Founders

The company founders are as follows. Their experience combines excellence in gemstone geology, marketing and mining operations at the highest levels of their professions.

Mr. Tommy Wu

Mr. Tommy Wu is the managing director of Shire Trading Ltd.
Mr Wu was awarded a BA (Economics) from the University of Wisconsin, in the U.S.A., following which he qualified as a professional gemmologist with the Gemmological Institute of America in 1974. In 1980, he established Shire Trading Limited. He has many years of experience buying rough gemstones from around the world. During 1980-1992 alone, Tommy travelled to Colombia 72 times to buy emeralds. In 1989 he set up a specialized cutting factory in Bangkok with 40 highly trained cutters. He has supplied customers in Japan, Europe and the USA. He has also advised and assisted gemstone mining operations in several main producing countries with their marketing and processing facilities. Tommy Wu is rated amongst the world’s top gemstones specialists and is well known internationally for producing stones of the highest quality from his cutting and polishing operations.

Dr. Larry W Snee

Dr. Snee is a Consulting Geologist and CEO of Global Gems and Geology, LLC, of Golden, Colorado. Dr Snee is the Vice President (Exploration) of Amerix Precious Metals Corporation (TSX and DBG). He is Emeritus Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, (Retired). He has over 30 years of field experience and has published more than 300 articles, maps, books, and abstracts covering geologic research throughout the world, many of which have been on emeralds. Dr Snee has been studying emeralds since 1983, and is a leading expert on the geology of the region, and of the emeralds of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr. Trevor Robson

Mr. Robson is a Chartered Secretary. From 2002 to 2007 he was the financial advisor for the EU programme to support the small and medium scale mining sector in Zambia, which is one of the leading emerald producers. He has many years of experience from trade and industry as a financial and management accountant, corporate business adviser to SMEs, and was from 1997 to 2002 engaged in reviewing for commercialisation and restructuring railway operations in Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Zambia.

Ms. Elaine Ellingham

Ms. Elaine Ellingham is a geological and corporate consultant. She has 25 years of diverse experience providing valuable expertise on the capital markets for this project. At present she is acting as strategic, geological as well as corporate advisor to numerous major mining and exploration projects both in Canada and across multiple continents. She also has many years of experience working in the Toronto Stock Exchange and in 2001 – 2005 she initiated and implemented aggressive international marketing strategy for TSXto build global reputation as a leader in mining and attract foreign listings.

Ms. Judy Woo

Ms. Woo was a cadet with the PRC government’s Public Security Bureau before retiring and becoming a jewellery wholesaler and estate agent in a number of provinces in the PRC. She is an advisor to foreign companies and assists with local relationships and expediting regulatory and bureaucratic matters. Formerly she was in PRC government service.

Mr. Tom Ng

Mr. Ng is a master cutter with more than 35 years experience. He assisted Mr. Tommy Wu to set up his precision cutting and polishing factory in Bangkok in 1989, which is recognised as one of the finest in the industry. He is an expert evaluator of rough material, and is a specialist in coloured gemstones, particularly emeralds. He also operated his own cutting and polishing factory in Canton Province, PRC.

Board

Additionally the proposed board will add experienced mining, marketing and financial expertise to the Company.

Collaborators

Owing to the importance of the Tashkurgan Emerald find to the global coloured gemstone industry, the Company has been collaborating with two internationally renowned institutions in the gemstone field, the University of Arizona and the Gemmological Institute of America. These two institutions will play an important role in establishing the standards that will assist the industry to identify the Tashkurgan Emerald, and set it apart in the market place.

University of Arizona: Dr. Robert T Downs, Mineralogist. Dr Downs is head of the RRUFF Project. He and his students are compiling a database of Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction, and chemical data for every known mineral. Dr Downs heads up one of the best gemstone laboratories in the world. He has started to analyse and classify the Tashkurgan Emerald.

Gemmological Institute of America: Specimens of the Tashkurgan Emerald have been lodged with GIA. The Institute will include the results of laboratory analyses in the gemstone database, which will allow them to authenticate emeralds from the mines and issue Certificates of Origin.