Michael Naylor

Executive Director

Mr Naylor has over 27 years’ experience in corporate advisory and public company management since commencing his career and qualifying as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young. Michael has been involved in the financial management of mineral and resources focused public companies serving on the board and in the executive management team focusing on advancing and developing mineral resource assets and business development.

Mr Naylor has worked in Australia and Canada and has extensive experience in financial reporting, capital raisings, debt financings and treasury management of resource companies. 

He was a founder and previous Executive Director of ASX-200 company Bellevue Gold Limited and previous Executive Director of Cygnus Metals. Michael is currently a Non-Executive Director of Bellevue Gold Limited, Cygnus Metals Ltd, Bellavista Resources Ltd and Midas Minerals Ltd. 

Michael has been a Non-Executive Director of the Company since 30 November 2018 and was appointed as Executive Director on 20 October 2023 after the successful acquisition of the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project.

Jessie Liu-Ernsting

Chief Corporate Development Officer

Ms Liu-Ernsting is an accomplished executive and professional engineer with nearly 20 years of experience in the natural resources industry. She was previously Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications of TSX Venture 50™ and OTCQX Best 50 company, G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX:GMIN) where she was part of the leadership team responsible for a share price increase of 600%, taking the market capitalisation to C$4.7B.

Ms Liu-Ernsting was responsible for establishing and delivering GMIN’s inaugural investor relations program to increase investor awareness and engagement. She was involved in GMIN securing the US$481M Tocantinzinho project construction financing package consisting of gold stream, equity, ASX: FFM | TSX: FFM Page | 2 debt and equipment financing in the tough market environment of 2022, and GMIN’s shareholder[1]approved C$875M merger with Reunion Gold in 2024.

Prior to joining GMIN, Ms Liu-Ernsting led a junior mining company as its inaugural VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations to achieve 14x share price accretion and raised $33M over that company’s first 12 months during the COVID-19 crisis. Before that, she guided a public mining company to achieve settlement on a disputed proxy. Previously, as investment manager at Resource Capital Funds, Ms. Liu-Ernsting sourced, evaluated, structured and managed a portfolio of natural resources investments. Ms. Liu-Ernsting started her career with two of the preeminent Canadian engineering firms conducting backfill, mine, mill and mining innovation capital projects.

She is currently a director of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and is a 2021 CIM Bedford Canadian Mining Young Leader Award recipient and holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business with specializations in Mining, Finance and Strategy, and an Electrical Engineering degree from Queen’s University.

Jessie first joined FireFly in March 2024 as Non-Executive Director before transitioning to Chief Corporate Development Officer in May 2025.

David Southam

Advisor

B.Comm, CPA, MAICD

Appointed: 18 September 2023

Mr Southam has been intimately involved in negotiating multi-billion-dollar sales off-take arrangements in various commodities including base metals, lithium and bulks. Furthermore, he has secured several large project financings in multiple jurisdictions, completed significant capital market and M&A transactions, and has substantial experience on listed and private company boards.
Mr Southam is the former Managing Director of nickel miner Mincor Resources (ASX: MCR), where he led that company’s highly successful return to the ranks of Australian nickel producers within a three-year period, overseeing the completion of off-take arrangements, attracting cornerstone investor Wyloo Metals (which subsequently purchased 100% of Mincor), base metal project financing, and construction of the underground Kambalda Nickel Operations. Prior to joining Mincor, Mr Southam was Executive Director of ASX-200 nickel company Western Areas Limited for nearly a decade and held senior executive roles within Brambles Group, ANZ Investment Bank and WMC Resources.

Mr Southam is currently Managing Director at Cygnus Metals and Non-Executive Director at Ramelius Resources.

Darren Cooke

Chief Executive Officer

BAppSc (Geology) (Hons)

Appointed: 6 June 2022

Darren is a geologist with 26 years’ experience having previously held senior positions in global majors including Barrick Gold, Newmont and Northern Star Resources.

Darren has had extensive gold industry experience in Australia and North America spanning regional and near mine exploration, operational geology, long-term planning and corporate development.

He has a strong track record of discovery and delivering Resource growth during his time working at world-class deposits such as the Golden Mile Kalgoorlie (KCGM), Callie (Newmont), Kundana, Kanowna Belle (Northern Star / Barrick) and the Pogo deposit in Alaska (Northern Star).

Darren spent 6 years as part of the Business Development team at Northern Star Resources that completed significant M&A transactions that have seen the company transform from a junior into a global gold company.

Darren joined FireFly Metals in February 2021 as Chief Operating Officer.

Chen Sun

Chief Financial Officer

BCom CPA

Appointed: 29 April 2024

Ms Sun is a strategic CFO with over 15 years’ experience in stewarding business growth and overseeing accounting, corporate finance and financial management functions in the resources industry. Before joining FireFly Metals, Chen was CFO for the former ASX listed nickel producer Mincor Resources NL, a position she held for 7 years until the company was taken over by Wyloo Consolidated Investments Pty Ltd in 2023.

Chen was an instrumental part of the Mincor leadership team that saw the company’s successful return to the ranks of Australian nickel producers. She was involved in offtake agreement negotiations, feasibility studies, project development, mergers and acquisitions, and capital raisings, and managed the company’s financing activities. Prior to this, Chen held several senior roles at Mincor, where she built the finance function and developed the financial systems and processes, with a focus on control and process improvements.

Ms Sun holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University and is a member of the CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Laura Noonan-Crowe

General Counsel & Company Secretary

Appointed: 15 January 2025

Ms Noonan-Crowe is a lawyer with 17 years’ experience in the resources industry.  From June 2023 until its merger with Westgold Resources Limited in August 2024, Ms Noonan-Crowe was the General Counsel and Company Secretary, Australia for TSX-listed gold mining company, Karora Resources Inc., which owned producing assets in Western Australia.  In this role, Ms Noonan-Crowe established the legal function in Australia and managed Environment, Social and Governance reporting and initiatives.

Ms Noonan-Crowe previously held senior legal roles at global gold mining majors, Northern Star Resources Limited, where she also served as Company Secretary to Committees of the Board of Directors, and Gold Fields Limited.  Ms Noonan-Crowe commenced her career at Minter Ellison Lawyers. 

Ms Noonan-Crowe holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia, has been admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, and holds a current practising certificate issued by the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia.  Ms Noonan-Crowe is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Tabatha LeBlanc

Vice President – Environment & Community

BSc Environmental Science/Anthropology

Appointed: 4 June 2022

Ms LeBlanc is a highly experienced professional with over 25 years of ESG experience in North America, with a proven track record of achieving social & government approvals for companies including TransCanada & Alliance Pipelines, Marathon PGM Corporation, Sibanye-Stillwater & Generation Mining.

Tabatha oversaw the management & delivery of critical environmental approvals & community agreements including successfully obtaining approval for an Environmental Assessment conducted by a Joint Federal-Provincial Review Panel in Ontario.

Tabatha holds extensive experience in integrating ESG into environmental management systems, community outreach and training programs & other business areas.

Juan Gutierrez

Group Chief Geologist

BSc Geology (Masters), Geostatistics (PgD)

Appointed: 21 June 2022

Mr Gutierrez is a highly experienced geologist with over 16 years’ experience in a diverse range of mining projects globally. He holds a Bachelor of Science, a Master’s degree in geology in addition to a post graduate qualification in geostatistics.

Previously, Mr. Gutierrez spent more than 6 years with Northern Star Resources where he held the position of Geology Superintendent for the Yandal South operations (Bronzewing and Thunderbox). During his time at Northern Star, he was instrumental in the discovery, definition and mining of numerous orebodies at the Jundee operations, including Ramone.

Gus Simbanegavi

Vice President Operations

BSc (Hons) Mining Engineering, MBA, FAusIMM

Gus has held several leadership & executive roles in Africa including COO and Director of AIM listed Bluerock Diamonds where he was instrumental in the feasibility, development and construction of a 1.0Mtpa diamond mine & processing plant.

Gus holds a wealth of experience across a range of commodities including Gold, Platinum, Copper, Nickle, Zinc and Diamonds from his time in senior Executive roles at companies such as: Aquarius Platinum Mines, Vedanta Zinc International and Zimplats Platinum Mines.

Jim Edwards

Exploration Manager

Exploration Geologist with 20 years’ experience at Goldcorp, Harte Gold, Agnico Mines Limited Falconbridge, Battle Mountain and Miramar.

During his tenure at Goldcorp, he participated in converting 3.6 Moz Au to reserves, including the discovery of the Lynx zone in 2010 at Musselwhite Mine. This contributed to production guidance more than 260,00oz Au in 2015 and 2016.

Most recently, Jim has been responsible for managing FireFly Metals Pickle Crow Gold Project. Jim has a proven track record of delivering resources, while generating an exploration pipeline of quality targets for future growth.

Corey Greenham

Environment and Safety Manager

Health, Safety & Environment professional who has worked in the HSE department for 18 years at Ming Mine where he obtained the prestigious National John T Ryan Safety Award numerous times.

Corey is experienced in both Canadian Federal and Provincial regulations and is instrumental in Newfoundland & Labrador where he contributes to the overall mining safety structure within the province.

He sits on the Mine Rescue Technical Advisory Committee and Chairs the Mining NL Safety Committee. Corey also sits on the National John T Ryan Awards Committee which provides updates on OH&S mining regulations within Canada.

Bonnie Matthews

Vice President Human Resources

Over 20 years’ experience in Business Management and HR from previous positions with Tata Steel Minerals Canada and Grey Rock Mining as well as positions with the Governments of NL and of Nunavut.

Bonnie currently sits on the board of Canadian Manufactures and Exporters (CME) in NL, is the current Chairperson of the NL CME HR Committee, and is also on the board of Women in Resource Development for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Renée Roberts

Non-Executive Director

Ms Roberts has more than 30 years’ experience in financial services, having previously held C-Suite roles at large corporations including National Australia Bank, QBE,  Bank of New Zealand and the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority.

Ms Roberts has considerable experience in risk management, financial services, governance, regulation, transformation, technology and digitisation, business growth and efficiency, strategic leadership, operations, strategy development and execution.

She is currently a Director of Collingwood Football Club and Chair of the Club’s Risk and Integrity Committee.

Ms Roberts holds a Master of Applied Finance and Bachelor of Business and studied the advanced management program at Harvard Business School

Jared Dietrich

VP Of Metallurgy

B.Eng Chemical Engineering (Honours), MAusIMM

Appointed: 03 March 2025

Mr. Dietrich is a highly experienced metallurgist with over 17 years’ experience in a diverse range of mining projects globally, across various engineering, construction, operational, and technical leadership roles. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering.

Previously, Mr. Dietrich spent almost 15 years with Ausenco Engineering, in their Australian, Canadian and USA offices, across several engineering, study management and commissioning roles, most recently as VP of Technical Services, responsible for copper-gold metallurgical technical governance and innovation across all Process Engineers/Study Managers in North America, as well as NI 43-101 delivery.

Additional, Mr. Dietrich spent almost 2 years in a technical-operational role with Iluka Resources, in Western Australia focused on production and product grade control targets, as well as delivering +50 NPV and safety-improving projects.