North American Mgmt and Advisory team
American West has established a North American Advisory Team to provide the Board with high-quality objective advice and recommendations. The members of the North American Advisory Team are based either in the USA or Canada and have extensive experience in the North American resources sector.
Rocky Pray
VP Operations
More than 30 years of engineering and project development focused on mining projects across several jurisdictions in the USA and abroad, including 12 years with Newmont Mining where he served as Project Study Director, Project Manager, and Consulting Mine Engineer Rocky has a successful track record directing teams to safely build new mines, and expand existing mines on schedule and under budget. Rocky is a senior mining professional with expertise in pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, Federal and State permitting, environmental management mine operations, project engineering and construction.
Registered with the US Society of Mining Engineers and holds a Bachelor of Science degree (Geological Engineer) from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Robert Schafer
Mr Schafer has more than 30 years of international experience as a geologist exploring for mineral deposits in more than 70 countries. As an executive, manager and field geologist with companies including BHP, Kinross and Hunter Dickinson, led teams to the discovery of several deposits in the western USA (Briggs and Griffon gold mines), as well as developing strategies that led to brownfields discoveries in western Canada, southern Africa and far east Russia.
Robert is a Past President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) as well as Past President of both the Canadian Institute for Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America (MM SA). He is an active member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in the USA, where he served on its Board for more than a decade.
Robert serves as a member of the Board of Directors for both the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and National Mining Hall of Fame in the USA. He is the recipient of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) and the Daniel C. Jackling Award from SME for career achievements, two of the highest mining recognitions in the USA.
George Bee
Mr Bee is a senior mining industry executive, with deep mine development and operational experience in eight countries on three continents for both major and junior mining companies.
Currently CEO of US Gold Inc. Prior to that, a 16-year career with Barrick with positions that included Senior VP Frontera District in Chile and Argentina to advance Pascua Lama feasibility as an underground mine, Operations Manager at Pierina Mine taking Pierina from construction to operations, General Manager of Veladero developing the project from advanced exploration through permitting, feasibility and into production, and Mine Manager at Goldstrike during early development and operations.
Thomas Ullrich
Mr Ullrich has more than 25 years’ experience in mineral exploration and geoscience. A former Chief Geologist North America for Antofagasta Minerals plc for five years, investigating copper potential throughout Alaska and Canada.
Currently CEO of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. Mr. Ullrich also established the Ar-Ar geochronology lab at the University of British Columbia and is an Elected Director on the Board of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC.
