Brian Arkell has a B.S.in Geology from the University of Maryland and an M.S. from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (M.S.). He has 35 years of experience in exploration, mine development, and operations throughout the Americas and in Indonesia. He has played a key role in several major gold discoveries and mine development projects including the world-class Yanacocha gold mine in Peru, the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine in Indonesia, the Merian gold mine in Suriname and the Magino gold mine in Canada. From 2018 to 2023, Mr. Arkell served as Vice President Exploration and Mine Technical Services for Argonaut Gold, a mid-tier gold producer.

During this time, he was responsible for all exploration, mine planning, mine geology, corporate reserves, and corporate land departments. This involved five gold mines and several projects, ranging from scoping through feasibility-level stages. Prior to that, he was CEO for Caza Gold Corp., Senior Vice President Exploration and Corporate Development for Rio Novo Gold, Inc., and spent 22 years with Newmont Mining Corp. where he held a variety of positions, including Director of Geology and Exploration, South America. Mr. Arkell is a Registered Member of SME, a Fellow of AusIMM, and a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. He is a Qualified Person (QP) under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards.