Something must be up with the company. I know that the CEO is a respected guy in the industry, and these two guys they hired last week look really sharp, too. It seems unlikely that the company could snag them both unless they had something up their sleeve (in addition to the copper in the ground) that the rest of us don't know about yet:
Mr. Gill has more than two decades of experience in the financial world, twelve years as Chief Financial Officer for companies in the North American business market. He was the cofounder, CFO and Director of RxKinetix Inc., an international biotech company which most recently sold for $115 million cash based on milestone payments. Mr. Gill has directed financial and operational activities for numerous companies including RxKinetix Inc., American Sensors, Inc., Pilkington Barnes-Hind, Glemby International, and General Electric subsidiaries. In addition, Mr. Gill has completed an IPO and secondary financing with listings both on TSX and NASDAQ.
Mr. Haigh, B.A., B.Sc., is a geologist with many years of experience in the mining industry, the last 20 years of which have been spent as an investor relations professional with substantial corporate communications responsibility. In his career he has provided investor relations services for numerous companies including Newmont Mining Corporation (ASE, NYSE, TSX), Queenstake Resources Ltd. (ASE, TSX), Archangel Diamond Corporation (TSX.v), and Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd. (TSX), among others.
BTW It looks like Mr Haigh met the Ascendant CEO at Archangel Diamond, where Mr. Davis was CFO:
Mr. Davis was appointed Chief Executive Officer and President of Ascendant on December 20, 2004. He brings to Ascendant significant senior executive experience in the natural resource industry with broad commodity experience in base metals, precious metals, diamonds, industrial minerals, and coal. Mr. Davis was appointed as President and Chief Financial Officer of Atlas Minerals Inc. (formerly Atlas Corporation) on March 11, 2002 after having previously been appointed Chairman, Principal Financial Officer and Secretary on September 7, 2001. Mr. Davis also held the position of Chief Executive Officer from October 27, 2003 until June 2, 2004. He also has extensive experience as a Chief Financial Officer, serving in this capacity and previously other management positions with Archangel Diamond Corporation (TSXV: AAD) from May 1997 to December 2002, garnering experience in corporate finance as well as compliance issues. Mr. Davis spent thirteen years with ARCo Coal Company, a division of Atlantic Richfield, where he was responsible for worldwide acquisitions.
Although at this point it is pure speculation, I am guessing that there may be some good news involving either the environmentalist or the minister of mines (or something at the national level).
