STEPHEN STARES
PRESIDENT, CEO & DIRECTOR
Stephen Stares is a successful business entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in mineral exploration. Stephen’s first seven years were spent with Noranda Exploration on such projects as the Hemlo gold mines, Eagle River gold deposit and the Geco and Mattabi base metal camps. The next ten years of Stephen’s career were spent managing the operations of Stares Contracting Corp., a successful mineral exploration services company in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Since founding the company in 2004, Stephen has been president of Benton Resources Inc. He has been directly involved in the start-up of ten publicly traded companies on the TSX Venture Exchange by assembling projects of merit and raising millions of dollars for these junior exploration companies. Throughout his career, Mr. Stares has discovered several major mineral occurrences in Canada that have been the subject of extensive exploration programs.
In March of 2007, Stephen and Michael Stares, along with the rest of the Stares, Keats, Crocker and Barrett families, were the proud recipients of the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award. This award was given to recognize the families’ contributions to the industry for the past 40 years.
MICHAEL STARES
DIRECTOR
Michael Stares is a successful entrepreneur and a well-known prospector and project manager. He is a co-owner of Stares Contracting Corp. together with Stephen Stares as well as Director or Officer of several junior exploration companies. Michael’s background comes from 18 years of prospecting, 8 years with Noranda Exploration, having a fantastic track record for new discoveries. Michael has been given credit for the very timely advances in new discoveries on Benton’s projects.
THOMAS SARVAS, CPA, CA
DIRECTOR
Mr. Thomas Sarvas, CPA, CA is a Partner and a member of MNP’s Assurance Services team. Working out of the Thunder Bay office, Tom delivers assurance, tax services and business advice to a broad range of owner-managed businesses, professionals, First Nation-owned enterprises, First Nations, Tribal Councils and not-for profit organizations. Drawing on 30 years of experience, Tom advises clients on financial statement reporting, tax planning and compliance, corporate reorganizations, succession planning and personal and corporate tax filing. His clients include First Nations, government-funded social service agencies, non-profit housing corporations, condominium corporations, health and legal professionals and automotive dealerships. He also has a wealth of experience advising exploration-stage resource companies and geologists on quarterly and year-end financial reporting and general business matters.
Tom was designated a Chartered Accountant (CA) in 1984 after receiving a Bachelor of Administration (Accounting) from Lakehead University. He has served as Chair and Treasurer of the Board for Avenue II, a non-profit organization supporting adults with developmental disabilities, and as Chair of the Finance and Audit committees for the Northwestern Ontario Local Health Integration Network. Since 1996, he has been a Director on the Board of the George Jeffrey Children’s Treatment Centre, where he currently serves as Treasurer.
TIMOTHY FROUDE, P.GEO
DIRECTOR
Mr. Timothy Froude, P. Geo. is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and has been active in the mineral exploration business for over 30 years. Over that time, he has worked with a number of highly regarded firms including Inco Ltd. where he spent nearly 10 years working on projects in North America and overseas and was part of the team that discovered the Bobby’s Pond massive sulphide deposit in Central Newfoundland. Tim is also directly responsible for the discovery of the Valentine Lake gold deposit in Central Newfoundland, currently under advanced stage exploration by Marathon Gold. Over the course of his career, Tim has worked for a number of successful junior companies including Altius Minerals Corporation, Cornerstone Resources, Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corporation and Golden Dory Resources, the latter three companies as VP of Exploration. He also spent 1 year serving as Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources, now Mining NL. Tim now serves as President and CEO of Sokoman Minerals Corp.
JOHN SULLIVAN, P.GEO
DIRECTOR
Mr. Sullivan is a geologist and Mineral Exploration Consultant and has 50 years of experience in the mineral industry. He has held senior positions with Excellon Resources, Noranda, Watts, Griffis and McQuat, and Hudson Bay Mining. He has directed major exploration programs for both precious and base metal projects, managed field offices and evaluated projects in Canada, the United States, Europe, Africa and Latin America, in particular Mexico and Chile.
GORDON FRETWELL
LEGAL COUNCIL / CORPORATE SECRETARY
Mr. Fretwell graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1979 with the Bachelor of Laws degree. Since that time, Mr. Fretwell has been a practicing solicitor in the City of Vancouver, primarily in the areas of resource and securities law. In addition, Mr. Fretwell is a Director or Officer of various publicly-traded companies, including Asanko Gold, Auryn Resources Corp., Coro Mining Corp., Canada Rare Earth Corp. and Sokoman Minerals Corp.