Juan Vegarra is a native of Peru and continues to foster his significant base of contacts within the both the Peruvian government and the mining industry. Prior to his appointments as Chairman and CEO of Vena Resources in 2003, Mr. Vegarra enjoyed a successful career as a Microsoft executive. He currently manages a venture capital firm focused on the mining sector in addition to his duties with Vena Resources.
Mr. Burgess became a director in January 2005. He has over 20 years of experience as a mining engineer and holds degrees in both mechanical and mining engineering. He is a Vice President of Micon International Limited, mineral industry consultants and his prior operating experience includes senior positions in the copper industry of Zambia and gold mining in South Africa. In Zambia, he held management positions with both technical and production responsibility. In South Africa, he was responsible for the introduction of mechanized mining systems to the gold mines of Anglo-American Corporation in the Orange Free State. Mr. Burgess has particular experience in the monitoring to completion of mining projects for banks and financial institutions and sits on the board of several junior mining companies.
Mr. Clarke has been Vice President, Business Development with CGX Energy Inc., a TSX Venture listed exploration company with licenses offshore Guyana, South America since November 2009. Prior to joining CGX, Mr. Clarke was Executive Vice President, Corporate as well as being a director and one of the original founders of Candax Energy Inc., a TSX listed E&P company. Mr. Clarke is President of Clarke Energy Consulting Inc. and has over 35 years international experience in the energy sector and a broad capital markets background, including eight years as a Vice President and Senior Oil & Gas Analyst with Deutsche Bank and Octagon Capital Corporation, where he was ranked top North American Oil & Gas Analyst in 2003 and 2004 by Forbes/Starmine. Mr. Clarke has strong relationships in the global equity capital markets. Mr. Clarke has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK and a Masters in Science from Imperial College, London, UK as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Calgary.
Mr. Grau resides in Peru and has been instrumental in the negotiation and implementation of several internationally viable resource projects, including the Shell-Mobil Camisea Natural Gas project and the Antamina mining project. Mr. Grau was a Director of Antamina until 2005 and chairman of Minera Milpo 1999-2002, one of the largest Peruvian zinc producers. He is also a member of the board of TSX listed mining companies like Bear Creek Mining and formerly Peru Copper until sold to Chinalco, and is related in Peru to companies such as Rio TInto, Xstrata, among others.
Dr. Zeitler has been involved in the mining industry for over 30 years. Dr. Zeitler was a managing director of Metallgesellschaft AG, a German metals conglomerate and in 1986 founded and was a director and CEO of Metall Mining, later Inmet, a TSX listed company with assets of over $4 billion and base metal and gold mines in different parts of the world. After having been a director of Teck and Cominco for many years, Dr. Zeitler joined Teck in 1997 as Senior Vice President and had responsibilities for the exploration and development of mines in Peru, Mexico and the USA. Since his retirement in 2002 from Teck Cominco and in addition to being President, CEO and a director of Amerigo Resources Ltd., Dr. Zeitler is also Chairman and a director of Candente Copper Corp., a TSX listed company, and of Rio Alto Mining Limited, a TSX Venture Exchange listed company. He has been actively involved as a director in various junior base and precious metal companies. Dr. Zeitler is a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Prospectors and Developers Association. Dr. Zeitler holds a PhD in economic planning.