Premier is led by a highly experienced team of mining professionals with significant expertise in the international mining and resource development sector with strong Africa-wide knowledge and a reputation as responsible operators.
George RoachChief Executive Officer
George Roach has extensive experience in natural resources sector in Africa. He has successfully obtained licenses and concluded mineral exploration and exploitation agreements in the entire SADC region, Ethiopia and most of the CEMAC and ECOWAS regions. Under the auspices of Exploration Services, he provided consultancy to prospective exploration companies and has acted in significant capacities for a number of start-ups that have subsequently listed on AIM and TSX-V. Prior to founding Premier, Mr Roach was Managing Director Africa, for UraMin Inc. Mr Roach maintains a number of other interests in start-ups which include Anglo African Agriculture that recently acquired the Southern Africa based business of Dynamic Intertrade, as well as Agriminco Inc. A TSX-V listed Agricultural developer in Africa.
Errico VascottoChief Operating Officer
Mr. Vascotto is an accomplished and qualified Mine Manager with more than 40 years’ experience in the mining industry. He has gained multi-commodity experience, working internationally on both greenfield and brownfield projects in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Fiji, Honduras, Australia, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, USA, and South Africa. Mr. Vascotto has held senior positions in the mining industry ranging from General Mine Management to Directorship. In addition to direct mining experience, Mr. Vascotto has gained experience in mining construction, providing strategic project leadership for various projects in line with industry best practice. Prior to joining Premier, Mr. Vascotto worked as an independent consultant on a number of scoping studies and supplied comprehensive project management to mine operations. Mr. Vascotto also has a flair for languages and is proficient in English, Afrikaans, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Jabulani Chirasha Country Manager
A qualified metallurgical engineer with in excess of 30 years’ of experience in mining and process engineering. Prior to joining RHA Tungsten, Mr Chirasha was senior manager at Anglo American in Zimbabwe. Mr Chirasha has authored a number of international papers on mining and process technology and is a speaker at international mining conferences.
Wolfgang HampelSenior Geologist
Mr Hampel is a seasoned geologist with 27 years of experience in lithium, rare earth elements and as well precious and base metals. Before joining Premier, between 2008 and 2012 Mr Hampel was Chief Operating Officer and consulting geologist for Tantalus Rare Earths AG which discovered a rare earth ionic clay deposit on the Ampasindava Peninsula in Northern Madagascar. Between 2006 and 2008, Mr Hampel was Head of the Department for Mining Infrastructure and Mineral Exploration for Fugro Consult GmbH, a leading geological and earth sciences consultancy and previously, Mr Hampel worked for the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, the central geoscientific authority providing advice to the German Federal Government on geoscience related matters. In the 1990s, Mr Hampel was involved in the discovery and development of several gold deposits and major gold anomalies in West Africa.
Mr Hampel has a degree in Geology, Economic Geology and Petrology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany and is a member of the European Federation of Geologists (n° 1261) and the German Professional Association of Geoscientists. He is a Qualified Person for the purposes of the AIM Rules and NI43-101, JORC, the Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) and the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM).