BWR is headed up by a seasoned professional geologist, supported by a strong Management group and Board of Directors. Neil Novak, BWR’s President & CEO spearheaded exploration in the James Bay Lowland, his former company “Spider Resources Inc.” was dubbed the spark that lit the “Ring of Fire”. Neil was recognized by his peers and was co-recipient of the 2009 PDAC Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award for his involvement in the discovery of the McFaulds Lake VMS deposits, Big Daddy and Black Bird Chromite deposits, and Eagle’s Nest MMS Deposit, collectively referred to as the “Ring of Fire”. Neil helped build Noront Resources Inc. (2005-2009), Noront is currently developing these projects. Neil presided over the $125 million takeover of Spider Resources by Cliffs Natural Resources. in 2010.
Neil D. Novak, President and Chief Executive Officer, Director and Founder
Mr. Novak (Cambridge, Ontario) is a senior executive with 4 decades of experience in the junior resource and mining sector. Since graduating from University of Waterloo in 1977, he has been working as an exploration geologist in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, providing management expertise in the role of senior officer for numerous junior resource companies. Neil was instrumental in several significant discoveries including 10 kimberlites in Ontario and a few in Quebec. At the 2010 Prospectors and Developers Convention in Toronto, Mr. Novak, along with four others, was awarded PDAC’s Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award 2009 for his key role in the discovery the “Ring of Fire” exploration area with its numerous deposits of nickel, copper, zinc and chrome. Mr. Novak was President and CEO of Spider Resources Inc., taken over in 2010 for an all cash offer of $125 million by Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland Ohio. Novak acquired one of the old Spider projects from Cliffs and then launched Black Widow Resources Inc. bringing it public in early 2013 through an IPO. Black Widow changed its name in late 2016 to BWR Exploration Inc.
Mr. Novak is presently a director of one other public company, Cadillac Ventures Inc. and is President of a private family owned consulting business, Nominex Ltd. Mr. Novak is a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) registered with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, a Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada (F.G.A.C.).
Victor (‘Vic’) Hugo (Chief Financial Officer)
Mr. Hugo (Toronto, Ontario) possesses over 20 years of experience working with public companies in the manufacturing and resource sector with responsibility for accounting, budgeting and financial reporting. Vic is Senior Financial Analyst at Marelli Support Services Inc., that specializes in providing CFO, accounting, regulatory compliance, and management advisory services to numerous issuers on the TSX, TSX-Venture, CSE and other international exchanges.
Vic is a CPA, CMA and has a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours, specializing in accounting and cost and management accounting from Potchefstroom University in South Africa.
George A. Duguay, Vice President Corporate Development, Director and Founder
Mr. Duguay (Toronto, Ontario) is a senior executive with experience in the technology, financial services and resource industries. Since 1988, he has been the President of G. Duguay Services Inc., a partner of Duguay & Ringler Corporate Services until February 2006, a provider of corporate and financial administrative services to public companies. G. Duguay Services Inc. continues to act as a consultant in this area.
Mr. Duguay is presently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intrinsyc Technologies Corp., listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and is Corporate Secretary of three public companies. During the period May 1993 to December 2004, Mr. Duguay served as a Director of Genesis Microchip Inc., the world’s leading supplier of display image processors listed on NASDAQ. Mr. Duguay was also a co-founder of Equity Financial Trust Company.
Mr. Duguay is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant (CPA, CGA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries (F.C.I.S.).
Carmen L. Diges Corporate Secretary, Legal Counsel and Founder
Ms. Diges (Toronto, Ontario) is sole owner of a boutique law firm specializing in the resource sector, in areas of security law and corporate finance. She has been closing international deals for over 20 years. Ms. Diges is an international entrepreneur, she has hand-built her practice by developing extensive local and global networks. She is sought out worldwide, by boards, bankers, CEOs and governments, for her business counsel, contacts and commercial knowledge.
Norman E. Brewster, Non Executive Chairman, Director
Mr. Brewster (Norwood, Ontario) is currently the president, director and CEO of Cadillac Ventures Inc., with development projects in Ontario (copper) and New Brunswick (tungsten). Mr. Brewster has served on many public and private company boards over his 47 year career in the mineral industry. Prior to joining Cadillac Ventures, he was the interim president and executive chairman of Iberian Minerals Corp., successfully financing, developing and putting into production the Aguas Tenidas mine in Andalucia, Spain, which became the region’s largest employer. During his tenure, Mr. Brewster led negotiations for the purchase of the Condestable mine in Peru by Iberian Minerals, and as a final duty, Mr. Brewster led a committee in reviewing the successful bid by Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd. to acquire Iberian Minerals, in an all-cash takeover. Mr. Brewster also sat on a committee, as a director of Spider Resource Inc., which reviewed the successful all-cash acquisition of Spider Resources by Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. During his career Mr. Brewster has led projects in West Africa, The Caribbean, South America, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Great Britain, Europe and Canada.
Mr. Brewster holds Bachelor of Science and education degrees from Acadia University and was approved as a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.
Earl Coleman, Director
Mr. Coleman (Winnipeg, Manitoba) is an independent director of BWR. Mr. Coleman sits on the Audit and Compensation committees for BWR.
Mr. Coleman’s experience with publicly traded companies includes being a trustee, Chair of the Audit committee and Chair of the Compensation and Governance committee of Lanesborough Real Estate Investment Trust, a TSX listed company. Mr. Coleman was a director of Spider Resources Inc. between 1999 to 2010 and was appointed Chair of the Special committee for Spider, just prior to its acquisition by a Canadian subsidiary of Cliff’s Natural Resources Inc. in 2010.
Felix Lee, P.Geo., B.Sc., MBA Director
Felix is the Past-President of the Prospectors Developers Association of Canada. In addition to this, Felix is an economic geologist with over 30 years of experience. Felix was most recently a Director and Principal Consultant with CSA Global Canada, an international mining and geological consulting firm, where he managed the day-to-day operations of the firm’s Toronto office in conjunction with the firm’s twelve other offices worldwide. Prior to his position with CSA, Felix was the owner and president of Toronto-based mining and geological consultancy, A.C.A. Howe International Limited. Felix resigned from CSA Global Canada in late 2019, to pursue involvement in the junior resource sector and has recently agreed to head up a private junior exploration company in NW Manitoba.
As a consultant for most of his career, Felix’s work has involved the provision of independent geological due diligence reports and mineral property valuation opinions to clients wishing to list their company on the stock exchanges, raise financing for their projects, or pursue M&A opportunities. Felix has worked with both major and junior exploration companies, managing and working on grass-roots to advanced-stage exploration projects in North America, Central Europe, South America, Central Asia, Asia, and Africa, involving a variety of deposit types and commodities.
Felix is a registered Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) in the province of Ontario and a member of the Society of Economic Geologists. He received his B.Sc. in Geology from McMaster University, and earned his MBA at York University and Northwestern University.