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The experience and credibility of the Nevada Geothermal team members including its Board of Directors and advisors is an integral part of the Company's plan to develop the Blue Mountain geothermal project, to develop additional properties and attract capital.
Directors and Officers:
Brian D. Fairbank, B.A.Sc., P. Eng.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Director
Mr. Fairbank is a geological engineer and Canada's foremost geothermal expert, with 30 years of geothermal engineering, exploration and resource assessment, business management and project finance experience. He founded Fairbank Engineering Ltd. in 1986, specializing in international project development. He was project manager through the discovery of Canada's Meager Creek Geothermal Area (1978-1982), then operated by BC Hydro and Power Authority. He assisted in the development of a National Power Plan for Kenya, East Africa and subsequently consulted on a production drilling program which developed 60MW of steam reserves to augment 45 MW of existing generating capacity at the Olkaria Power Station, Kenya. Mr. Fairbank is a long-standing member of the Geothermal Energy Association, a Past President of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, and is currently on the Geothermal Resources Council Board of Directors.
Andrew T. Studley, P. Eng, CPA, MBA
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
Mr. Studley has over 24 years of experience in all areas of corporate planning, accounting, finance and administration for chemical, energy and environmental management to worldwide chemical companies, refiners and power companies. Mr. Studley started his career in finance with Imperial Oil Ltd., and later was promoted to National Manager Marketing and Business Development. He was Vice President of Corporate Planning with AT Plastics and most recently, Corporate Controller with Marsulex Inc. - an environmental management and outsourced service provider to worldwide chemical companies, refiners and power companies.
Mr. Studley holds a Chemical Engineering Degree, an MBA from Harvard University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Domenic Falcone, CPA
Director
Mr. Falcone was a founder of Geothermal Resource International Inc. (GRI, 1971 to 1987) - a power developer in California which played a significant role in building a viable U.S. geothermal industry. Mr. Falcone in the position of Senior Vice President - Finance with GRI has an extensive background in geothermal project finance, acquisitions and business development, and a broad knowledge of the independent power and energy industries.
As president and principal of Domenic J. Falcone Associates Inc. from 1991 to 1997, he provided project financing and financial services to the independent power, co-generation, solid waste and wastewater industries; he participated in arranging financing for resource and power development projects in excess of $200 million.
He was Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of PG & E Energy Services during the start-up period and President of Creston Financial Group (1991-1997). Mr. Falcone is currently an independent financial consultant. Mr. Falcone received the Joseph W. Aidlin Award in 1991 from the Geothermal Resources Council, recognizing his outstanding contribution to the development of geothermal resources. Mr. Falcone is a long-standing member of the Geothermal Resources Council.
Markus K. Christen
Director
Mr. Christen is a Senior Financial Executive with extensive experience in investment and commercial banking, both in the US and internationally. He is a recognized leader in the financial industry having been responsible and involved in raising over US $50 billion for projects in developed and emerging markets, including many geothermal plants.
Mr. Christen, born in Switzerland, received a law degree from the University of Zurich in 1981. He joined Credit Suisse in Zurich in 1983. As a member of senior management, Head of Project Finance and Head of Structured Finance for Credit Suisse, New York between 1989 and 1996, he developed the Project Finance Group into a recognized leader and trendsetter in North America and successfully led a global expansion with teams based in London and Hong Kong. Mr. Christen was Managing Director of Credit Suisse First Boston, New York from 1997-2000 where he was responsible for the acquisition and execution of major project finance transactions on a global basis. In 2000, Mr. Christen established an independent financial advisory practice specializing in mergers, acquisitions and project finance.
Mr. Christen has extensive geothermal power industry contacts and project finance or project acquisition experience in Nevada (Brady, Desert Peak), California (Coso, Geysers, Salton Sea, East Mesa, Ormesa), Hawaii, Indonesia, and the Philippines (Mahanagdong, Malitbog Visayas, Upper Mahiao).
Gavin Cooper, Chartered Accountant
Director
Mr. Cooper is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) from the University of South Africa and has more than 20 years of experience in senior executive management roles. He served as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2008 with VRB Power Systems Inc. (a flow battery energy storage development company), President and CEO of Catamaran Ferries International Inc. through the wind-up phase of the BC Government's fast ferries program, Director of Finance and Administration at Yarrows Ltd., Vice President and Director of Pacific Engineered Materials Inc., and Senior Audit Manager at Ernst & Whinney in Vancouver, BC; London, UK; and Capetown, South Africa.
R. Gordon Bloomquist, Ph.D.,
Director
Mr. Bloomquist, a recognized geothermal expert, is currently a consultant to the World Bank on its' energy projects. As a past Director of Geothermal and District Energy Programs with the Washington State Energy Office, Dr. Bloomquist was responsible for all state geothermal policy decisions, technical assistance to geothermal resource developers, investigation of regional and local resources, and district heating feasibility studies and programs.
He has consulted with a wide variety of private corporations and institutions on legislative issues for geothermal development, power generation, environmental regulation and regional geothermal resource assessment. Dr. Bloomquist has been a Visiting Professor at the International School of Geothermics in Pisa, Italy since 1990 and a member of the Geothermal Resource Council since 1972 (past Chairman and President).
James Yates
Director
Mr. Yates is an independent businessman with 20 years of experience in corporate development and financing of start up resource companies. Mr. Yates financed and developed to production the Crowfoot Lewis open-pit gold mine in Nevada and is currently a director of ESO Uranium Corp., a mineral exploration company focused on uranium exploration, and Canyon Copper, an exploration and resource company with an advanced mineral resource property in Nevada.
Technical
Senior V.P. Development and Plant Operations
Max Walenciak, P.Eng
Max Walenciak is based in Nevada Geothermal Power's Reno office.
Mr. Walenciak is a registered professional engineer with over 30 years of diverse project management experience including both gas-fired and geothermal power plants. His experience includes project planning, design development, permitting support, negotiation of key project development and operation agreements, and operations of power plants and associated facilities. He has an in-depth understanding of the design, procurement, and construction process from the owner/developer's perspective.
Mr. Walenciak is responsible for engineering, equipment procurement and contractor selection for the Company's planned 'Faulkner 1' geothermal power plant, well field and transmission line at Blue Mountain, Nevada. Mr. Walenciak will direct critical path scheduling and manage the overall construction effort.
V.P. Resource Operations and External Affairs
Kim Niggemann, B.Sc., Geologist
Ms. Niggemann is the V.P. Resources responsible for resource development on all existing properties and new acquisitions. She oversees all aspects of the geology, geochemistry and geophysics, drilling and reservoir engineering operations, leases, land, environmental and regulatory compliance, program efficiency, budget control and contracts.
Ms. Niggemann obtained a B.Sc. degree in geology from the University of New Brunswick and worked with the Department of Natural Resources of New Brunswick, Shell Canada, and Home Oil in eastern Canada before joining Chevron Resources in Vancouver, B.C. Chevron field projects included potash deposits in Cape Breton, mining exploration in the Yukon and British Columbia, and major field involvement in drilling at the Muddy Lake gold discovery. Muddy Lake was later developed as the Golden Bear Mine.
Ms. Niggemann took a sabbatical from mineral exploration in 1990. In 2001, she obtained a Management Systems Certificate with honors from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and gained business management, project accounting, bookkeeping and consulting experience working on contracts for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and small businesses.
Since joining the NGP team in 2003, Ms. Niggemann has successfully fulfilled three US DOE contracts for slim well drilling and geophysics under the GRED program which resulted in the success of the 49.5MW nameplate Blue Mountain Faulkner I Geothermal Power Plant in Humboldt County, Nevada.
Vice President, Resource Development
Stuart D. Johnson
Stuart Johnson is a nationally recognized expert in the design and application of exploration, development and production methods to utilize geothermal resources for electrical power production. Mr. Johnson has managed successful resource development for projects within the Western United States and Latin America. Specifically, he has played important roles in the development of commercially-producing fields in California (Heber, and East Mesa), Nevada (Steamboat Hills, Jersey Valley, Brady/Desert Peak, Dixie Valley, Soda Lake, Stillwater, Beowawe), Hawaii (Puna) and Utah (Roosevelt Hot Springs). Additionally, he is also known for his innovation in the geothermal sector, having directed award-winning geothermal silica co-production research and designed pioneer scale inhibition programs that are now industry standard. He is active in market development and promoting public awareness of geothermal energy as a principal source of sustainable energy.
Mr. Johnson holds an M.S. in Economic Geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a B.A. in Geology from Western Michigan University. Mr. Johnson is a Past President of the Geothermal Resources Council (2003 -- 2004) and sits on their Board of Directors (1996 -- Present). As well, he currently serves as an Advisory Board Member to the Great Basin Geothermal Research Center and has also served on the Board of Directors of the Geothermal Energy Association. He is the recipient of the Geothermal Resources Council Pioneer Award and of an R&D 100 Award for research on nano-silica production from geothermal brines.
Manager, Imperial Valley Area
Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson has extensive financial and operational experience in the geothermal and construction industries having served as CEO, CFO and Executive Vice President - Operations at regional and national firms headquartered in Southern California. Mr. Wilson brings experience in strategic and operational planning, project management, systems design and implementation, mergers and acquisitions, and financial control.
Mr. Wilson has a Bachelors degree in Business Management from Southwestern Adventist University and a Professional Certification in Total Quality Management from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
Operations Manager
Mark Kolar
Mr. Kolar, based in NPG's Winnemucca office, is the Operations Manager of NGP's Blue Mountain I geothermal project. Mark has 19 years of geothermal operating experience at the Coso Geothermal Project in California. Mr. Kolar worked all aspects at the Coso Projects starting as a Wellfield Operator, progressing to Control Room Operator, then Shift Supervisor, then Maintenance Supervisor and finally to Operations Manager. In the later position he supervised 42 operations personnel and the operations of 9 power plants producing in excess of 200 MW. His responsibilities included ensuring the projects operated in compliance with the BLM and US Navy agreements, managing daily operations, setting up safety procedures, developing project operations budgets, ensuring the procurement of equipment and services and the general administration of personnel.
Prior to joining the Coso operations, Mark was with the US Navy for 6 years and trained as a Nuclear Machinist Mate with a specialty in chemistry and radiological controls. In this role, his duties as a Lead EKT included supervising of all aspects of the steam generator, reactor plant, make-up and feed water chemistry control.
Senior Geologist
John Casteel
Mr. Casteel has a Masters' degree from Central Washington University where he studied neotectonics and structural geology. With over 5 years of experience, three of those have been dedicated to geothermal exploration and development. Mr. Casteel gained additional field experience mapping faults in southern California, and developed geothermal well logging proficiency throughout Oregon, California and Nevada before joining NGP. His wide-ranging work and academic experience make him well suited and experienced for geothermal exploration.
Mr. Casteel has overseen successful geothermal drilling operations from administrative project management duties to geologic modeling and well targeting to permitting, drilling and testing. In addition to drilling operations, he oversees all geologic and geophysical exploration projects as well as overseeing all data collection and interpretation. He is currently developing 3D conceptual geologic models, evaluating drilling results and identifying future well targets for each of NGP's 4 projects in Nevada and Oregon. Mr. Casteel brings a multi-disciplined exploration approach and solution-oriented thinking to the NGP resource team that has proven to be a winning combination as evidenced through the successes at Blue Mountain.
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