Our Team

Mark Gray

Chairman and Managing Director

Bachelor of Laws

Mark resides in the Bulkley Valley moving there from Allegiance’s corporate base in Sydney, Australia, in April 2018. Mark founded Telkwa Coal Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiance) and secured the farm-in rights to the Telkwa metallurgical coal project in September 2014. Mark is a corporate lawyer with 30 years transactional experience gained as a lawyer with Herbert Smith in London, a partner with Bell Gully in New Zealand and as a director of the investment bank Barclays de Zoette Wedd, also in London. For the last 20 years Mark has been an advisor to and company executive of mining companies and operations including underground coal in Australia and open pit mining in Africa, as well as exploration and development projects in several minerals including coal.

Larry Cook

Non-Executive Director

B.S.E.M- Mining Engineering

Mr Cook has over 40 years of technical knowledge of underground coal mining and methods. For the first 20 years of his career he worked in various underground roles in coal mines primarily in West Virginia. He is highly regarded in both the US and Australia as an extremely capable underground coal mining engineer. Previous positions include Vice President of Operations at Mid-Vol Mining, Madison WV; General Superintendent at Mistic Energy Inc, Beckley WV; Mine Manager of five underground coal mines owned by Eastern Associated Coal Corporation in Wharton WV; founding shareholder and director of Bounty Industries Ltd providing contract mining at Ivanhoe Colliery, NSW, for Centennial Coal and at German Creek Colliery, Central QLD, for Anglo Coal.  Most recently, Mr Cook recommissioned the Donkin underground coal mine located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Jonathan Reynolds

Finance Director

B.Com (Hons), Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment, CA

Mr. Reynolds is a chartered accountant with more than 25 years experience across many sectors spent mostly in financial management roles. Most recently, he has been finance director of a resource investment house, managing investments across a range of commodities, including coal. Prior to that he held the position of chief financial officer with a number of listed entities and before that was a senior manager with an international firm of chartered accountants. He is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a fellow of Financial Services Institute of Australia.

Rob Maurer

Community Liaison

 

Responsible for community outreach in the Bulkley Valley and the person to call with questions or feedback on the project.

Rob has over 25 years of experience working in the natural resource industries. He started doing field work as a tree-planter and has continued to work in forest and mineral industry related positions his whole career. Rob is also an avid community volunteer who has contributed his time to many local organizations such as the Smithers Ski Club, Smithers Exploration Group, and the Bulkley Valley Community Resource Board. Rob grew up in Smithers. He and his wife have two daughters and continue to call Smithers home. 

Tiana Mazur

QA/QC Technician and Administrative Assistant

B.A. (Geography) at Thompson Rivers University

Assists with field programs and is responsible for administrative functions. Tiana is the point of contact for our Telkwa office.

Tiana has 5 years of experience in several industrial resource settings including forestry and mining. Previously, Tiana held roles as an assay sampler for Walter Energy’s Willow Creek Mine as well as having lab experience at Eco Tech/ALS Minerals. Tiana is excited to be working in the mining field once again as part of Telkwa Coal and the Tenas project. She has resided in the Bulkley Valley area for six years with her family, and joined the Telkwa Coal team in 2021.

Dan Farmer

Director, Chief Operating Officer

B.Sc. (distinction Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering) at University of British Columbia, P.Eng. (registered with APEG BC and APEGGA)

Responsible for planning how the project will be built and operated.

Dan is a mining engineer with over 23 years of experience in the coal industry in British Columbia and Alberta. He started his career with Luscar Coal in the 1990s when it was Canada’s largest coal producer, and with Teck Resources following its acquisition of Luscar. As Technical Services Manager for Hillsborough Resources, Dan was responsible for project development planning. Later, he was Operations Manager for Anglo American Metallurgical Coal, responsible for Peace River Coal’s mine operations and technical services. He joined Telkwa Coal in mid-2015.

Ashleigh Ballevona

Environment Assessment Specialist

R.P.Bio. at University of Winnipeg
Ashleigh is an Environmental Assessment Specialist with 15 years of professional experience in environmental assessments and permitting. Ashleigh has an in-depth knowledge of federal and provincial environmental legislations and is effective in forming constructive and genuine relationships with stakeholders of diverse backgrounds, including technical specialists, regulatory agencies, and Indigenous groups. She holds a B.Sc. from the University of Winnipeg.

Kim Bittman

Senior Mine Permitting Specialist

B.A. (Geography / Environmental Studies) at University of British Columbia
Kim is responsible for developing the environmental and health and safety management plans submitted with the Tenas EAC application and supplementary regulatory permitting aspects for the Project. Kim is a permitting specialist with over 35 years of experience in the coal and metal mining industries in British Columbia. She started her career at Quintette Coal Limited in the 1980s as Senior Environmental Coordinator and followed that at the Teck Resources corporate office where she rose to Manager, Regulatory Affairs. She later joined Taseko Mines Limited handling environmental assessment, management systems and permitting efforts from their corporate office and as of 2016, she has managed a consulting firm aiding companies with permitting of mine and exploration projects in B.C. She joined Telkwa Coal in early-2021.

Tracey Tanaka

Technical Editor and Document Production Specialist

B.A. (Asia/Pacific Studies and Environmental Studies) at University of Victoria Diploma (Hydrogeological Technology) from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
Responsible for technical writing, editing and production of regulatory applications including the Environmental Assessment Certificate Application, related reports and documentation, and permit applications. Tracey has over 20 years of experience in environmental and geological consulting and is the third generation of her family to work in mining. She has held positions including Environmental Coordinator, Manager Environmental Affairs, Senior Project Manager, and Senior Technical Editor. She now combines her experience in the resource sector with expertise in report writing and production to advance the success of regulatory applications and project status reports.

James Henderson

Senior Mining Engineer

B.A.Sc. (Mining Engineering) at University of British Columbia, P.Eng. (registered with APEG BC)

Responsible for the detailed mine design and planning for reclamation.

James is a mining engineer with over 11 years of experience in mine operations. He began his career at Gibraltar Copper Mine in 2008 and completed the majority of his EIT programme there. He moved to Australia in 2011, working for Rio Tinto at multiple coal mines in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales with responsibilities in mine planning and design, operations optimization and reclamation. He rose to Operations Specialist / Superintendent at Bengalla Mining Company. James returned to Canada in the fall of 2018 to join the Telkwa Coal team.

Breanne Moutal

Mining Engineer-in-Training

B.Eng, Mining and Mineral Resource Engineering, British Columbia Institute of Technology, EIT (registered with EGBC)

Responsible for supporting the Engineering team with detailed mine design and planning. 

Breanne is a Mining Engineer-in-Training who graduated from British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Mining and Mineral Resource Engineering program in 2020. Breanne brings two years of mining related experience including Co-op’s at Red Chris mine and Peace River Coal mine. Breanne was the recipient of the 2019 Canadian Mineral Processors scholarship and the inaugural Coal Association of Canada scholarship which included an internship with Conuma Coal. She joined the Telkwa Coal team in the fall of 2020. 

Victoria Hughes

Mining Engineer-in-Training

B.Eng, Mining and Mineral Resource Engineering (Honours), British Columbia Institute of Technology, EIT (registered with EGBC)
Responsible for supporting the Engineering team with detailed mine design and planning. Victoria is a Mining Engineer-in-Training who graduated from British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Mining and Mineral Resource Engineering program in 2020. Victoria has experience in operations for various open pit mines in Canada, in areas of geotechnical monitoring, heavy equipment, dewatering and reclamation. Victoria is passionate about diversity and inclusion, as well as responsible mining. She has been with the Telkwa Coal team since February 2022.