Executive Directors

Brian Hall - Executive Chairman

  • Trained as a Chartered Accountant and became a member of the small team which landed the first commercial oil from the UK North Sea
  • Founded oil company Aminex PLC in 1991, took it to the LSE Premium List and managed its activities in 8 countries, discovering and exploiting oil or gas on three continents. Aminex is one of a very few foreign oil companies to have paid a Russia exit dividend
  • Joined the Great Western board in 2012, Chairman in 2013 and Executive Chairman in 2019

Robert O’Connell - Operations Director

  • Graduate of Texas Christian University who subsequently trained as a driller and has 25 years' operating experience in both oil and mining
  • Founder employee of Great Western, staked the original claims and oversaw 5,000 metres of drilling, resulting in an Inferred copper resource of 19,000 tonnes copper. He is fully familiar with all regulatory operating and safety requirements in Nevada where he has built trust and good working relations with state and federal authorities and with the local business community

Max Williams - Finance Director and Company Secretary

  • Chartered Accountant with 30 years’ experience managing the finances of publicly-traded natural resources companies
  • Until 2019 he was Financial Controller/Secretary and subsequently Finance Director of Aminex PLC, controlling the finances of a group operating in multiple jurisdictions

All the executive directors are shareholders in Great Western

Exploration Team

Non-Executive Directors

Andrew Hay

  • Graduate of Oxford University with a 30-year banking career in London and New York focused on debt and equity capital markets and international M&A
  • Currently Senior Adviser at Smith Square Partners, leading London corporate finance firm
  • Formerly built and led the corporate finance business of the Edmond de Rothschild bank in London
  • Chairman of Audit and Risk Committees

Alastair Ford

  • Graduate of Oxford University with a 20-year career in the mining business
  • Formerly a mining journalist on the Investors’ Chronicle and Chief Investment Officer at Mineral & Financial Investments PLC
  • Currently a Mining Affairs Consultant for Vox Markets
  • Chairman of Remuneration Committee

Gemma Cryan

    • First Class Honours degree in geology from the National University of Ireland with 20 years' experience as a mineral exploration geologist coupled with management experience in corporate affairs
    • Formerly Executive Director, Starvest PLC supporting early stage mineral exploration ventures, Senior Geologist at Hummingbird Resources PLC and Geology Manager at Greatland Gold PLC during the period of its rapid growth
    • Currently serving as Interim Head of Geology at Great Western