Currently, Ares Strategic Mining employs a team of roughly 15 engineers and geologists, plus a corporate team of directors and managers. According to James, every member of the team, both on site and in the office, is “very excited about the project.” “Everyone’s pretty happy about where we are because it doesn’t look like a project that can really fail at this point,” he says. “We’ve done all the hard legwork. We’ve done all the hard design work. We’ve proven our case economically.” James says their team has also invested a lot of time and energy into the project, and they are excited to see their investment pay dividends. James cites Raul Sanabria as someone whose efforts have been particularly instrumental. He was the fluorspar expert that James initially visited Utah with. After acquiring the mine, A happy team Ares Strategic Mining offered him a board position – he’s now a director with the company as well as the VP of Exploration. He did all the preliminary geophysical work on the project and ran the drill programs. “Raul’s contribution has been very, very significant,” James says. “He’s been involved from the start and we’ve been lucky to have him. James also credits Karl Marek, another director with the company. He has been involved in the public markets for over 20 years, and was a key part of the company that previously owned the Lost Sheep Mine. Ares Strategic Mining brought him on board after buying that company out, and he’s brought a lot of contacts and local knowledge to the table. “Karl has helped us enormously with the acquisition, he’s helped with raising finances, and he’s connected us with the right people,” James says. “He’s been instrumental.” Early on, Ares also brought on board Keith Minty to coordinate the project development, construction, commissioning and operations of the mine. Keith is a veteran of the mining industry – he has extensive experience leading the construction and commissioning of nine mines worldwide, including the largest open pit palladium operation in North America. He’s also a past recipient of The Northern Miner’s ‘Mining Man of the Year’ award. DECEMBER 2023 THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AMERICA - WEST
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