He is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors (“ICD”), the OIQ and the CIM. He holds a Doctorate of Engineering in Mining Engineering from the University of Missouri Rolla, a Master’s degree in Mineral Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Laval University. He has previously served as a director to many public companies (Canada, USA and Australia) over the last 25 years and currently serves as a director of Franco-Nevada Corp. Mr. Gignac was inducted in the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2016.

Mr. Fennell has over 35 years of experience in the mining industry and has served as the Chairman of Reunion Gold since its inception in 2003. He received a law degree from the University of Alberta in 1979 and practiced law until he founded Golden Star Resources Ltd. in 1983. While at Golden Star, he was instrumental in the discovery and development of the Omai Gold Mine in Guyana and the Rosebel Mine in Suriname. In 1998, Mr. Fennell became Chairman and CEO of Hope Bay Gold Corporation. He held this position through the merger of Hope Bay and Miramar Mining Corporation and remained as Executive Vice-Chairman and a director for the combined entity until its takeover by Newmont Mining Corporation in 2008. Mr. Fennell also serves as Chairman of Highland Copper Company Inc., and he is a director of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.

P. Eng., M.Sc.A., CFA – Mr. Gignac has more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry. His expertise includes managing project development studies, providing open-pit expertise, financial modeling, and economic evaluation of projects. He has coordinated many mandates with numerous major mining companies ranging from early exploration evaluations to operations optimization involving all fields of mining and geology. He is a member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec (“OIQ”) and the Canadian Institute of Mining (“CIM”). He holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering from McGill University and a Master’s degree of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering from the École Polytechnique de Montréal and is a CFA Charterholder. Mr. Gignac also serves as a director of Major Drilling Group International.

Mr. Neal joined G Mining Ventures as Lead Director in 2020 with the formation of the Company, bringing 25 years of experience in the mining sector. He is one of four Founding Partners of Whetstone Resources, an active private acquisition company formed in 2022 and focused on base metal mining assets. Previously, Mr. Neal served as Executive Vice President at Kirkland Lake Gold 2021-2022, responsible for Corporate Development, Business Improvement, Capital Projects and Investor Relations, and departed after the successful completion of the merger of equals with Agnico Eagle to create the third largest global gold producer and second largest metals & mining company in Canada by revenue and employees. He was previously President & CEO of TMAC Resources for three years prior to TMAC being sold to Agnico Eagle as the natural consolidator in Nunavut. He is a veteran mining investment banker, having joined BMO Capital Markets at the start of 1997 after graduating from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Business Administration, and working his entire career through to retirement in 2018 focused exclusively on the metals and mining industry. Mr. Neal was promoted to Co-Head and Managing Director of the Global Metals and Mining Group in 2010, providing leadership to a team operating in offices located in Toronto, Vancouver, London, New York, Beijing and Melbourne. Mr. Neal is also an Independent Director of Deterra Royalties, based in Australia.

CPA, MBA, ICD.D – Ms. Lévesque is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 25 years of experience in finance, treasury and strategic management in the mining industry and most recently served as Founder and CFO of Nomad Royalty Company Ltd. until its acquisition by Sandstorm Gold Ltd. in 2022. Prior to that latter role, she was VP Finance and CFO of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. since its creation in 2014 to 2020. She held senior roles at Osisko Mining Corporation from 2008 to 2014, including as VP and Controller and worked for six years at Cambior Inc., a leading intermediate gold producer with mines in North and South America, which was later acquired by IAMGOLD Corporation. Ms. Lévesque also serves as a director of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Cascades Inc.

Mr. Sawiris is a manager of La Mancha Holding Sàrl, which he took private in 2012 with the vision to bring operational efficiency and ambition to a sector dominated by smaller junior companies. In 2015, he took the strategic decision to vend in La Mancha’s key publicly listed stakes into two regionally focused junior miners, Evolution Mining and Endeavour Mining, resulting in La Mancha becoming the largest shareholder in each of these companies. In the years that followed, Mr. Sawiris used his Board positions and La Mancha’s capital to support each of these companies, supporting the establishment of two multi-billion dollar mid-tier mining companies. Since 2021, La Mancha operates a Luxembourg-based fund, La Mancha Resource Fund SCSp, which focuses on the precious and energy transition metals sectors.

In addition to his role at La Mancha, Mr. Sawiris holds several board positions, including Executive Chairman of Orascom Investment Holding S.A.E. and Chairman of Ora Developers.

He holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering with a master’s in Technical Administration from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honours, including the Honor of Commander of the “Légion d’Honneur” (the highest award given by the French Republic for outstanding services rendered to France). In 2011, Mr. Sawiris was awarded the Honor of Commander of the Order of the “Stella della Solidarieta Italiana” (Star of Italian Solidarity).

MEcon - Ms. Zagury is a senior finance executive with nearly 30 years of experience in the mining industry. She retired in 2021 as executive of Vale S.A., following a distinguished 29-year career with that company. While at Vale, she led the Treasury and Corporate Finance function for 10 years, where she led an international team and oversaw planning, negotiations and execution of Vale’s corporate and project funding objectives, amongst other corporate finance activities.

More recently, Ms. Zagury was Vale’s Head of New Business Development (2018-2021), focusing on projects with strong ESG content. Ms. Zagury served as a director on several private and public companies, and more recently worked as a director of Steamship Insurance Management Services Ltd. (2016-2023), of MRS Logística S.A. (2017-2023) and also acted as Chairwoman of Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP) (2017-2023). Currently, she is a director of CLI – Corredor Logística e Infraestrutura S.A..

CFA – Mr. MacDonald has over 25 years of experience at natural resource focused institutional investment firms and currently serves as a Portfolio Manager for the Invesco Energy Fund and Invesco Gold & Precious Metals Fund. Mr. MacDonald began his investment career in 1994 at State Street Bank and Trust as a derivatives analyst. He later moved to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, where he worked for three years in progressive roles from research assistant to portfolio manager. His next role was as a VP and Partner at Beutel, Goodman & Co. Ltd. Prior to joining Invesco, Mr. MacDonald was a VP and Portfolio Manager at Salida Capital Corp. Mr. MacDonald earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Windsor and is a CFA Charterholder.

Réjean Gourde joined the Board of G Mining Ventures Corp. in 2024 after the merger with Reunion Gold Corp., where he was the Independent Director since 2011. Rejean Gourde was President and CEO of Reunion Gold Corp. from 2017 until he retired in June 2021. Mr. Gourde has more than four decades of experience in the mining industry. From 1994 to 2006, Mr. Gourde was Senior VP of the Guiana Shield Division at Cambior Inc. (now IAMGOLD). In that role he was responsible for the operations of Omai Gold Mines in Guyana, Rosebel Gold Mines in Suriname and other projects in the Guiana Shield. Since 2007, Mr. Gourde has worked as a mining consultant on several mining projects including the Essakane and Bomboré projects in West Africa, and other projects in Guyana and Peru. Mr. Gourde holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mining Engineering from Polytechnique Montreal and is a registered Professional Engineer in Quebec.

Pierre Chenard joined the Board of G Mining Ventures Corp. in 2024 after the merger with Reunion Gold Corp., where he was the Lead Independent Director from 2022. Mr. Chenard is an experienced, accomplished and well-rounded international business executive. He has held progressive roles in both the corporate development and legal areas over the past 35 years. Mr. Chenard is currently Chief Executive Officer of Manara Minerals Investment Company, a new venture between the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to invest in mining assets globally and support the development of resilient global supply chains. From February 2021, Mr. Chenard was Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy at Allied Gold Corp until its business combination and going public transaction was completed in September 2023, after which he continued as a non-executive director. From April 2019 to February 2021, he was Executive VP, Corporate Development & Strategy at AngloGold Ashanti. Prior to that, Mr. Chenard spent 12 years with Rio Tinto Aluminum including 8 years as Vice President, Business Development and General Counsel, Aluminium. From 1988 to 2000, Mr. Chenard was Vice President and Head of Corporate Development at Cambior Inc., a Canadian mining company who had mining operations in various countries including Guyana and Suriname. Mr. Chenard earned Civil and Common Law degrees from McGill University and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1984.

Vincent Benoit has over 30 years of corporate finance, business development and M&A experience in the mining, telecom, and energy sectors. Vincent identified the opportunity to buy La Mancha and joined the company as Head of Strategy & Business Development in 2012. Between 2013 and 2015, he led La Mancha’s portfolio restructuring and contributed to enhancing its mines’ performance in Australia and Africa. Vincent identified and executed the combinations with Evolution Mining Limited (ASX:EVN) and Endeavour Mining plc (TSX:EDV), positioning La Mancha as a leading private investor in the gold mining sector. From 2016 to 2019, Vincent was CFO and EVP of Corporate Development at Endeavour Mining plc, where he reshaped the strategy, improved the mine portfolio quality, and enhanced the balance sheet to fund organic growth. EDV’s market capitalization was quadrupled by the time he left at the end of 2019. In early 2020, he re-joined La Mancha to oversee investments and fundraising. Previously, Vincent was at Orange (2006-2012), where he served as EVP M&A. He led the development of the group’s footprint in Africa and Europe and formed strategic partnerships with key European telecom players. Prior to this, Vincent held various finance positions, including those with Orano (ex-Areva), Bull Information Systems, and PwC. Vincent holds an MSc from Kedge Business School and is a Chartered Accountant.