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.

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.

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.