Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area

Ryerson CSR Institute Panel Session: CSR in the Mining Boardroom - Panel Discussion with CEOs/Board Members

Date
November 20, 2014
Time
12:00 PM EST - 2:00 PM EST
Location
Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas St. West, Toronto [9th floor, room TRS 3-109]
About the Event

In an ever-changing operating environment, CSR vies for attention with many other competing priorities that are addressed in boardroom decision-making.  The purpose of the panel discussion is to shed some light on CSR Board-level decision making - e.g., in terms of how Board-level decision making is structured through committees, allocation of Board responsibilities, how CSR priorities are balanced against other operational and strategic priorities, as well as CEO/director-level perspectives on CSR challenges, opportunities, trends, etc.

This event is co-sponsored by the Ryerson CSR Student Association, the Ryerson Commerce and Government Association, the Ryerson MBA Mining Stream, and the Chang School Mining Management Certificate.

Don Bubar (President and CEO, Avalon Rare  Minerals) is a geologist with over 35 years’ experience in mineral exploration in Canada. Mr. Bubar is a graduate of McGill University (B.Sc., 1977) and Queen’s University (M.Sc., 1981). From 1984 to 1994, he worked for Aur Resources Inc. as Exploration Manager and later VP, Exploration. Mr. Bubar has been President and CEO of Avalon Rare Metals Inc. since 1995. He served as a Director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) for nine years and chaired its Aboriginal Affairs Committee from its creation in December, 2004, until retiring from the PDAC Board in March 2013. He now serves on the Board and the Executive Committee of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

John Clarke (President & CEO, Director Banro Corporation) is a gold producer/developer operating two mines and an extensive exploration portfolio in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Dr. Clarke is also a non-executive director and Chairman of Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd an explorer/developer with phosphate deposits in Mali, West Africa, and an Africa wide focus on fertilizer development opportunities.  Most recently, served as the CEO of Nevsun Resources Limited, which successfully brought the Bisha Mine into production in Eritrea. Prior to joining Nevsun in 1997, Dr. Clarke was an Executive Director of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited of Ghana, where he helped establish Ashanti's gold exploration program throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Clarke holds a Ph.D. in metallurgy from Cambridge University and M.B.A. from the University of Middlesex. His career has spanned mining and smelting operations from research through to commissioning, line production, general management and executive management.

Alan Coutts (President and CEO, Noront Resources) is a mining executive with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of exploration, feasibility, construction and production of mineral deposits. He has worked both domestically and abroad in a variety of roles and across multiple commodities. Most recently, he was the Managing Director of Xstrata Nickel Australasia based in Perth, Australia. He was General Manager at the Brunswick Mine, Canada before relocating to Australia. Previous to that, Mr. Coutts occupied roles that included General Manager, Manager of Mining, Chief Geologist and Regional Exploration Manager, mostly with Falconbridge. Mr. Coutts holds an Honours degree in Geology from the University of Alberta and has Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo) status in the province of Ontario. He is currently the President and CEO of Noront Resources, a junior mining company leading development in Ontario’s Ring of Fire.

Raphael Girard (Director, Board of Directors, Centerra Gold) is a former Ambassador and currently a Director of Centerra Gold.  He was their first Chair for Corporate Social Responsibility. During his diplomatic career he specialized in refugee policy, humanitarian aid and development. He was on the Board of Gabriel  Resources from 2005 to 2010.

Dee (Edythe) Marcoux (Director, Board of Directors, Sherritt International, and Chair of the Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Committee of Sherritt’s Board of Directors). Dee has extensive experience in the extractive industry, having served as director on the boards of SNC Lavalin (until May 2013), OPTI Canada (until November 2011) and Placer Dome (until January 2006). In addition, Dee has extensive operational experience, having worked for CS Resources as President (1996-1997) Gulf, as President of Heavy Oil (1997-1998); Suncor (1991-1996) as Executive Vice-President of Oil Sands Group; Ontario Hydro (1990-1991) in supply and services; PetroCanada (1983-1990) in business development and refinery management; and Imperial Oil Ltd. (1976-1983) in process and project engineering, logistics and finance.