Board and Leadership

Mr Stirzaker has over 30 years’ commercial experience, mainly in mining finance and mining investment. He began his career in Sydney as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, before moving into investment banking with the HSBC Group and then Kleinwort Benson Limited in London.

From 1993 to 2007 he was part of the natural resource advisory and investment firm, RFC Group Limited, where he became Joint Managing Director. He has also been a shareholder and director of Tennant Metals Pty. Limited, a privately owned physical metal trader and investor, was the finance director of Finders Resources Limited, an ASX listed company producing copper in Indonesia, and was a non-executive director of Prodigy Gold NL, an ASX listed gold exploration company.

From 2010 until 2019, Mr Stirzaker was a partner with private equity mining fund manager, Pacific Road Capital Management. The Pacific Road Resources Fund II is a major shareholder of Base Resources.

Mr Stirzaker is also a non-executive director of Southern Palladium Ltd.

Mr Stirzaker is Chair of the Base Resources Board, Chair of the Remuneration & Nomination Committee, a member of the Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Environment, Social and Ethics Committee.

Mr Carstens is an experienced mining executive, with a career spanning more than 20 years in senior resources-sector roles, both in Australia and overseas, with Perilya Limited, North Limited, Robe River Iron Associates, Iron Ore Company of Canada and St Barbara Mines Limited. A chartered accountant by profession, he has strong experience in all aspects of business strategy development and implementation, acquisitions and divestments, debt and equity financing, organisational development and operational performance. He has been Managing Director of Base Resources since the Company’s inception in May 2008.

Mr Carstens is a Non-Executive Director of the Australia-Africa Minerals and Energy Group (AAMEG), the peak body representing Australian companies engaged in the development of Africa’s resource industry. He was Chair of AAMEG from 2016 to 2021.

Mr Carstens is a member of the Company’s Environment, Social and Ethics Committee.

Ms Radley has over 25 years’ experience in senior leadership roles across multiple industries, most recently in financial services and investments. She served as CFO at Allied Electronics Corporation (JSE), Group Finance Director at Old Mutual South Africa, CEO of Old Mutual Investment Group, and as a non-executive director of Murray & Roberts Holdings Ltd. Prior to this, she advised on a variety of transactions, listings and due diligences for large corporate acquirers and private equity funds in her role as Partner-in-charge of Transaction Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Africa.

Ms Radley is currently a non-executive director of Transaction Capital Ltd, Redefine Properties Ltd. (JSE) and Network International Holdings Plc and Globaleq Limited.

Ms Radley is Chair of the Company’s Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Environment, Social & Ethics Committee.

Mr Sobey has over 15 years’ experience in the resources sector, encompassing executive management, consulting, project development and production roles as well as relevant commercial experience in mining finance and investment across a suite of commodities and industrial minerals.

A mechanical engineer by training, Mr Sobey commenced his professional career in 2001 in management consulting where he developed extensive expertise over a 5-year period in large scale turnaround and transformation projects spanning the financial services, courier and freight, telecommunications, and mining industries.  His career progression into the mining industry arose from a consulting engagement in 2006, in which he was instrumental in managing the listing of a dual product gold and uranium junior (First Uranium Corporation) onto the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Mr Sobey spent six years with First Uranium during which time he played a pivotal role in transforming First Uranium from an early-stage development company into a meaningful mid-tier producer, initially as VP Business Development, then as COO and finally as Executive Vice President.  From 2012, Mr Sobey went on to lead direct investments for a family private equity office focused on resources projects in Southern Africa.

In 2019, Mr Sobey joined Pacific Road as an Investment Director where he is responsible for the screening of, evaluation of and subsequent investment in, resource related investment opportunities. The Pacific Road Resources Fund II is a major shareholder of Base Resources, with Mr Sobey appointed as its nominee on the Board.

Mr Sobey is a member of the Remuneration & Nomination Committee, a member of the Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Environment, Social & Ethics Committee.

Ms Khama is a consultant, policy advisor and former mining industry executive with expertise in corporate governance and sustainable development of minerals, oil and gas resources.  Ms Khama is respected for her knowledge of mineral policy, regulatory frameworks and sovereign risk analysis.

Since April 2019, Ms Khama has been an independent consultant on mining, oil and gas governance and policy reforms for SK Consulting Pty Ltd. From November 2016 to March 2019, Ms Khama served as Practice Manager and Coordinator of Donor Relations and Partnerships at The World Bank, where she led an international team of mineral, oil and gas specialists in implementing support programs ranging from policy reforms, technical assistance, research and knowledge dissemination for various countries.

From November 2013 to November 2016, Ms Khama served as Director of the African Natural Resources Center at the African Development Bank in Tunisia, where she led a support program for African governments to improve development outcomes from renewable and non-renewable resources.  From 2010 to 2013, Ms Khama served as Director of the Extractives Advisory Program at the African Center for Economic Transformation, a pan-African think tank based in Ghana.

Ms Khama also previously held a number of senior roles in the private sector, including Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Botswana from 2005 to 2010, Head of Marketing and Communication at the First National Bank of Botswana Ltd from 2002 to 2005, and Group Secretary of the Anglo American Corporation Botswana from 1994 to 2002.

Ms Khama currently serves as a Non-Executive Director for Tullow Oil plc (LSE), The Metals Company Inc. (NASDAQ) and the Development Partner Institute.

Ms Khama is Chair of the Environment, Social & Ethics Committee and a member of the Remuneration & Nomination Committee.

Mr Carstens is an experienced mining executive, with a career spanning more than 20 years in senior resources-sector roles, both in Australia and overseas, with Perilya Limited, North Limited, Robe River Iron Associates, Iron Ore Company of Canada and St Barbara Mines Limited. A chartered accountant by profession, he has strong experience in all aspects of business strategy development and implementation, acquisitions and divestments, debt and equity financing, organisational development and operational performance. He has been Managing Director of Base Resources since the Company’s inception in May 2008.

Mr Carstens is a Non-Executive Director of the Australia-Africa Minerals and Energy Group (AAMEG), the peak body representing Australian companies engaged in the development of Africa’s resource industry. He was Chair of AAMEG from 2016 to 2021.

Mr Carstens is a member of the Company’s Environment, Social and Ethics Committee.

Mr Balloch has over 30 years’ financial and management experience in a diverse range of industries.

This experience has involved all areas of corporate and treasury management, project financing, capital raisings, mergers and acquisitions, dual listings, feasibility studies and establishment of systems and procedures for new mining operations.

Prior to joining Base, Mr Balloch held senior positions with Equinox Minerals Limited, a dual listed TSX – ASX resources company which developed the major Lumwana Copper mine in Zambia and resulted in Equinox being one of the world’s top 20 copper producers.

Mr Hay has 22 years of experience in the mineral sands sector with the past 19 years in mineral sands sales and marketing. Mr Hay worked for BHP Iron Ore and Woodside Petroleum before joining Iluka Resources in 1999. After establishing Iluka’s Shanghai office in 2008 and building it into a critical platform for Iluka’s business in the Chinese market, Mr Hay relocated back to Australia in 2011 to establish a minerals trading business for Iluka before joining Base Resources in 2012.

Mr Hay has extensive knowledge and experience across all aspects of the mineral sands industry with a significant emphasis on products and markets.

Mr Greyling is a civil engineer with 37 years’ experience in developing and implementing projects in Africa and Australia. He held senior positions in engineering companies before joining Base Resources. Most recently he was the COO of Wave International in Australia and before that the COO of Bigen Africa, one of the leading engineering companies on the African continent.

Mr. Greyling has played a significant role in the development and implementation of the Kwale project since 2011. After joining Base on a full time basis in 2015, he developed the companies project development system, delivered the feasibility studies of the Kwale Phase 2, Kwale North and Toliara projects.

Mr Poletti is a practising lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in private practice and as general counsel, principally focused on the resources sector. Mr Poletti has broad experience in advising companies and directors across diverse and complex operating environments. He has deep experience in managing legal risk in Africa, including sovereign, regulatory and corruption risks, as well as dispute resolution.

Prior to joining Base Resources, Mr Poletti was at international law firm, Ashurst, where he specialised in both domestic and cross-border regulated and unregulated mergers and acquisitions, including takeovers and schemes of arrangement, equity capital markets, corporate advisory and governance.

Mr Vickers is a seasoned mining engineer with over 40 years’ minerals industry experience in a variety of senior operational, development and consultancy roles. He graduated from Imperial College, London, with an honours degree in mining and has developed and managed numerous underground and open pit mining operations in senior roles throughout Africa, South America and the South Pacific.

Prior to joining Base Resources in 2011, his most recent role was as Operations Manager for the development, commissioning and operationalisation of the Bisha VMS deposit in Eritrea for Nevsun Resources.

Mr Ramahefarivo has over 25 years of experience in mining, government and the not-for-profit sectors across Africa. Mr Ramahefarivo has responsibility for all aspects of stakeholder engagement for Base Resources in Madagascar including sustainable development, governance, corporate social responsibility, external affairs and socioeconomic project management. Prior to joining Base Resources his previous engagements spanned the mining, government and humanitarian organisation sectors, including roles with Rio Tinto and the Government of Madagascar.

Mr Wall previously worked for the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade during which time he was posted to Kenya as a diplomat. He joined the diplomatic corps having graduated with a Master of International Studies at the University of Sydney and having spent time in Sri Lanka working on the post-2004 tsunami recovery.

Having lived in Kenya for over 10 years he has developed an understanding and appreciation of the complex operating environment and the challenges and opportunities it presents. The External Affairs team is responsible for managing relationships with government, ensuring regulatory compliance as well as media and public relations.