Board of Directors & Management

Independent Chairman

Mr Peter Wicks is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr Wicks has had extensive experience in the natural resources sector and more recently as a property developer. Mr Wicks was a long-term finance director for a large ASX listed company operating in the oil and gas sector during the 1980’s and more recently was the independent director of Drillsearch until September 2009. He was also a director of several of oil & gas companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange during the 1990’s. He has been both an executive and non-executive director of Australian domiciled mineral companies, including Perseverance Corporation Limited where he was a non-executive director from 1994 to 1998.

Managing Director

John Kelly BE (Mining), MAusIMM, MAICD is a mining engineer and was part of the executive team for Perseverance from 1991 to 2002. Prior to joining Perseverance, John worked as a Mine Superintendent at two open cut operations in Western Australia for three years and for seven years in the underground operations of Zinc Corporation Limited in Broken Hill. John holds Mine Manager Certificates for NSW, WA and Victoria. In his time with Perseverance, John progressively fulfilled the roles of Mine Superintendent, Mine Manager, Executive Director and then Managing Director. In this time, Perseverance demonstrated itself as one of the pre-eminent exponents in Australia of heap leach gold production from smaller low-grade gold deposits. John headed the team that took the Fosterville Gold Project from the hands of the receiver in 1992 and then produced approximately 230,000 ounces. John’s extensive experience with Fosterville oxide and sulphide mineralisation is directly relevant to the Company’s Hodgkinson Basin projects. Perseverance’s share price experienced significant capital growth through the mid 1990’s and it also paid shareholder dividends. John has been President of the Victorian Minerals and Energy Council, an Executive Councillor of the Minerals Council of Australia, and a founding director of the Australian Gold Council. John was also a non-executive director and non-executive chairman of Monto Minerals NL, a Queensland based heavy minerals explorer.

Independent Director

Greg Barns, BA. LLB has been a high profile participant in the Australian gold sector over the past 3 years in his role as CEO of the Robert Champion de Crespigny-inspired Australian Gold Council (AGC). Prior to joining the AGC, Mr Barns gained a wealth of experience in both state and federal government. Greg is qualified as a lawyer and has worked as Chief-of-Staff for the former Tasmanian Premier Ray Groom and the Chief-of-Staff for the former Federal Finance Minister John Fahey. In his three years with the AGC, Mr Barns was able to provide the directors of the AGC with excellent advice on political and community issues affecting the Australian gold mining sector. He also formed lasting relationships with the Australian financial press and, most importantly for the Company, with the financial sector in Australia and overseas. Mr Barns is also the Non-Executive Chairman of a number of mining and exploration companies and is a columnist for Gold & Minerals Gazette and Resource World. He is a director of Sustainable Infrastructure Australia Pty Ltd. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Australian Republican Movement.

Technical Director

Neb Zurkic, BSc (Geol), M. Mineral & Energy Economics, MAusIMM, MAIG is a geologist with over 18 years of experience. A Competent Person under the JORC Code for several types of deposits, Neb is also familiar with SEC and NI 43-101 reporting standards. Primary areas of expertise include deposit modelling, resource estimation, ore control and technical auditing. Neb has been involved in resource estimation, due diligence reviews, ore control and mine to mill processes for a range of commodities and geological settings in Australia, Indonesia, Peru, Ghana and Kazakhstan. Starting his career as a mine geologist in 1990 for Perseverance Corporation Limited, Neb took on more senior roles at Fosterville in 1993, including taking the lead in the first feasibility study to mine the significantly larger sulphide resource. In 1999 Neb joined the world’s largest gold producer, Newmont Mining Corporation, as part of the team that was responsible for commissioning the giant Batu Hijau porphyry copper-gold project in Indonesia. Later, Neb initiated and led the project team that identified and quantified sampling biases that culminated in the addition of 4 million equivalent reserve ounces in the 2002 reporting year. Neb then moved to the giant Yanacocha gold mine in Peru in 2004. That year Yanacocha was the highest producing single site gold mine in the world. After a six month stint with premier worldwide mining consultancy AMC Consultants in 2006, Neb now runs his own consultancy.

Non Executive Director

Data Choo Beng Kai (BK) joined the family owned property development company in 1996. He later started his own company, Masmeyer Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2002 and is the current Managing Director. BK has 12 successful years entrepreneurial experience in developing property and other businesses. This experience has lead to the successful establishment of 11 subsidiaries specializing in Property Development, Real Estate Investment, Building Construction, Timber "logging" & Outdoor Advertising. Besides hands on projects management BK is actively involved in NGOs and is Deputy Chairman of Penang Choo's Association and a member of the central committee of the World Choo's Association. In 2007 BK was proudly conferred as AMK - "Order of the Crown of Kedah - Member" and DSAP - "Most Honourable Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah - Knight Commander" which carried the title "Dato". He was also appointed JP - Justice of Peace by the State government of Kedah, Malaysia in 2008.

Company Secretary

Ms Roslynn Shand BA LLB is a fellow of the Chartered Secretaries Australia and has extensive experience in the company secretarial area, securities and stock exchange listing rules and regulations having been a company secretary for over 15 years for companies in the financial, agricultural and mining sectors.

Senior Management & Executive

Project Development Manager

Paul Pyke has over 30 years metallurgical experience in the mining industry within Australia and Papua New Guinea. He graduated from the Bendigo College of Advanced Education in 1977 with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Metallurgy) and from Latrobe University in 1995 with a Master of Applied Science (Metallurgy). Paul commenced his career as a plant metallurgist with Utah Development Company at their Goonyella mine in the Bowen Basin in 1977, then as plant manager at Gunnedah Coal Company in 1980, before moving to Latrobe University, Bendigo as a research metallurgist in 1989. In 1991 Paul joined Bendigo Gold at the Fosterville mine, which was subsequently taken over by Perseverance Exploration in 1992, where he spent the next 10 years. During this period Paul was instrumental in re-establishing a successful gold heap leach operation and managed the metallurgical testwork program and feasibility study for the development of the Fosterville Sulphide Project to process a refractory gold ore. Following a break from mining Paul was appointed Metallurgy Manager at Bendigo Mining in 2005 and was involved in the design, construction and commissioning of a 600k tpa gold plant utilising gravity, flotation and cyanide leaching to recover gold. A highlight of this plant was the use of a high pressure grinding roll for the third stage of crushing to maximise gravity gold recovery. Upon cessation of operations at Bendigo in 2007 Paul was appointed Process Operations Manager for Simberi Gold Company Pty Ltd who was establishing a gold mine on the island of Simberi in Papua New Guinea. He managed the establishment of the metallurgical department, training of PNG National operators, commissioning and operations for 18 months. Paul commissioned the aerial rope conveyor, the first in the southern hemisphere, used for transporting ore from the mine located inland and at elevation to the process plant located on the coast. Paul joined Republic Gold in April 2009 as Project Development Manager.

Executive President OF MINERA nUEVA vISTA (Bolivian SUBSIDIARY)

Maria Esther Jitton went to the law school at the Saint Andrews University of Bolivia (UMSA) in La Paz and in 1996 she received her degree as lawyer. Maria Esther has been working for the last 12 years in the mining industry. In 1997 she joined Corriente Resources, an exploration company with 3 subsidiaries in Bolivia, as administrative assistant, and after that as Director of the Bolivian companies. In 2000 she was in charge of the closure of the subsidiaries when Corriente Resources decided to close operations in Bolivia. In 2001 she commenced working with Vista Gold Corp of North America to work on the Amayapampa Gold Project. Later that year she was invited by Vista Gold Corp to become a Director of Vista’s Bolivian subsidiaries. In 2006 she became the Executive President of the Bolivian subsidiary companies. When Republic Gold bought the Amayapampa Gold Project in April 2008, Maria Esther continued in her role and is the Company’s most senior employee in Bolivia.

GENERAL MANAGER OF Operations - Bolivia

Juan Cabrera graduated as a mining engineer from the Tomas Frias University in Potosi Bolivia in 1964. In 1970 he graduated from the Royal School of Mines in London with an MSc in Advanced Mining Engineering. Juan has vast experience in mining in Bolivia.  He held numerous positions over 20 years in operations and management with COMIBOL, Bolivia’s state mining company. He was the General Manager for many of COMIBOL’S most important mines. In 1988 Juan was appointed a Director of COMIBOL located in the important mining city of Oruro. From 1990 to 1993 Juan was the Coordinator of the World Bank for COMIBOL, in charge of the planning and budgeting sector. From 1993 to 1994 Juan was the Assistant to the General Manager of COMIBOL and in 2005 Juan was the Executive President of COMIBOL. Juan also worked for one of Bolivia’s most important private mining companies, COMSUR. For six years from 1984 he was the General Superintendent at three of COMSUR’s major mines. Juan has also worked for international companies.  In 1988 he was the Mine Manager at London American Mining’s Amarilla mine in the Tipuani Valley, a large alluvial gold operation.  Then from 1995 to 1997 he was Project Advisor for RGC Exploration which was bidding for the Vinto Smelter and the Huanuni and Colquiri mines. Juan also worked as the Logistics Manager of the Cerro Corona Due Diligence Program in Peru from 1997 to 1998, was Operations Manager at the Atocha Project for General Minerals Corporation from 1998 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2004 worked on ore reserve estimation at Colquechaca Zinc/silver Project sponsored by USAID. Juan joined the Company in 2006 and is the General Manager of Operations.

Senior Geologist - Bolivia

Herbert Chavez graduated in 1987 in La Paz - Bolivia as a geologist. He completed his thesis doctorate in an agreement between the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz - Bolivia and ORSTOM an Office of Scientific Investigation of France on the formation of the Andean Mountain range in the central part of Bolivia and later on the origins of the detritic gold in sedimentary formations of the Bolivian Altiplano, an intramontana basin located at 3,700 metres above sea level. For 7 years beginning in 1998 he was the Exploration Geologist in the Kori Kollo mine, then-owned by Battle Mountain Gold Co. USA and recently owned by Newmont Gold Co. He participated in the evaluation of the geologic resources of this world class deposit calculating 70 Mt with an average grade of 2.4 g/t Au, being approximately 5,600,000 ounces Au. Later on he was selected by Battle Mountain Gold to carry out exploration in Argentina in auriferous projects located in Pre-Cambrian terrains of the Mendoza and San Juan counties. He also explored in the Patagonia county of Santa Cruz, with occurrences of epithermal gold deposits hosted in Jurassic piroclastic sequences like Cerro Vanguardia, owned by Anglo Gold (3.7 M Oz Au - mineral resources). He was later selected to open the exploration office in Lima - Peru where he worked for two years. It was here that Herbert participated in the auction of important mining centres of the State with mineralisation of gold and base metals, carrying out the corresponding due diligences. In 2008 he was Chief Geologist in the San Cristobal open pit mine owned by APEX Silver Mines Ltd., a world class epithermal deposit of Zn, Pb – Ag. The initial mineral content was of 450 million ounces of silver, 8 billion pounds of zinc and 3 billion pounds of lead contained in 231 million tonnes of open-pittable proven and probable reserves. Based on his experience he presented diverse technical works in National and International Congresses (Bolivia and Chile) about Structural Geology, Tectonic, Sedimentation and mesothermal – epithermal mineralization in different type of host rocks. He had completed graduate's courses in Administration of the Production (Carl Duisberg G., Germany - Oruro - Bolivia) and Management and Environmental Audits (Ibero-American Foundation, Spain - UPB Cochabamba - Bolivia).

Exploration Manager - Far North Queensland

Trevor Jackson has thirty years experience in the mining and exploration with a history of discovery and delineation of several ore bodies. Following a cadetship in geology at Broken Hill, Trevor graduated with a BSc (Geology) at the UNSW whilst on a cadetship from CRA and working at the Zinc and NBHC mines with a short secondment to Bougainville Copper. Following a decade of exposure to base metals he moved to Western Australia with Gutnik Group, namely Centaur and Great Central, et al in Kalgoorlie and focussed on gold exploration. The next decade saw exposure to more greenstone belts of WA with Broken Hill Metals, Cyprus Gold and Normandy Mining as Chief Geologist at the Bounty mine. Variations of commodities studied were diamonds at Bow River and nickel whilst in the Forrestania Greenstone belt. A move in 1997 saw deep exploration develop at the Fosterville Gold Mine in Victoria where mine site exploration extended the life of the Perseverance heap leach operations and delineation of sulphide underground resource eventually seeing the project through feasibility to mining of the BIOX bacteria extraction process to build the company through to its successful open cut and underground sulphide operations. Trevor joined Republic Gold in 2006 as Exploration Manager to maintain, manage and explore Republic's significant prospective tenement holdings in Far North Queensland.

Consulting Project Engineer

Vern Langdale has twenty five years experience in the mining industry with over twenty years in opencut gold mining in Australia and overseas with the last three years in China, Mongolia and Japan. He studied at the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall England (BSC Hons Mining Engineering) before working in the Goldfields of Western Australia, Victoria, Northern Territory and Far North Queensland. He has since managed a gold mine in Qinghai province of China, Represented Orica in China, Mongolia and Japan and evaluated Coal mines within inner Mongolia and Xin Jiang Province, China. Vern has represented Republic Gold in Bolivia in the Amayapampa Gold Project.  Vern has worked as a Senior Mining Engineer, Mine Superintendent and Mine Manager in various gold mining operations and is current consulting as Project Mining Engineer for Republic Gold.

Consulting Mining Engineer

Dallas Cox is a Mining Engineer, graduating from the University of New South Wales in 1986. He has worked in various operational, technical and management roles for BHP Macquarie Collieries (Lambton B, Pacific, John Darling and Stockton Borehole collieries), Queensland Nickel (Greenvale operations), Placer Dome Asia Pacific (Granny Smith, Misima and Porgera operations) and Perseverance Corporation (Bailieston and Fosterville operations) and holds Manager's Certificates of Competency in Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Dallas has operated as an independent mining engineering and management consultant since 2005, providing management, technical and operational support in various capacities to 24 developing mining companies on 33 deposits (Gold, Nickel, Copper, Tungsten and Molybdenum) in China, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Bolivia and Australia, including due diligence work for Deutsche Bank Singapore and NI 43-101 reports for TSX listed companies.

Geological Consultant

Steve King graduated with a BSc. (Honours) in Geology from Queen’s University Belfast in 1983. He completed a Ph.D. in structural geology in 1987 and joined the international geological consultancy group ERA-Maptec Ltd. in Dublin, Ireland. For the next two years he worked on various projects in a variety of countries including Chile, Australia and Mali. He was then appointed to establish a small branch office of the company in Brisbane, Australia and carried out projects in Australia on this basis until 1993 and in joint venture with ERA-Maptec until 1997 for clients such as BHP, Sons of Gwalia and MIM. In 1997 he established his own structural geological consultancy called Solid Geology Ltd., and has operated in that capacity to the present day. His expertise is in the structural controls of base and precious metal mineralisation though field mapping and interpretation of regional and local data sets. Projects completed include 10 years on annual consultation to Perseverance Corporation Ltd at the Fosterville Mine in Victoria. He has now completed over 100 significant projects ranging from mine based mapping and interpretation to regional synthesis projects to direct exploration.