Corporate Directory
Executive
Buddy Doyle, President and CEO
Buddy Doyle is a geologist’s geologist who has earned the distinction of having seen 2 substantial projects from discovery through the decision to mine. He brings to the Company a disciplined, scientific approach to mineral exploration honed in over 28 years’ experience, 23 of them spent in various positions at Rio Tinto PLC and its subsidiaries (RTZ). His most recent position at RTZ was Exploration Manager/Vice President of Kennecott Canada Exploration Inc., where, leading a staff that numbered up to 100 individuals, he was responsible for diamond exploration in North America from 1992 to 2004. At Kennecott Canada, Mr. Doyle led the team that discovered the Diavik diamond deposits in 1994-1995. Prior to transferring to Kennecott Canada, Mr. Doyle was a key member of the Kennecott Exploration Australia team that discovered the multi-million ounce Minifie gold deposits at Lihir in 1987-1988. Mr. Doyle is recognized by his peers in the exploration industry as an authority on diamond exploration and kimberlite geology. He was recognized by his peers recently, receiving the Hugo Dummett diamond award for excellence in Diamond exploration in 2007. He has also authored numerous scientific papers on related topics. Mr. Doyle remains active in the diamond sector through a consultancy and non-executive directorships, but his sole focus in gold is Amarillo. Mr. Doyle is a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology, with a BSc in Applied Geology. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Society of Economic Geology, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the Society of Exploration Geochemists.
Richard Brown, Business Development, Director
Richard Brown, an experienced geologist resident in Brazil, is the local face and manager of the Company’s exploration activity. Mr. Brown has extensive worldwide experience in both mineral and petroleum exploration. For the last 12 years he has lived in South America, establishing local companies and acquiring a portfolio of mining properties in Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Mr. Brown combines a thorough knowledge of the local business culture with an extensive network of industry contacts, assets whose importance to the Company have already been amply demonstrated by the acquisition of the properties at Mara Rosa and Lavras do Sul. He is fluent in Portuguese as well as Spanish. Mr. Brown earned a BApp.Sc in Geology at Curtin University, Western Australia and an MBA at the Business School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Directors (Non-Executive)
Robert K. Landis, Chairman; Member, Audit & Policy Committees
Robert K. Landis is a member of Golden Sextant advisors, commentators on the gold market, and President and co-founder of Northern Lights Investors LLC, a private investment company with principal and agency business in Poland. Since June 1994 Mr. Landis has been involved in private investment activities based in Boston, and has served as a director of several Canadian mining companies. From January 1984 through June 1994, Mr. Landis held a variety of positions within Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Investment Banking Group in New York, most recently as a Director in the Financial Institutions/Mergers & Acquisitions Department. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Landis was an attorney with the firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where he practiced corporate and securities law in New York and London. Mr. Landis is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and is a member of the New York Bar.
Patrick Power, Member, Audit & Policy Committees
Mr. Power is a seasoned venture capitalist and financier with over 15 years’ experience as a stock market professional and as a director of public companies. He is President and CEO of Arctic Star, a diamond exploration company, President of Montello Resources Ltd., a diamond and oil & gas exploration company. Additionally, Mr. Power has served as a director of other mineral exploration companies, including International Samuel Exploration Corp., Solitaire Minerals Corp., First Narrows Resources Corp. and Goldtex Resources Ltd.
Michael Durose, (M.Sc, P.Geo), Independent Director
Mr. Durose is a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) registered in the Province of Ontario. His formal academic training includes a Graduate Diploma in Waste Management and Groundwater Contamination from McGill University, Montreal, an M.Sc. in Mineral Economics from Queen’s University, Kingston and a B.Sc. (Honours) in Geology from Carleton University, Ottawa.
Mr. Durose co-founded the HanOcci Group where he researches and advises on mining and resource-related investments. From 1993 to 2008 Mr. Durose worked in Capital Markets as a senior mining analyst and advisor to investment funds for mining-related investments principally with Morgan Stanley, Bunting Warburg (now UBS Canada), Nesbitt Burns (now BMO Capital Markets), and Scotia Capital.
His mining research has been widely disseminated to institutional investors globally. He has travelled extensively visiting mining projects in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Russia, Africa, Australia and Asia. Prior to working in capital markets, Mr. Durose worked as an exploration geologist in the Canadian base metal and gold industries.
Todd Bruce, Independent Director
Mr. Bruce has held senior management and Board positions with Anglo Platinum, IAMGold Corporation and Crystallex. He brings extensive operational and development experience, and will strengthen and broaden Amarillo’s collective board expertise.
From September 2003 to January 2007, Mr. Bruce served as CEO, President and Director of Crystallex International Corporation, Highlights of his tenure included completion of a bankable feasibility study on, and securing an EPCM contract with SNC Lavalin for the Las Cristinas project, financings that raised nearly C$250 million and two drill programs that increased gold reserves at Las Cristinas from approximately 10 million ounces to 17 million ounces.
From February 1996 to January 2003, Mr. Bruce served as President and Chief Operating Officer of IAMGOLD Corporation, whose principal assets during his tenure comprised the Sadiola and Yatala gold mines in Mali. Mr. Bruce played a leadership role in the growth of IAMGOLD from its initial non-producer status to attributable gold production of almost 300,000 ounces in 2002, financings that raised C$113 million, the implementation of IAMGOLD’s innovative “Gold Money” policy and in the merger of Repadre and IAMGOLD in January, 2003.
From 1980 through January 1996, Mr. Bruce served in a number of senior management positions with the South African company Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co. and its successor company, the Anglo American Platinum Corporation. Immediately prior to joining IAMGOLD, Mr. Bruce served as Executive Director in charge of Marketing, Business Development and Strategic Planning for Anglo American Platinum Corporation. Mr. Bruce holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Rhodesia and a Graduate Diploma in Engineering (Mineral Economics) from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Officers
Waldemar Opalka, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Opalka is a former Director of Strategy and Corporate Development at Netia S.A., Poland's leading alternative telecommunications operator. Additionally, he has served as President of two of Netia's operating subsidiaries. Mr. Opalka is also founder and Managing Director of Polish Broadband LLC, a telecommunications company, which, through a subsidiary, is a leading satellite and wireless data communications provider in Poland. He is also Treasurer and co-founder of Northern Lights Investors LLC, a private investment company with principal and agency business in Poland. Since April 1994 Mr. Opalka has been involved in private investment activities, initially based in Boston now in Warsaw, Poland. Prior to 1994, Mr. Opalka held corporate tax positions in government and industry. Mr. Opalka earned a BA in Quantitative Economics at Tufts University and an MBA at the University of Massachusetts.