Management Team

John Bonoh Sisay

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Sisay has accumulated considerable experience within the African mining sector having worked in over ten African countries.  Mr. Sisay started his career as a graduate trainee at the Central Selling Organization (CSO) of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd where he learned the contours of the mining industry, in particular with regards to diamonds. After working at the CSO, Mr. Sisay joined America Minerals Fields, now part of First Quantum, and worked on new acquisitions for the company, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Additionally he has served as President of the Sierra Leone Chamber of Mines and as a Non-Executive Director for Diamond Fields International and Vimetco S.L.  

Mr. Sisay joined SRL in 2001, and periodically serves as an advisor to the Government of Sierra Leone on mining related issues.

Jan Castro

Non-Executive Chairman

Mr. Alex B. Kamara

B.Sc. Mech., B.Sc. Elec., P.Eng.

Mr.Kamara is the Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Sierra Leone Limited and a Non-Executive Director of Cemmats Group, a Sierra Leonean company which has a number of contracts with Sierra Rutile Limited.  Mr Kamara was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in March 2008.

Michael Barton

Non-Executive Director

François Colette

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Colette has more than 25 years experience in mining in Africa having worked for Gécamines and AMFI-Adastra. While at AMFI-Adastra he was in charge of their copper, cobalt and zinc projects, including Kolwezi Tailings.  Between 1990 and 1996, Mr Colette worked as a consultant mainly to Sofremines (France) in relation to a number of copper, cobalt, zinc and gold projects in Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, Zaire, and Cuba.

Michael Brown

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Brown is a Senior Vice President of Pala Investments AG, the exclusive advisor to Pala Investments Holdings Limited.  Mr. Brown  joined Pala from De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd (“DBCM”), where he was Chief Operating Officer (COO). As COO he was responsible to the DBCM Board for all operations in South Africa, including production at 5 separate mines, the planning and execution of construction projects, strategic business development and health, safety and environmental control. Mr. Brown managed a number of significant projects including the restructuring of DBCM in and 2009 in response to the global financial crisis.

Previously, Mr. Brown was Head of Strategic Business Development, where he was responsible for the full value chain from resource evaluation to strategic business planning, concept studies, feasibility studies and project implementation. He managed the following projects: the Finsch block 5 feasibility study for $750 million project; the $35 million Venetia resource extension project; the pre-feasibility study for a $1.3 billion underground mine at the Venetia project; the $1 million Finsch Mine Treatment Plant Upgrade; and the $200 million mine construction at the Voorspoed Project.

Mr. Brown began his mining career with JCI as a bursar in 1981 and worked in the gold and platinum division until he joined De Beers in 1990 as a mining engineer, and during his tenure has held several senior appointments including those of Group Manager in Global Mining, General Manager Finsch Mine, and Mining/Area Manager Nambeb.

Mr. Brown is a registered Professional Engineer (Pr. Eng) with the South African Council of Professional Engineers and a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering.

Mr. Brown currently serves on the board of Dumas Contracting Ltd and Asian Mineral Resources.

Mr. Brown was nominated to the Board as a representative Pala Investment Holdings Limited

Dr. Charles Entrekin Ph.D.

Non-Executive Director

Charles Entrekin has over 35 years of experience in the mining and metals sector, acting both as an executive officer level and as a consultant.  He currently acts as an international consultant for numerous metal producers and financial houses and was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Coalcorp Mining Inc in August 2011. 

Previous executive positions include President and Chief Operating Officer of Titanium Metals Corporation, a NYSE listed producer of primary titanium and its alloys, as well as President and Chief Executive Officer of Timminco Ltd., a TSX listed magnesium, silicon and aluminium company.  Through his career Dr. Entrekin has led and implemented many successful restructurings and turnarounds of mining and metals companies in both North America and internationally.

Dr. Entrekin holds an MBA from the University of Delaware as well as an M.Sc. and Ph.D from Drexel University.

Richard Lister

Non-Executive Director

Joe Connolly

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Connolly joined Sierra Rutile Limited from Clipper Windpower Plc, where he spent three years as Director Business Development.  While at Clipper Windpower Plc, Mr. Connolly’s responsibilities included budgeting, forecasting and working capital management, the development of corporate strategy, the establishment and monitoring of business performance measures and driving the execution of business improvement initiatives. Mr. Connolly’s professional experience also includes the establishment of process controls, business risk analysis and corporate governance policies.

Mr. Connolly has more than a decade of experience as a finance professional, beginning his career at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, where he qualified as a chartered accountant, subsequent to which he worked at Morgan Stanley as an equity analyst in the industrials sector. Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Connolly served as an officer in the British Army’s Royal Engineer Regiment and holds a masters degree in Natural Science from Cambridge University.

Andrew Taylor

Chief Operating Officer

Jean Lindberg Charles

Director of Corporate Controls

Mr. Charles has significant financial and auditing experience as well as a deep understanding of the Company’s operations.  From April 2005 to October 2008, Mr. Charles worked as Group Financial Controller for SRL, based at the Sierra Rutile minesite. Whilst at SRL, Mr. Charles was responsible for implementing a new management information system, setting up the accounts department for Sierra Rutile and developing the Company’s multi dredge financial model. 

Prior to joining SRL Mr. Charles worked as an auditor for Ernst & Young and as Country Financial Controller of Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts in the Seychelles and Gabon.  Mr Charles is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, England & Wales (FCCA).

Neil Gawthorpe

Marketing Director

Mr. Gawthorpe, who joined SRL as Sales & Marketing Manager in 2008, has more than 12 years experience in international industrial minerals marketing covering a broad range of products and end-use sectors, including the refractories, polymers, oil drilling, glass, water treatment, ceramics, paint, feed and pharmaceuticals markets. 

After completing a degree in Mineral Engineering at the University of Leeds, Mr. Gawthorpe has held marketing and technical positions at a number of large international minerals producers and trading companies such as Redland PLC, Frank & Schulte GmbH and Minelco Group.  He has significant experience of all aspects of marketing including managing bulk and container logistics and his background as a Mineral Engineer will enable him to continue supporting the work of the operations team at Sierra Rutile. 

Prior to joining SRL, Mr. Gawthorpe ran an independent consultancy business sourcing and marketing a varied range of mineral products primarily for Chinese and Indian clients.  Mr. Gawthorpe’s experience of Chinese and Indian markets will strengthen the Company’s ability to supply these important growth markets as production at Sierra Rutile increases.

Mark Button

Director of Mineral Resource Development

Mr. Button has over 22 year’s experience of working in Africa in a variety of mining and geological roles.  Mr. Button started his career with Gold Fields, as part of their Geology Training Scheme, where he spent 10 years as a geologist in South Africa.   

Prior to joining SRL Mr. Button spent 12 years at Anglo American Plc, including 4 years as Mineral Resources Manager at Anglo Base Metals’ Namakwa Sands, heavy mineral sands deposit. Most recently he was Regional Geological Resources Manager at Anglo Coal’s Witbank Coalfields in South Africa.  Additionally, Mr. Button has a Masters Degree from the University of the Free State (SA) in Mineral Resource Management.

Sahr Wonday

Director of Strategic Projects

Desmond Williams

Operations Manager