Management

Mr. Akerley has over 35 years of experience in mineral exploration, corporate financing, project development and management of publicly listed resource companies. He is one of the founders and principals of Erdene and has held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation since March 2003.

Mr. Akerley is a geologist who has worked extensively in foreign jurisdictions throughout his career, predominately in North and South America and Asia, with a focus on Mongolia, where he has led the technical team through the confirmation of a major molybdenum and copper deposit, the discovery and definition of the Altan Nar gold deposit and the discovery of the Bayan Khundii gold project. He has extensive experience in corporate M&A, joint venture arrangements and financings, leading the Corporation through more than 20 such business arrangements since taking the Corporation public in 2004.

Mr. Akerley served on the Board and Special Committee of Temex Resources Corp. advising on the sale of the company to Lake Shore Gold Corp. and was previously chairman of the TSX-V listed Morien Resources Corp., where he was involved in the sale of the Donkin Coal and Black Point Aggregate projects, converting those interests into royalties. He also pioneered the company’s involvement as the founding and lead sponsor of the very successful Catapult leadership program in Nova Scotia. Mr. Akerley has a BSc (1988) from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, specializing in geology, and completed the Institute of Corporate Directors Audit Committee Effectiveness course in December 2012.

Robert Jenkins was appointed Chief Financial Officer on May 1, 2019. He joined Erdene as Vice President Business Strategy in 2018, with responsibility for strategic and financial planning. From 2010 to 2017, Bob held a series of progressive finance and operational roles with Canada’s leading asset management firm.  Bob began his career in the assurance and consulting practices at one of the big-four accounting firms. 

Mr. Jenkins graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from St. Mary’s University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Michael Gillis was appointed Vice President Operation in 2017 in addition to his positions as Director of Operations, Mongolia in 2010 and Director of Business Operations to which he was appointed in March 2006. Prior to this, Mr. Gillis was Erdene’s Corporate Development Manager, a position he held since joining the company in early 2004. Mr. Gillis has over 25 years of experience in the mineral exploration industry in increasingly senior project and corporate management positions. From 1996 to 2002, he was a project geologist and Land Manager for Kaoclay Resources Inc.

Mr. Gillis obtained his BSc (Hons) in Geology from St. Francis Xavier University in 1985.

Bayarmaa Bagabandi was appointed Administrative Manager in March 2005. Bayarmaa worked and studied for a number of years internationally before returning to her native Mongolia, where she has been involved in the administrative side of Mongolia’s resource industry for over 15 years. She is fluent in four languages; Mongolian, Russian, English and Korean. Bayarmaa manages administrative operations and is in charge of financial and management regulatory reporting for Erdene in Mongolia.

Bayarmaa obtained a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Mongolian National University in 1994 and an MSc in International Economics from Korea’s Sogang University in 1998.

Peter Dalton has worked as a geologist for Erdene Resource Development for over 15 years and has been directly involved in the discovery of “Altan Nar”, “Bayan Khundii” and “Dark Horse” projects. He is responsible for exploration program planning and supervision, interpretation of results and project development. 

Peter Dalton is a Professional Geologist with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Nova Scotia and holds an Advanced Diploma in Geographic Sciences and Remote Sensing from the Centre of Geographic Sciences (NSCC COGS) and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Acadia University 2004.

Darryn Broderick was appointed Director of Finance in December 2017.

Prior to joining Erdene, Mr. Broderick was a Channel Partner for a large US-based software vendor. Mr. Broderick has implemented and supported ERP systems for many clients including a large international gold producer with several operating mines in Africa. In 2010, Mr. Broderick helped Erdene implement a new ERP system and has been supporting the Company ever since.

Mr. Broderick obtained his undergraduate degree (B. Comm., Accounting) from Saint Mary’s University, a Diploma in Management Accounting also from Saint Mary’s University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CMA).

Suzan Frazer has been Corporate Secretary since March 2003.

Ms. Frazer is a partner of the Halifax office of the law firm, McInnes Cooper. She has been practicing corporate law for over 25 years and is experienced in representing public and private companies in the junior resource sector.

Ms. Frazer’s experience includes public offerings and private placements under securities legislation, stock exchange listings, take-over bids, mergers, acquisitions, plans of arrangement and compliance with the continuous disclosure and other requirements of securities legislation.

Mr. Ankhbayar is a Mongolian mining finance professional, based in Ulaanbaatar, with North American and Mongolian capital markets experience. Since returning to Mongolia from Canada in 2010 Bilguun has had the roles of CEO of Monrud LLC and Secretary General of “Discover Mongolia” International Mining Investors Forum in Ulaanbaatar, and CEO of Mongolian Investment Banking Group (“MIBG”). MIBG is a domestic investment dealer which enabled its Mongolian clients to access international capital markets while advising international institutional investors to gain exposure to Mongolia. As the CEO of MIBG, Bilguun worked closely with TSX and ASX listed companies in financing and in a general advisory capacity. Prior to MIBG, Bilguun was employed by the Investment Banking division of Toll Cross Securities, a Toronto based boutique investment bank focusing on financing and M&A advisory for TSX listed mining and exploration companies.

Bilguun graduated from Saint Mary’s University with B.Comm in Finance and he is a CFA charterholder.

Jon Lyons was appointed Vice President, Projects in 2021, and is responsible for the overall delivery of the company’s projects within scope, budget, and schedule aligned to the business case and ERD’s vision for safety and sustainability.

Since 2017, Jon has led the government permitting processes required to advance Erdene’s mineral exploration and mining projects and maintained oversight of Health, Safety, Environment, and Community Relations performance for the Company. Previously, Jon was with the Global Green Growth Institute as Country Representative to Mongolia. Jon has lived and worked intermittently in Mongolia and the region, including a previous posting with Erdene, since 2001.

Jon holds an MBA from Maastricht University and the EuroMBA consortium and a B.A. (summa cum laude) in physics and anthropology from Wheaton College, MA, and he is fluent in Mongolian and Russian languages.