Who We Are
Project Team
Cliff Hale-Sanders | CEO
Mr. Cliff Hale-Sanders is an entrepreneurial and driven mining executive, a co-founder of Ascendant
Resources Inc in late 2016 and has over 20 years of capital markets experience as an Equity Mining
Research Analyst. During his career, Mr. Hale-Sanders visited and evaluated numerous global mining
development and production facilities to determine their investment potential. Mr. Hale-Sanders has a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from McMaster University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and Chemistry from the University of Toronto and is a C.F.A Charter holder.
Hubert Vallée | Vice President, Project Development
Mr. Vallée graduated from Laval University in Engineering. He joined Québec Cartier Mining as Project Engineer and was promoted to Director of Operations for its Pellet Plant in 2001. He managed the Iron Ore Company of Canada’s Pellet Plant in Sept-Iles before joining Domtar Inc. as Manager of its pulp mill in Lebel-sur-Quévillon. He joined Consolidated Thompson (Bloom Lake) in 2006 and was one of the key people who made this project happen from early stage development into production, acting as Vice President of Development and as Senior Vice President, Operations and Logistics. After the sale of Consolidated Thompson to Cliffs Natural Resources, Mr. Vallée acted as Vice President Project Development for Phase II of Bloom Lake’s operations. He has also been involved as Senior Vice President, Project Development, at Century Iron Mines. From February 2014 to September 2016, Mr. Vallée acted as President and CEO of Lamelee Iron Ore Ltd. He is currently self-employed and working, with Tacora Resources Ltd. In addition, Mr. Vallee sits on the Board of Genius Metal Inc. as an independent director and is involved with various other junior company’s at the development stage.
Pierre-Jean Lafleur | Vice President, Exploration
Mr. Lafleur is a professional engineer and qualified person (NI 43-101) specializing in mineral resource estimation, exploration and mining. He worked in Operations for various mining companies of over 15 years including Falconbridge (no Glencore) and has worked on Iron ore projects around the world, with a focus on those in the Chibougamau area and around Quebec.
Robert Giradin | Project Manager
Mr. Girardin completed his Mechanical Engineering at Laval University in Quebec City. He started his career at the Iron Ore Company of Canada/QNS&L Railway where he spent 18 years in various management position from Operations Supervisor to Manager Production Planning and Continuous Improvement. Mr. Girardin joined Consolidated Thompson in 2009 to negotiate railway and Port contracts and as General Manager to supervise the operational readiness team for the New Bloom Lake Railway and the Handling/Port infrastructure in Sept-Iles. After the purchase of Consolidated Thompson by Cliffs, he became General Manager Business Improvement Eastern Canada for Cliffs and was also responsible for the Bloom Lake Phase 2 expansion at the Port. Robert assisted Century Iron Mine in the completion of their PEA and ArcelorMittal (Mont Wright/Fire Lake/Port Cartier) in the management of their mining effluent. In 2018, Robert joined Québec Iron Ore to oversee their Handling and Railway contracts.
Michael Skutezky | Senior Legal Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Mr. Michael Skutezky has had a 30 year career in the financial sector in Canada including as Assistant
General Counsel at the Royal Bank of Canada focused on International and Canadian Project financing based in Montreal and Toronto and as Senior Vice President Personal Trust, National Trust Company. He is Chairman of Rhodes Capital Corporation, a private Toronto based resource and technology focused merchant bank. Mr. Skutezky has been a founder in taking public and listing several TSX, TSX-V and CSE resource sector companies and has served as an officer, counsel and director of several private and public companies. He has been a member of the Canadian and International Bar Associations, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Association.
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