THE TEAM

All team members are goal and deadline driven, and are accustomed to liaising with authorities from all governmental bodies and working in close conjunction with the board/investors of larger companies. The team has managed multinational teams in often difficult and logistically challenging environments.

Albert Matthews, Operations Manager
Based in Cape Town, South Africa

Mr Albert Matthews has 23 years’ experience in running and designing operations and mineral processing systems in Africa, South America, and the Far East for diamonds, gold, coltan/tantalite and cassiterite.

He has worked in the following countries: Peru (gold), Guyana (gold), Suriname (gold), Colombia (gold), Venezuela (gold and cassiterite), Ecuador (gold), Chile (gold), Brazil (gold), Namibia (diamonds), DRC (diamonds and gold), Central Africa Republic (diamonds and gold), Cameroon (gold), Ghana (gold), Liberia (diamonds and gold), Sierra Leone (diamonds and gold), Senegal (gold), Egypt (cassiterite), Burkina Faso (gold), Mozambique (gold and cassiterite), Tanzania (gold and tantalite), Madagascar (gold), Nigeria (cassiterite, lead and gold), Chad (diamonds and gold), DRC (diamonds and gold), Angola (diamonds and gold), Australia (gold and lead), Philippines (gold) and Indonesia (gold).

Main projects over the years :

Two years helping the Nigerian company, Sandcrete Engineering, in the development of almost 30 gold, lead, and cassiterite concessions.
Two years as Operational Manager in an 11-man multi-national team for a Paraguayan-Argentinean company in South America. The company specialised in mining and recovery work in the Parana and Paraguay rivers, flowing south from the Amazon River Delta.
15 years being involved with Extrac-Tec South Africa in designing and manufacturing density-separating equipment for various mining projects. After starting with the manufacturing, design and sales of equipment, he moved on to international installations, and helping clients with exploration programmes and mining projects all over the world, from helping the Australian military with lead remediation to high-terrace gold mining in the Papua Indonesian mountains, as well as helping multiple clients in 17 African and 8 South American countries. This involvement gave him not just unique experience regarding the design, manufacture, and implementation of processing equipment for exploration and mining, but also operations management experience, logistics & procurement (import/export), and complete design of mining projects, from the security and professional team, to dealing with governments regarding high-level mining conventions.
Three years of design, implementation, and running of diamond and gold projects in Central African Republic (CAR).
Three years of running gold exploration and mining projects in Ghana.
Four years working for Sierra Leone Diamond Company (SLDC), specialising in exploration and mining after the war, starting in December 2005 in Lubo chiefdom, exploring the Sewa River and low terraces. In the beginning of 2006, exploration and mining moved to Kono in the north.

Douglas Walker, Chief Exploration Geologist
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
NHD Geol. Wits Tech 2001 and B. Sc. Hons. Geol. UJ 2007 (RAU)

Mr Douglas Walker has 20+ years of multi-commodity exploration and mining experience in gold, uranium, diamonds (kimberlite and alluvial), PGE and other precious metals, base metals, tin, columbite, tantalite, and lithium, amongst others.

His gold-specific experience includes the following: Swaziland 1998-2000 MSA, Senegal 2009-2011 Teranga Gold (Exploration Manager Faleme Project with 26 prospects, one of which was in pre-feasibility); Nigeria 2012-2013 (13 prospects, one at advanced scoping stage, also other commodities), and Cameroon (PFS on project, which will become a mine). He has covered all aspects of gold exploration, from greenfield to brownfield projects & PFS. Other countries in which he has worked include: Angola (diamonds), DRC (diamonds and Cu, Co) Guinea (iron-ore) Botswana (Base metals) Swaziland (Base metals), and South Africa (multiple commodities). Mr Walker has worked mostly on NI 43 101 compliant projects and more recently Jorc. compliant projects. He has conducted preliminary resource work on multiple projects. He has also run several plant types for diamond and gold recovery in exploration and trial mining. He managed large teams (~13 geologists and approx. 130 staff contingent on some projects). He was a Shaft Geologist at underground antimony and gold mines in Limpopo province, South Africa. For other commodities, he has also worked throughout the value chain from project conception, target evaluation through to mining.

Michael Roy Johnson, Process Manager
Based in Valencia, Spain

Mr Michael Roy Johnson is an Anglo-Argentinian Project and Process Manager with 30 years’ experience in exploration and mining in Venezuela, Peru, Argentina (Patagonia, San Luis), Bolivia, Mexico, and Guyana. The manufacturing and design of centrifuges and his involvement in hard rock and alluvial gold projects over so many years have given him an unique understanding of the gold resource in South America.

Being located in Valencia, Spain has also allowed him to become more involved with diamond and gold projects in central, east and west Africa over the last 5 years, spanning countries such as Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Ivory Coast. His practical experience allows him to quickly analyse mining, processing and design needs, and give a clear understanding of feasibility issues regarding projects or concessions.

Marais Loubser, Diamond Geologist
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
B.Sc. Hons degree in Geology, University of Stellenbosch

An Exploration and Mining Geologist with 30 years’ diamond industry experience, Mr Marais Loubser started his career in 1988 as an Exploration Geologist for De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) in South Africa. He worked in the Northern Cape, Free State and Limpopo provinces before transferring to the group’s alluvial diamond mines at Oranjamund in Namibia in 1996. He worked as a Production Mine Geologist and was responsible for on-mine resource extension.

Over the last 10 years he was the Exploration Manager of Namdeb. In 2017 he went on early retirement and in 2019 became involved in exploration in Africa. Diamond concession reports were done for clients in Chad, Angola and Ivory Coast during 2019 through to 2021. Since then he has become more involved in gold/diamond exploration, well as performing management duties in Chad.

David Pollard, Geological Consultant
Based in the UK

Mr Pollard has 25+ years’ experience in a variety of commodities, covering both exploration and mining, hard rock as well as alluvial. Commodities explored include gold, silver, diamonds, copper, lead/zinc, uranium, coltan, tin, rare earth elements, lithium pegmatites, and graphite.

His specific experience in gold mining is as a mine geologist in deep underground gold/uranium & then gold mines in South Africa, Chief Expatriate Geologist for Gold & Mineral Excavations at the Darvaz alluvial gold mine, Tajikistan (1995–1998), Assistant Chief Geologist for Majestic Gold at various gold exploration projects within the People’s Republic of China (Sawayaerdun, Song Jiagou, Fushan) during 2004-2005, Consultant Geologist at Randgold’s Bambadji gold exploration projects in Senegal in 2009, the role of Assistant Chief Mine Geologist, later Chief Exploration Geologist at Minefinders’ Dolores open pit silver/gold mine, in Chihuahua State, Mexico in 2010–2011 & Consultant Geologist at GMIA Minerals’ Tchaga project gold mining project in Chad in 2020-2021. Mr Pollard has worked in all aspects of gold exploration, from basic field mapping, geochemical soil sampling, trench sampling, and RAB drill logging to grass-roots core logging, as well as near-mine and in-mine core logging of extensions of actively-mined mineralisation.

Mr Pollard has also worked in the Atacama Desert, Chile (copper), in Kono, Sierra Leone (diamonds), in Paraguay (uranium), in the Kangari Hills, Sierra Leone (coltan), in Longonjo, Angola (rare earth metals), various projects in Nigeria and Sweden (lithium pegmatites), Malemba, the DRC (tin/tantalum), Sweden (graphite) and NE Greenland (lead/zinc/copper).

Mr Pollard has managed teams of up to 10 Exploration Geologists and teams of up to 15 people that include Geologists, Technicians and labourers. He has co-authored four NI 43-101 professional reports that have been filed with the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Pierre Jonker, Consulting Geologist
B. Sc. Hons. Geol. NMMU 1999

Mr Jonker is an Exploration Geologist with multi-commodity experience. He site-managed projects/camps in entirety with teams of 10-60 staff, including admin, geology and associated staff such drilling teams. His commodity experience includes platinum, diamonds, rare earths, iron-ore, gold, zinc, copper, cobalt and he has also worked in the organic fertilizer field. Countries he has worked in are South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, and Chad in Africa, as well as Brazil, Mexico and Canada in the Americas and Tibet. He was a Shaft Geologist at Anglo Gold Ashanti in Kopanang.

Lourens Erasmus, Chief Exploration Geologist
Based in Cape Town, South Africa

Mr Erasmus is a Regional Exploration and Exploration Manager, Consultant and Advisor on JV and investment opportunities with 32 years’ experience. He is experienced in gold mines and gold exploration (Wits and Greenstone), base metals (Ni, Cu, Co), on and off-shore diamonds, as well as layered intrusions (platinum group elements in the Bushveld Igneous Complex, SA), in Africa and gold and base metals in the Middle East (Yemen, the UAE and Saudi Arabia). He was engaged in target generation and business development proposals, advised on feasibility studies and investigated and advised on JV opportunities. He was also involved as Exploration Manager, gold, on and off-mine in Guinea and before that he was Exploration Manager (base metals, copper belt), on and off-mine, as well as brownfields projects in the DRC.

He is currently a Senior Regional Geological Consultant (SRK, UK) on green- and brownfield exploration
projects (gold and VMS deposits) in Saudi Arabia.

CONTACT

Albert Matthews • +27 839911983

Boama-Africa is registered in South Africa, UAE, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.