Speakers

Adele Rouleau is a UK based Senior Consultant with Geosyntec. She works with stakeholders across the mineral supply chain from governments and mining companies to metal buyers and think tanks, in identifying effective strategies to attract investments, derisking mineral supply chains and implementing high standards of sustainable mining practices across global operations.

Geosyntec is an international environmental and technical consultancy operating across the mining, nuclear, oil and gas, manufacturing, and other industrial infrastructure sectors globally. Geosyntec partners with mining companies to deliver environmental, water, geotechnical, and sustainability solutions across the mine lifecycle. By combining technical excellence with practical implementation, Geosyntec helps clients manage risk, improve operational performance, and advance responsible and sustainable mining practices.

Adrian Day has been the portfolio manager for his own money management firm since inception in 1991; the firm serves high-net worth individuals and small institutions in both global markets and resources.  He is also the author of four investment books, the most recent being “Investing in Resources”.  He takes a long-term, global, value approach.

Ariel is Head of Advisory at Lionhead. He is responsible for originating and leading capital raising and M&A mandates sourced from Lionhead’s extensive deal pipeline and connecting these clients with Lionhead’s network of investors. He works closely with the Lionhead team to originate proprietary deal flow, conduct due diligence on client’s businesses and preparing client for launching a transaction. Ariel has considerable experience advising clients across M&A and capital raising, including a range of structures and working with projects globally and across commodities. Before joining Lionhead, Ariel was Head of Metals & Mining at Gneiss Energy, Managing Director at NRG Capital Partners, and a senior member of the metals & mining advisory teams at Macquarie Capital and RBC Capital Markets. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (High Distinction) with a specialist in finance and economics from the University of Toronto.

Born out of a family office, Lionhead combines principal investing, strategic advisory and institutional-quality underwriting to identify value others may overlook and build aligned partnerships around it. Lionhead is a long-term capital partner to high-quality developers of projects delivering metals and materials critical for the energy transition. The company leverages decades of technical and operating experience and deep global networks to drive value creation from development through to production

David Bickford is a mining and business development professional with more than 50 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry, primarily in Türkiye and North America. As a third-party consultant he evaluates mining and investment opportunities, conducts technical and commercial due diligence, and identifies projects aligned with Centerra Gold's long-term growth strategy.

Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian gold and copper producer and developer with operations in Canada and Türkiye. Its portfolio includes the Mount Milligan gold-copper mine in British Columbia, the Öksüt gold mine in Türkiye, and growth projects in Canada and the United States. Centerra also operates an integrated molybdenum business in the United States.

Eric Zaunscherb is a Canadian-based mining executive. He was recently appointed President and CEO of GR Silver Mining after the sudden passing of Founder Márcio Fonseca. He was originally appointed Director of GR Silver Mining in April 2020 and elected Chair in in June 2021, after a career as a mining equity analyst spanning over 30 years. He holds a B.Sc. (Geology) from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (1984) and the Charter Financial Analyst designation (1990). GR Silver Mining is based in Vancouver, British Columbia with offices in Mexico City, Durango, and Sinaloa. Strong exploration, engineering, and administration teams have been assembled to support the advancement of the high grade Plomosas Silver Project in Sinaloa, Mexico. A 20,000 m drill program is ongoing to expand the March 2023 resource, which amounted 85 Moz AgEq Indicated and 49 Moz AgEq Inferred.

Erin Campbell, ICD.D, is President, Canada, of the ArcStone Group of Companies, a financial services firm connecting mid-market and growth issuers with North American capital. With 23+ years in capital markets and investment banking, Erin advises companies and investors on strategic financing and growth. She has also held senior leadership roles in the mining industry, developing projects in North America and the former CIS, and brings extensive governance and board experience.

ArcStone's U.S. and Canadian platform offers mining issuers cross-border advisory, investor introductions, non-deal roadshows and the annual ArcStone Kingswood Growth Summit, with capital raising conducted through FINRA-registered broker-dealers.

George Yordanov, P.Geo., is Co-Founder of LuxMetals Invest, a Luxembourg-based investor relations and corporate communications firm connecting mining and natural resource companies with investors, funds and brokers in Europe and North America. A Canadian Qualified Person (NI 43-101) with an M.Sc. in Economic Geology, he works where geology meets capital, helping explorers bring their projects up to the technical, reporting and ESG standards international investors expect. He is also founder of GMY Consulting Inc., a mineral exploration and technical reporting advisory, and CEO of Canadian GoldCamps Corp. (CSE: CAMP). His recent field and technical work spans Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Canada.

Joe is co-founder and chief counsel at Alliance Critical Materials Infrastructure Fund and its investment manager ACM Group GmbH i.G. in Berlin. ACMIF is the EU’s first solely private capital fund (targeting 3 billion euros) dedicated to strategic & critical minerals production and recycling – ensuring secure supply for defence, aerospace, and related deep tech industries within the EU and allied nations.

Joe is also a German qualified attorney and heads his boutique law firm and private investment office in Berlin since 2025 after having served as tax and funds partner at Dentons LP in Frankfurt and Berlin. Before this, he was a partner for a decade at PWC (leading its German alternative investment team) and later with Goodwin LLP in Frankfurt, where he headed and built up from scratch the German Private Investment Funds team as part of the prominent worldwide Goodwin funds practice.

Katharina Loeckinger is Senior Vice President at DGWA, a leading German advisory firm operating at the intersection of critical raw materials, capital markets and policy.

Having worked for lithium and copper exploration companies, Katharina has deep sector expertise in junior mining and supply chain resilience - a strategic priority for European industry.

Katharina is an active voice in the European raw materials policy landscape and has served as an external evaluator for EIT RawMaterials Booster Funding Calls. DGWA is well connected within European policy and supports mining companies and investors along the critical minerals supply chain. The firm has been involved in over 250 capital markets and corporate finance transactions.

With a distinguished career spanning investment management, global research leadership and consulting, Ken Hoffman previously served as Global Head of Battery Value Chains at McKinsey & Company. There, he spearheaded strategy across battery materials, recycling, new battery technologies, critical metals processing etc conducting over 100 due diligences for companies and investors. His recent work has highlighted how AI server farms, drone technologies, and humanoid robots will drive global battery deployment.  He is on the Board of Directors for NEO Battery Materials, a strategic advisor to Licovolt, Pure Lithium, and Firebird Metals.

He previously held leadership roles such as Global Head of Bloomberg’s Metals & Mining Research and served as Portfolio Manager and Director of Research for major investment funds including Millennium Partners and Reservoir Capital.

Mr. Hoffman is frequently invited as a keynote presenter at premier industry events worldwide - including PDAC, the Future Minerals Forum, LME Week in London and Hong Kong and AUSIMM gatherings.

After a career in international finance, including serving as Managing Director at Deutsche Bank in New York and Frankfurt, Mark moved into the mining and trading of strategic minerals in 2020. His focus is on Africa, where he works to develop mineral supply opportunities in emerging and frontier markets, connecting local resources and partners with international buyers and capital.

Through StraMin (Strategic Minerals), he has established corporate presences in Tanzania and Zambia, building a business focused on mineral origination, local partnerships, and international market access. He is also the initiator of PanAfricanMines.com, Africa’s first dedicated marketplace for mining and exploration assets, connecting asset owners with investors, buyers, and strategic partners.

Mehmet Erdem Yasar is currently serving as the Deputy Head of Turkiye at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), responsible for the Bank’s investments in corporates. Prior to this role, Mehmet Erdem was in charge of EBRD's power and renewable energy initiatives in Turkiye. He holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from Koc University.

Michael Zlobin serves as the Head of Equity for Natural Resources at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), based in Istanbul. Michael is responsible for commercial execution and overseeing the portfolio of the Bank's equity investments within the mining sector and has played a key role in various transactions, particularly in the critical raw materials space.

For more than three decades, EBRD has been actively involved in financing mining projects using a diverse array of financial instruments, ranging from senior debt to equity. Recognizing the industry-wide funding gap, especially for junior mining companies, the Bank has decided to increase its engagement in equity and quasi-equity financing during the early development stages via a dedicated Junior Miners Programme (JUMP).

EBRD finances projects in Europe, Türkiye, Central Asia, Mediterranean and Africa (see the full list of eligible countries https://www.ebrd.com/where-we-are.html). Please get in touch if you are interested to discuss financing for a project that has reported a maiden resource (as a minimum).

Nuno Rodrigues is Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Development at LusoRecursos Portugal Lithium, leading the Romano Lithium Project in Portugal, recognised as a Strategic Project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act.

Nuno is also Founder of O2B Capital Advisory, focused on originating and advancing investment opportunities across critical minerals and energy security. His career centres on developing greenfield and brownfield projects globally, from early-stage exploration through to construction and production, across mining, oil and gas, and energy, partnering with investors, governments, and industry to bring strategic resource projects to reality.

Rumyana Davidson is the founder of Rokaden Strategic Solutions, an advisory boutique helping junior mining and tech companies navigate cross-border capital markets, market entry, investor relations, and TSX readiness. She serves as Dialogue Lead for Mining Saudi Arabia, spotlighting emerging regional opportunities, and sits on the boards of Canadian and European juniors building North America’s critical minerals supply chains.

With a background in international law, corporate governance, and cross-border advisory, she brings boots-on-the-ground experience across Tier-1 and frontier jurisdictions, alongside communication in 10 languages. Rumyana focuses on identifying high-potential assets and emerging technologies, equipping cross-border ventures with the credibility and strategic partnerships required to scale.

Dr Stefan Stoev is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Austrian Mining Company MINEX and an investor in Sustainable Mining and Green-Tech Projects. He has a PhD Degree in Information Technology and Economics, a master’s degree in International Finance and Economics, a bachelor’s degree in International Economic Affairs, and a Professional Degree in Foreign Affairs and Linguistics.

He is the author of “THE UNWORSHIPPED ENGINE”. He also supervised Europe’s second-largest Copper-Gold Mining Project and is actively advising investments in the mining sector worldwide.

MINEX Group is a global state-of-the-art Mining Exploration and Development Company with operations and representations on all continents. Specialised in cost- and time-effective operations, MINEX is professionally de-risking investments in exploration projects and ensuring efficiency in operational mines, optimising mine life and sustainable operations.

Tamer Talu is an engineer and MBA with senior regional and global leadership experience across mining and downstream industries, chemicals (non-commodity minerals), industrial minerals, construction, and manufacturing, including executive and commercial roles with Rio Tinto.

He leads HTT NEXUS, focusing on M&A, strategic consulting, growth, commercial strategy, and market expansion. He is also undertaking doctoral research on battery raw material supply risks. His work combines cross-border dealmaking, sector insight, and hands-on execution across multiple commodities, markets, and geographies.

Vasily Storozhuk is a Senior Advisor at KPMG CCA, focusing on Metals and Mining sectors, investment, strategy, and M&A. He has over 25 years of experience in the Metals and Mining, including senior executive and CFO roles.

At KPMG, he advises mining and metals companies, investors and governments on growth strategy, investment, and partnership opportunities, transactions, and financing, with a particular focus on Central Asia and the Caucasus and their growing investment and strategic links with the US and other international markets.

Vitor Arezes is a Senior geologist and exploration executive with 14+ years’ experience leading discovery-to-feasibility programs across Iberian tungsten, hard rock lithium and polymetallic VMS systems. He is an IOM3 Member (MIMMM) accredited as Qualified for Minerals Reporting (QMR). He has expertise in geological modeling, geostatistics, Mineral Resource estimation/reporting, and drilling QA/QC compliant frameworks and a proven track record coordinating geology–metallurgy–hydrogeology–permitting workflows. Vitor holds a B.Sc. (Biology & Geology) from University of Minho.

Vladislav has 30 years of experience in geology, mining and economic evaluation, having lived and worked in Africa, Australia and Southeast Europe in a range of managerial and executive roles. His expertise covers economic geology, resource development and mine management. At MINEX, he oversees the mining and exploration portfolio, directing the acquisition, technical evaluation, development and resource management of mineral projects. He identifies and advances new business and investment opportunities, structures project finance and credit solutions, negotiates with lenders, partners and offtakers, and prepares assets for sustainable development and international investment.

Yulia Makarova is a London-based leadership and talent advisory leader specializing in infrastructure across Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. Her career spans nearly 20 years of shaping leadership teams and boards through her work with firms including Cripps, Heidrick & Struggles and a Korn Ferry alliance.