Leadership Team
Explorers. Mine builders. Innovators. Financiers
Gold Candle’s core values – integrity, accountability, teamwork, excellence – guiding every decision we make.
Executive Team
Gold Candle’s executive team has the operational and financial skillset to develop the Kerr project.
Michael Berns
Michael Berns, Gold Candle’s Executive Chairman, founded the company in 2015, and previously served as its CEO. He has been active in the natural resource industry for 45 years as an executive, advisor and investor. A graduate of the Wharton School, and a NY-based attorney, he has advised and represented hundreds of gold and other natural resource issuers on financings, stock exchange listings, regulatory compliance and M&A transactions. His law firm spearheaded U.S. regulatory advancements facilitating the integration of global capital markets. He has advised on M&A transactions valued in excess of $800 billion.
Michael Berns
Executive Chair
Léon Grondin-LeBlanc
Léon Grondin-LeBlanc brings over 13 years of operational, project development and execution experience between Quebec and Ontario. Most recently Mr. Grondin-LeBlanc served as General Manager of Alamos Gold’s Young-Davidson Mine. Prior to his role as General Manager, Mr. Grondin-LeBlanc held roles of increasing responsibility, including overseeing the underground expansion of Young-Davidson and the Phase 2 expansion of the Island Gold mine. He started his career with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. with the Laronde Mine where he held progressively senior engineering positions. He is bilingual in English, and French and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Laval University and an MBA from the University of Fredericton. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and Quebec.
Leon LeBlanc
President & COO
Jaime Hartman
Jaime Hartman who has more than 30 years of experience in trading and pricing equities, convertible bonds, and options. He is experienced in all aspects of debt and equity investments, including sourcing, and negotiating transactions. Mr. Hartman began his career at JP Morgan & Co. in Brazil in 1989 and then moved to Bankers Trust in New York in 1990 where he was responsible for trading equity derivatives, convertible bonds, and Latin America equity and fixed income derivatives. He then served as a director with Credit Suisse First Boston, trading equity derivatives. Following that, he became a general partner of WEC Asset Management, LLC, a New York-based asset manager. Then Mr. Hartman served as a director of DKR Oasis Capital Management LP, a multi-billion dollar, multi-strategy hedge fund. Now, Mr. Hartman is a partner at Genesis Capital Advisors LLC, a company he co-founded.
Jaime Hartman
Chief Financial Officer
Dean Crick
Dean Crick is a professional geologist with over 35 years of experience primarily in Northern Ontario. Most recently Dean held the position of Canadian Exploration Manager for Alamos Gold where was instrumental in exploration successes at their Canadian operations Young-Davidson, Island Gold in addition to their Lynn Lake’s advanced development project. Prior to that, Dean worked for TMAC as Director of Geoscience. He also held the role of Director of Geology, Chief Geologist and Exploration Manager for several well-established operators across Canada. Leading teams from discovery to production for both open-pit and underground deposits. Dean has a B.Sc. in Geological Sciences from Brock University, a M.Sc. in Economic Geology from Laurentian University and is a Professional Geologist in the province or Ontario. He has been an author and Qualified Person for several NI 43-101 Technical Reports through his professional career.
Dean Crick
Vice-President of Exploration
Technical Team
Gold Candle’s technical team is responsible for leveraging their expertise to advance the Kerr project.
Jacqueline Blackwell
Jacqueline Blackwell has a Ph.D. in volcanology and economic geology from the University of Tasmania (CODES), a B.Sc. in Earth and Ocean Science from the University of Victoria, and over 15 years in the exploration industry. She is a registered Professional Geologist with the Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC) and the Professional Geoscientists Ontario (PGO). She is a specialist in recognition and classification of volcanic and hydrothermal lithofacies in altered and mineralized terranes with exploration experience in orogenic gold, porphyry copper-gold, and epithermal gold deposits.
Jacqueline Blackwell
Chief Geologist
Board of Directors
The Directors of Gold Candle have decades of Board experience marked by robust corporate governance.
Michael Berns
Michael Berns, Gold Candle’s Executive Chairman, founded the company in 2015, and previously served as its CEO. He has been active in the natural resource industry for 45 years as an executive, advisor and investor. A graduate of the Wharton School, and a NY-based attorney, he has advised and represented hundreds of gold and other natural resource issuers on financings, stock exchange listings, regulatory compliance and M&A transactions. His law firm spearheaded U.S. regulatory advancements facilitating the integration of global capital markets. He has advised on M&A transactions valued in excess of $800 billion.
Michael Berns
Executive Chair
Ebe Scherkus
Ebe Scherkus is a mining professional with 48 years of experience. Mr. Scherkus spent 27 years with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) starting as Project Manager at the LaRonde Project in Abitibi, Quebéc culminating in its discovery, construction, and the foundation of AEM. He progressed to Mine Manager of the LaRonde Mine, and finally President and Chief Operating Officer of AEM. In this role, he was instrumental in the development of the Kittila Mine, Lapa Mine, Goldex Mine, Meadowbank Mine, and Pinot Altos Mine. Agnico Eagle transitioned from a single producing mine to an international multi mine gold producer. Mr. Scherkus formerly served as the President of the Quebec Mining Association, Director of Richmont Mines Limited, Executive Chairman of Premier Gold Mines Limited, and Chairman of Stornoway Diamond Corporation Limited. He was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2020.
Ebe Scherkus
Lead Director and Compensation Committee Chair
Mark Wellings
Mark Wellings is a mining professional with over 30 years of international experience in both the mining industry and mining finance sector. Mr. Wellings served as Principal on Infor Financial Group’s investment banking team and served for 18 years at GMP Securities L.P., including as Managing Director of Investment Banking. At GMP Securities L.P., he worked on some of the Canadian mining industry’s largest transactions, both in equity financing and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Wellings has also worked in the mining industry directly with a variety of companies in exploration, development, and production. In addition to this, he was the former Chief Executive Officer and President of Eurotin Inc. Mr. Wellings is currently Chairman of Adventus Mining Corporation. Director and VP technical of Lithium Royalty Corporation and Lead Director of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.
Mark Wellings
Audit Committee Chair
Jaime Hartman
Jaime Hartman who has more than 30 years of experience in trading and pricing equities, convertible bonds, and options. He is experienced in all aspects of debt and equity investments, including sourcing, and negotiating transactions. Mr. Hartman began his career at JP Morgan & Co. in Brazil in 1989 and then moved to Bankers Trust in New York in 1990 where he was responsible for trading equity derivatives, convertible bonds, and Latin America equity and fixed income derivatives. He then served as a director with Credit Suisse First Boston, trading equity derivatives. Following that, he became a general partner of WEC Asset Management, LLC, a New York-based asset manager. Then Mr. Hartman served as a director of DKR Oasis Capital Management LP, a multi-billion dollar, multi-strategy hedge fund. Now, Mr. Hartman is a partner at Genesis Capital Advisors LLC, a company he co-founded.
Jaime Hartman
Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Ross Sherlock
Ross Sherlock was appointed as a director of our Company on Dec. 2020, and serves as a member of the Company’s technical advisory board and compensation committee. Dr. Sherlock is a professional geologist with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry and academic research. In 2017, Ross was appointed Full Professor and Research Chair in Exploration Targeting at the Harquail School of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, where he is the Director of the Mineral Exploration Research Center and the Metal Earth project. Prior to this, he has held senior positions with major mining companies including Vice President, Geoscience at Kinross Gold Corp. from 2015 to 2016, Exploration Manager, North America at Gold Fields from 2008 to 2015, and Project Manager, Senior Geologist at Miramar Mining Corporation/Newmont Mining Corporation from 2004 to 2008. Prior to this, he was a Research Geoscientist at the Geological Survey of Canada and Senior Geologist at SRK Consulting Engineers. Dr. Sherlock completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia’s Mineral Deposits Research Unit, PhD at the University of Waterloo, MSc at Lakehead University, and BSc (Honours) at McMaster University, Canada. He is a member of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia and Professional Geoscientists Ontario.
Dr. Ross Sherlock
Ethan Benovitz
Ethan Benovitz is a seasoned investor with over 25 years of successful experience investing across healthcare, technology, and metals and mining sectors. He began his career as a corporate attorney after earning his JD from Harvard Law School. Ethan’s deep expertise in corporate finance and governance make him a trusted advisor to a variety of corporations and executives.
Ethan Benovitz
Louise Grondin
Louise Grondin retired in January 2021 as Senior Vice President People and Culture at Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, after almost twenty years with the company. During her tenure she occupied various senior positions in environment, health and safety, community relations, communication and human resources. Prior to that, she spent eight years as Director HSE and Human Resources at the Selbaie Mine in Quebec (Billiton Canada). She had started her career at Ontario Hydro in Toronto, where she spent twelve years in various engineering positions. Ms. Grondin holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Ottawa, a Master degree in Sciences from McGill University and has completed her Mechanical Engineering curriculum at the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs in Quebec, of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. She is also a member of the Champion Iron Board of Directors and sits on the Board of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
Louise Grondin
Geoffrey Belsher
Geoffrey Belsher has played a leadership role across the financial services industry in Canada for over three decades. He worked as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Wholesale Banking for CIBC in Toronto from 2009 to 2015 where he also served on the Executive Committee of CIBC. Additionally, he served as President of the Canadian operations of Barclays Capital, and its predecessor Lehman Brothers Canada from 2006 to 2008, where he formed the Investment Banking offices in Toronto and Calgary. Currently Mr. Belsher is Barclays’ Chairman and Country Chief Executive Officer for Canada.
Geoffrey Belsher
Michael Jalonen
Michael Jalonen had a 33-year career as a respected mine analyst, specializing in precious metals, with Bank of America Securities and was regularly ranked as a leading mining analyst in North America. Michael covered twenty companies in the North American gold and silver producer sector and five senior precious metal royalty and streaming companies. He created detailed operating and financial models with long-term forecasts for companies under coverage, which led to valuation analyses to estimate company asset values. He regularly published multiple industry thematic reports on M&A activity in the global gold sector. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Geology from the University of Windsor, an MBA from McMaster University and is a designated CFA.
Michael Jalonen
Hannes Portmann
Hannes Portmann currently serves as Chief Financial Officer at Cabot Management Company Limited, a role he has held since February 2022. From October 2019 to January 2022, Hannes served in the role of Chief Financial Officer & Business Development at Marathon Gold Corporation. Prior to Marathon Gold, he spent ten years with New Gold Incorporated, ultimately serving as President and Chief Executive Officer. Before New Gold, he was a member of the Merrill Lynch investment banking mining group and the assurance and advisory practices of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Hannes is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University and a Masters of Management and Professional Accounting from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Hannes Portmann
