Management

Mr. Scott is a metallurgical engineer with over 30 years of experience in mining operations. He has led performance teams in administration, project development, program management, operations, and business development and has directed major improvement initiatives at large-scale mining companies.  Most recent, Mr. Scott was VP, Corporate Responsibility and Strategy for Thompson Creek Metals Company and was responsible for developing and executing a company-wide focus on sustainability and environmental and safety performance.  Previously, he spent over 12 years with Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, with his last position as Vice President (VP), Process Management and Information Systems.  Prior to that he served as Senior Vice President (SVP), Cyprus Coal, for Surface and Central Appalachian Mines, SVP of Western Operations, which included mines in the Gillette area of Wyoming , as well as VP and General Manager of the company’s flagship project, the Bagdad Copper Mine. Mr. Scott also spent over 10 years in senior level consulting positions with Pincock Allen & Holt. Mr. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree in metallurgical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Arizona.

Jaye Pickarts is a senior process engineer with more than 31 years of leadership in project management for development, acquisitions, engineering design, permitting and reclamation, mine closure, water management and process operations. He has extensive experience with projects in North and South America, Australia, Africa and Kazakhstan. His mine operations experience includes supervisory, maintenance and engineering positions working with precious metals, base metals and industrial mineral companies, including test programs, capital and operating cost estimates, and start-up and operations assistance. In his role as Senior Vice President for Knight Piesold and Company, he was responsible for successfully coordinating the completion of numerous feasibility studies and environmental permitting programs both in the US and internationally.  Mr. Pickarts has a BS in mineral processing engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology and completed the Business Administration Graduate Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

David Suleski has held senior financial roles at various international mining companies. Most recently, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Atna Resources Ltd., a gold company. Prior to that he was CFO for Canyon Resources, where he helped secure financing to bring the Briggs Mine back into production. In addition, Mr. Suleski has held financial and accounting positions with increasing levels of responsibility at diverse financial, accounting and mining companies, including Arthur Young and Company, Coopers and Lybrand, Cyprus Amax Mineral Company, Pulte Mortgage, Apex Silver Mines Corporation and NM Rothschild & Sons (Denver) Incorporated.  He received his BA in accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and his Certified Public Accountant certification in 1987 (inactive status).

George Byers is a 35-year mining and energy industry veteran with extensive executive experience in federal, state and local government relations. He has worked in a variety of settings, including public policy issues involved with mineral exploration, project siting and development, land use and public affairs issues in the Western United States. He has been a consultant to the precious metals, rare earths, copper, and uranium industries on a variety of public and government issues.  Mr. Byers has held senior level positions with Cameco, Rio Algom, Newmont and Santa Fe Pacific.  While with Cameco, he was detailed as vice president of New Mexico site development and government relations to Louisiana Energy Services. He successfully built the case for a European/U.S. consortium to site the first commercial gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility in the western hemisphere.  This critical facility is now in commercial operation and is the first major US nuclear fuel cycle facility to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in over 30 years. Mr. Byers holds a BA in Geology and a Masters of Urban & Regional Planning, both from the University of Mississippi.

Jim Clark brings more than 30 years of mining industry experience to Rare Element Resources. He has planned, organized and conducted all aspects of project exploration and target generation work, as both employee and consultant for a variety of mining companies, including Molycorp and Hecla Mining Company. Dr. Clark is strongly field oriented, with extensive supervisory and project management experience in exploration programs for industrial minerals and precious, base and specialty metals. He was senior geologist, then exploration supervisor, for Hecla from 1986 - 1992, and played a key role in the identification of Rare Element Resources' Bear Lodge rare earth resource.  Prior to that, Dr. Clark was the owner and Chief Geologist of Applied Petrographics, a consulting company he formed in 1998 to provide petrographic and micro-analytical services to the mining industry. His clients included Barrick Gold, Newmont Mining, Hecla Mining, AngloGold and CVRD, as well as many smaller companies. Dr. Clark has extensive experience in exploration and research-oriented studies of commodities related to alkaline igneous rocks, including rare earths, Niobium and gold.  He holds a Ph.D. in volcanic geology and igneous petrology from the University of Oregon, an M.S. in geological oceanography from Oregon State University and a B.S. in geology from The Ohio State University. He is a licensed geologist in the state of Washington.

Ms. Kast brings over 17 years of in-house legal experience to Rare Element Resources, including seven years as a top legal officer in the precious metals industry. Most recently, Ms. Kast was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation having joined the company in 2005 as its General Counsel. She also served as Coeur's Chief Administrative Officer from 2009 to 2011. During her time at Coeur, she was instrumental in multiple domestic and international acquisitions, achieving large mine permitting, overseeing human resources and safety, and providing overall risk management counsel.  Prior to Coeur, Ms. Kast was Corporate Counsel for HealthTech Inc. and Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Global Water Technologies Inc. and Psychrometric Systems, Inc. Ms. Kast earned her Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law with highest honors and received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho.

Mr. Bergstrom has over 40 years of environmental management experience in government, private industry and consulting with an emphasis in mine site permitting, environmental baseline studies, site investigation, feasibility study analysis and environmental remediation. He began his career with the Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency starting in NPDES permit enforcement and ending his tenure as Chief of the EIS Preparation Section. His mining experience includes the initial development and permitting of the Black Thunder and Coal Creek Mine complex in Wyoming, operation and final closure of the Jackpile Mine and Bluewater Uranium Mill in New Mexico, and RI/FS implementation at numerous mine and smelter Superfund sites in Montana while employed by Atlantic Richfield Company as Director of Environmental Services. His consulting experience includes the environmental permitting, including NEPA analysis, of several domestic and international base metal and uranium mine development projects.  Mr. Bergstrom holds a B.S. Degree in Environmental Health and a M.S. Degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University. He maintains a Certified Environmental Professional credential awarded by the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals.

Dr. Kasaini is a professional chemical engineer with a broad set of engineering, scientific and plant operational skills developed over 25 years of both industry and academic experience. Dr. Kasaini specializes in the development and design of process flow sheets for complex mineral ores, and assessment of capital costs and profitability of new process plants. Most recently, Dr. Kasaini worked for AREVA Mines (Bessines, France) as an R&D manager (Uranium/Rare earth minerals processing). Prior to that, Dr. Kasaini held senior academic positions at the Professorial level in South Africa. He served as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) and was later appointed Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Professor /Department Head at Pretoria Campus (TUT). Dr. Kasaini previously worked for Nchanga Copper Mine (under ZCCM Ltd, Anglo-American Trust, Zambia), where he acquired operational experience in minerals processing, acid leaching, solvent extraction and electro-winning of base metals as Senior Process Engineer and later as Plant Superintendent in charge of waste disposal systems. Dr. Kasaini obtained his first degree in Metallurgy and Minerals Processing from the University of Zambia and later obtained MEng & DEng degrees in Chemical Engineering in Japan under a prestigious and competitive Monbusho (Japanese government) scholarship at Kyushu University. Dr. Kasaini is the author of more than 55 papers in peer-reviewed journals and industrial patents (5), and he has served as a reviewer for a number of international journals and conferences.

Mr. Kirsch is a Certified Public Accountant with significant experience in accounting, financial reporting, and capital raising transactions within the energy and extractive industries.  Most recently, he was the Corporate Controller at Prospect Global Resources, a Denver-based company developing a potash mine in eastern Arizona.  During his tenure with Prospect, he was involved in the company’s successful listing on the NASDAQ, placement of $66 million in equity, and negotiation of a $2B off-take agreement.  Prior to that, Mr. Kirsch was an Audit Manager for KPMG, LLP based out of Denver where he served various private and public clients within the energy/natural resource sector.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Wyoming.

Ms. Lee is an Investor Relations professional with over 20 years of experience working for domestic and international as well as large- and small-cap companies. Prior to their merger with AMB Property, she was Vice President of Investor Relations for ProLogis, the world's leading owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate with operations in over 20 countries. The ProLogis IR program received numerous awards during Ms. Lee's tenure, including several top rankings by Institutional Investor for the real estate investment sector. Prior to ProLogis, she spent 12 years in senior IR roles for a number of companies in the mining sector, including Echo Bay Mines, PolyMet Mining and Atlas Corporation.