American Defense Metals

With nearly 40 years of global mining experience, Paul is a seasoned executive renowned for transforming complex projects into profitable, sustainable operations. From 2018 to 2024, Paul served as Chairman & CEO of Karora Resources, where he led a strategic merger with Westgold Resources, creating one of Australia’s leading gold producers. Prior to that, at Klondex Mines, Paul expanded the company from one mine to four U.S. mines with two mills (including Emerald & Midas), spending over $1 billion in six years to develop Nevada operations, creating thousands of new direct & indirect jobs in the region, and driving Klondex to profitability. This culminated in its $462 million acquisition by Hecla Mining in 2018. Paul’s decades of hands-on experience across every level of mining operations give him an unmatched understanding of what it takes to build efficient, high-performing ventures in the U.S. and abroad. Paul graduated with honors from the Mining Engineering Technology program at Haileybury School of Mines and completed the Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Huet is also a member of OACETT as an Applied Science Technologist and an Accredited Director.

Mr. Haji brings over 20 years of metals and mining, investment management, publicly-listed capital markets experience, wherein he has served a variety of senior leadership roles. Mr. Haji serves as Chief Executive Officer and Director of ION Energy Ltd. (TSXV: ION) where he has led the company in advancing a portfolio of lithium assets, raising capital, and executing on a variety of transformative M&A initiatives. Mr. Haji is a sitting board member of a number of listed entities as well as an advisor to various public and private mining companies. Mr. Haji also held a variety of senior roles at Invesco Ltd.

Oliver Friesen has spent over ten years in the mining and oil & gas sectors working in various technical and corporate roles. Most recently, Oliver was Chief Executive Officer of Gold Lion Resources, a Vancouver-based exploration company focused on gold exploration in Idaho, USA. He holds a BSc (Hons.) degree in geology from University of British Columbia and a M.Sc. degree focusing in sedimentology from Simon Fraser University. He has been actively involved in mineral exploration since 2010 primarily working within Canada, United States, Australia and Africa.