Fireside Chat With George Read & Ewan Mason of Star Diamond

Mr. Mason has extensive experience in corporate financings, restructuring and advisory work. He has worked as a contract geologist for a number of mining companies. Following receipt of his MBA he was employed by Richardson Greenshields (which was acquired by RBC Dominion Securities), rising to the role of Managing Director with RBC. During his tenure at RBC, Mr. Mason spent two years in London England, initiating global coverage of mining conglomerates around the world. Following his time at RBC, Mr. Mason was recruited by TD Securities to start up and head the re-launch of a mining investment banking team. Clients which Mr. Mason brought to TD in lead relationships include amongst others Xstrata plc, BHP Billiton,Vale, Votorantim, Buena Ventura, IAMGOLD, Gammon Gold, Jaguar Mining, HudBay Minerals, Northgate Minerals, Equinox Minerals, Eurozinc and International Minerals. Since leaving TD, Mr. Mason has served as a director for mining and exploration companies. He is currently the owner, officer and director of private corporations that are engaged in retail, inventory management and personal training and wellness.

Mr. Read is a diamond exploration geologist with over 39 years of international experience. After graduating in geology and geochemistry from the University of Cape Town (BSc. Hons., 1983), Mr. Read joined De Beers in South Africa. During his 12 years with De Beers, he worked on a wide spectrum of diamond exploration projects in Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, Mali and Tanzania), in addition to Canada and Brazil. Mr. Read came to Canada as a Landed Immigrant in early 1997 and worked as a consultant for several companies in Alberta, NWT, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, in addition to projects in Greenland and Brazil. Mr. Read commenced with Star Diamond Corporation in late 2003 and since that time has led the team responsible for the exploration and evaluation of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. During his career of almost four decades, he has encountered and solved many of the diverse problems associated with diamond exploration and evaluation programs. Mr. Read is a Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada and a Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Mr. Read became a citizen of Canada in September 2005.