Board of Directors

Blake Hylands, P.Geo

CEO & Director

Mr. Hylands is a Professional Geoscientist with over a decade of experience in advanced and early-stage mineral exploration. He has built and led technical teams across a range of commodities, including gold, base metals, and iron ore, with project experience spanning Canada, South America, and Europe.

Mr. Hylands previously held a senior exploration leadership role at a Canadian development-stage mining company, where he contributed to the advancement of a large-scale gold-copper project.

He has held numerous board positions with junior mining companies and has extensive experience in capital markets, in addition to executive roles spanning exploration and corporate development.

He brings a strong track record in team building, project advancement, and stakeholder engagement, including work with Indigenous communities.

He holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Western Ontario.

Clovis Torres

Director

Clovis Torres is a Brazilian executive, lawyer and corporate governance leader with more than three decades of experience across mining, energy, infrastructure, project finance, M&A, regulatory affairs, compliance, crisis management and public company governance. He previously served as an Executive and General Counsel of Vale S.A. for 17 years, where his responsibilities included legal, governance, compliance, institutional relations, M&A, tax, energy and human resources, and where he also served as Secretary to the Board of Directors and led Vale's Crisis and Ethics Committees. Mr. Torres has also served on the Board of Directors of Petrobras S.A., as Chairman of BR Distribuidora S.A., and as Chairman of IBRAM, the Brazilian Mining Institute, and was previously President and CEO of Furnas Centrais Elétricas S.A. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Belo Sun Mining Corp. and a founding partner of Mello, Torres Advogados, a Brazilian law firm focused on project finance, M&A, restructuring, mining, power, environmental law and crisis management.

David D’Onofrio

Director

David D’Onofrio brings over 15 years of extensive experience in corporate finance and capital markets, specializing in growth industries with a focus on the natural resource sector. Currently, he serves as the Chief Financial Officer of PowerOne Capital Markets Limited, a diversified merchant bank that provides early-stage capital and advisory services to emerging growth companies worldwide. Since joining PowerOne in 2009, David has played a crucial role in guiding companies through capital acquisition, mergers and acquisitions, and overall business management, contributing to over 500 transactions totaling more than $4 billion.

David's expertise extends to the lithium exploration and development industry, where he has been an active participant since 2008. He has served as an early investor, director, financier, and advisor to several leading lithium companies, including Lithium Americas Corp., Neo Lithium Corp., Nevada Lithium Resources Inc., and Lithium Ionic. David holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation, a Master’s in Taxation from the University of Waterloo, and is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business. His extensive background in public accounting, both in audit and taxation, further enhances his ability to advise and support companies in their formative stages, particularly in developing corporate strategy and business development.

Ian Pritchard

Director

Mr. Pritchard is has over 30 years of experience in project and operations management in the mining industry both in North America as well as internationally, including, in particular, Brazil. Mr. Pritchard's mining experience includes the management of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, engineering, procurement and construction management projects. He has held senior executive positions at various organizations worldwide including SNC-Lavalin and De Beers Canada.

John Turner

Director

Mr. Turner is a highly respected Canadian mining lawyer with nearly four decades of experience in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, project finance, and corporate governance across the global resources sector. He is a Partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and Co-Leader of the firm's Global Mining Group, where he has advised on major corporate finance and M&A transactions involving resource companies globally. Mr. Turner also brings direct lithium sector board experience, having served as a director of Galaxy Resources, Allkem and Arcadium Lithium through major industry consolidation transactions, including the creation of Allkem, the merger with Livent to form Arcadium, and Arcadium's acquisition by Rio Tinto. He has also served as Chair of GoGold Resources since 2019. Mr. Turner holds an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge, an LL.B. and BSc (Hons) from Queen's University, and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Ernie Ortiz Ortega

Director

Mr. Ortiz Ortega is a critical minerals executive with deep lithium capital markets, royalty and corporate development experience. He was Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lithium Royalty Corp., where he led the creation of a global portfolio of 38 lithium royalties and guided the company through its C$150 million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2023 and subsequent C$573 million acquisition by Altius Minerals Corporation in 2026. He currently serves as Vice President, Corporate Development and Head of Lithium at Altius Minerals and is a founding member of the London Metal Exchange Lithium and Cobalt Advisory Committee. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ortiz Ortega held lithium-focused research roles at Tide Point Capital Management and Credit Suisse. He is a CFA charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago.