Independent Director

Dr. Keiko Hattori is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of the University of Ottawa, where she taught geochemistry and economic geology for over 40 years, and built a reputation as an expert in geoscience. She is recognized as the first woman to receive a BSc degree in Geology from the University of Tokyo, where she also completed a Master of Science in epithermal gold deposits in Japan and a PhD in mineral deposits in Japan. Dr. Keiko brings extensive industry knowledge of gold deposits and exploration, having studied element transfer in subduction zones and mineralized hydrothermal systems, as well as mineral deposits and their exploration methods, including epithermal and orogenic gold, porphyry copper, unconformity-type U, and kimberlites. She is an elected Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, where she is Director of the Earth, Oceans and Atmosphere division, and is an advisor to government research funding programs in European Union countries. Dr. Hattori has been Associate Editor of several journals including Economic Geology, and Scientific Research from Nature Publication. She is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including the Kato Takeo Gold Medal from the Society of Resource Geology of Japan in 2022, and the Duncan R. Derry Medal from the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Society of Canada in 2024.