Our Team

Founder & Principal Consultant

Exploration geologist with three decades of experience across 20+ countries. PhD in Structural Geology; AusIMM member. Led the programme that tripled the Titiribi Cu-Au porphyry resource (Colombia) to 13 Moz Au-eq. Discovered the 175M lb Madaouela uranium deposit (Niger) and the West Nile nickel laterite deposit (Uganda). Former Research Fellow, Department of Atomic Energy of India and CSIR India. Author of several peer-reviewed publications and inventor of the CAGE-IN technology.

General Manager

Environmental Scientist and Business Management Specialist overseeing operations and client engagement.

Advisor — Economic Geology

Ph.D. Economic Geology with 45 years in exploration and research. Discovered multiple +1 Moz gold deposits in India and the Ingaldhal Copper Mine extensions. Explored across 42 countries for gold, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, iron ore, and PGE. Co-founder of Geomysore Services; former CEO of MPXG Exploration (India); Assistant Editor, Journal of the Geological Society of India.

Advisor — Exploration

M.Sc. Mineral Exploration with 33 years in exploration and mining geology across Africa. Discovered a 1.5 Bt bauxite deposit in Cameroon. Expertise in underground and peripheral exploration, structural geology, lateritic Ni, layered igneous complex Ni-PGE, kimberlite diamond, and compliant QA/QC. Former Chief Geologist/Mineral Resource Manager at Randgold Resources/Syama gold mine, Mali. Founder, Chris Ainsworth Consulting; Principal Consultant, MPXG Exploration.

Advisor — Exploration

B.Sc Geology with 36 years in exploration and consulting. AIM, AIM+ and NI 43-101 compliant reporting and certification specialist. Expertise spans orogenic gold, lithogeochemistry, pegmatite Sn-W-COLTAN, MVT base metals, Ni-laterite, and geothermal exploration across Ireland, Tanzania, Ghana, Greenland, Uganda, and Latin America. Former Exploration Manager at Samta Mining and Minerals (Uganda); Project Manager, SLR/CSA Group, Ireland; Project Geologist, Lisheen Zn-Pb mine, Ireland.

Advisor — Mining

Mining Engineer with 34 years in underground mining. Holds a 1st class Mine Manager's Certificate of Competency (Metalliferous, unrestricted) and a B.Eng. Mining from University of Jodhpur plus CESPROMING from École des Mines de Paris. Seven years at the 21,000 tpm Al Amar mine in Saudi Arabia; 24 years in underground Lead and Zinc mines of HZL (India) including Head of Planning at the 3,000 TPD Rajpura Dariba mine. Recognised Qualified Person for mining projects.

Advisor — Resource Evaluation & Geostatistics

45+ years in geostatistics across industry and elite academia. Currently Professor of Geostatistics at IIT Bombay; formerly Professor (HAG) and Emeritus Fellow at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad. PhD in Mining Geostatistics and DIC in Mineral Resources Engineering, Imperial College London (1988). Author of 130 research publications and 8 books, including Essentials of Mineral Exploration and Evaluation (Elsevier, 2016). National Geoscience Award (2019); Distinguished Alumnus, IIT Kharagpur (2020). Vice-President, Indian Geological Congress.

Geology Specialist

Part of the team that discovered world-class iron ore reserves (2011–2013). Supervised drilling programs for Simandou pre-feasibility and feasibility studies at Rio Tinto. Experience in gold, iron, bauxite, and base metals across West Africa. Certified in Project Management (University of British Columbia). 23 years in exploration.

Geophysics Specialist

M.Sc.(Tech) Geophysics with 22 years of exploration experience across base metals, gold, PGE, hydrocarbons, and geotechnical applications. Methods include ground magnetics, time-domain EM, gravity, electrical methods, and 2D/3D seismic. Projects span India, Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, DRC, Guinea, and the USA.

Remote Sensing & GIS

Ph.D. Remote Sensing and GIS with 14 years in geological, geophysical, and geospatial exploration management. Proficient in Geosoft Oasis Montaj, ArcGIS, Micromine, ERDAS Imagine, ENVI, Python, MATLAB, and FORTRAN. Former roles at SRK Consulting, IIT BHU, Rolta, and Samta Group.

Senior Geologist

M.Sc. Geology with 17 years in exploration. Exploration Site Manager for Goviex Uranium (2008–2015) during the discovery of 165+ Mlb U₃O₈ in Niger; supervised over 250,000 m of drilling at Madaouela. Experience across uranium, nickel laterite, and gold projects in Niger, French Guyana, and DRC.

Structural Geologist

Specialist in structural controls on mineralisation and project-scale geological modelling.

Geologist

Broad experience across multiple gold exploration projects in Africa and beyond.

Resource Modeller

Specialist in 3D resource modelling and geostatistical analysis for compliant resource estimation.

Country Director — Uganda

Leads on-ground operations and stakeholder engagement for AIRE's Uganda projects.