Board of Directors and Management
M. Jack Keyes: Chief Executive Officer
Jack has worked in the international oil industry for 30 years, specializing in exploration operations, project management, and corporate management. Mr. Keyes was formerly with Petty-Ray Geophysical Company working on seismic operations in East and North Africa. He joined Gulf Oil Corporation in 1978 and worked on various exploration projects in Europe, the Middle East, North and West Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. On leaving Gulf he joined Western Atlas International as a project manager within the international exploration group. He founded Frontier Resources International, Inc. in 1988 and was a co-founder and COO of Circle Oil Plc. Mr. Keyes studied Experimental Physics as an undergraduate at the National University of Ireland and completed his formal education at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma with a Master’s Degree in Exploration Geophysics.
Neil Herbert: Corporate Advisor
Neil has over 25 years of experience managing, advising, and investing in growth companies from start-up through IPO, development, and successful M&A. He began his career in 1991 with PwC and spent six years working with clients across several disciplines. He joined Antofagasta Plc in 1998 as Group Financial Controller and in September 2001 began to act is an executive and non-executive director capacity to a wide range of natural resource companies including Polo Resources Ltd., Patagonia Gold Plc, Kalahari Diamond Resources, International Molybdenum Plc., Galahad Gold, Areva Resources Southern Africa and Atlantic Lithium Inc. He most recently advised Helium One on a successful fundraising and listing on the ASX. Mr. Herbert holds a BA Joint Honors degree in Economics and Economic History from the University of Leicester. He is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Ian Stalker: Corporate Advisor
Ian is a senior international mining executive with over forty-five years of experience in resource development, mine construction, and operations in Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia. He is currently Chairman of Helium One Ltd., a helium development company in Tanzania. Ian has been responsible for managing the development of over twelve major mining projects from initial exploration drilling to start-up. He is the former Chief Executive of both LSC Lithium Corporation and K92 Holdings International Ltd. He has extensive public company experience with companies listed on both AIM and the TSX. such as Brazilian Gold Corp., Berkeley Resources Ltd., Niger Uranium Ltd., and UraMin Inc. Mr. Stalker holds a Bachelor’s Degree (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Tim Wright: Exploration Manager
Mr. Wright has over 30 years of experience in worldwide exploration operations and project management. From 1989 to 1999 he worked as a senior explorationist with AMOCO Production Company on various projects in the North Sea, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. In 2000 he joined Occidental Oil and Gas Company in Houston, Texas, and worked as a geophysical advisor working on new venture projects in Africa. He joined El Paso Corporation in 2005 working on various exploration and development projects offshore Brazil. Tim worked for Frontier Resources International from 2013 until
2015 working new ventures specifically Oman, Namibia, and Zambia. He joined Pharos Energy (formerly Merlon International, Inc.). in 2016 as Geophysical Manager of the El Fayum exploration and production Concession, Western Desert, Egypt, and recently completed a one-year assignment as Exploration Manager in Cairo, Egypt in 2020.
Tim holds a Master’s Degree in Exploration Geophysics from the University of Leeds, England, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Maritime Studies from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in Cardiff, Wales.
Wahid Rahman: Adviser-Geochemistry
Wahid has over two decades of experience as an Earth Science Geochemist in both academia and industry. He began his career at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and later at the Department of Geological Sciences at Auburn University. In 2014 he joined Devon Energy specializing in petroleum systems analysis and basin modeling and later provided fluid chemistry-based services at Pioneer Natural Resources. He has served as a geochemical adviser to various industry groups including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Currently, he is the Director of Geoscience and Laboratories at Impac Exploration Services in Houston, Wahid holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Dhaka University in Bangladesh, a Master of Science Degree from Auburn University, and a PhD in Geochemistry from Southern Illinois University, He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, The Society of Organic Petrology and the Bangladesh Geological Society.