About

J. Peter Pham served as the United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes (2018-2020) and Sahel (2020-2021) Regions of Africa, with the personal rank of US Ambassador granted by President Donald J. Trump.

Since September 2023, he has been Chairman of Ivanhoe Atlantic, an American company developing US-aligned critical and strategic mineral projects to power America’s future, including the ultra-high grade Kon Kweni iron ore project in Guinea. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Senior Advisor at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University, and a Ben Franklin Fellow. Pham was previously Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Centre. Earlier in his career, he was a tenured professor of justice studies, political science, and Africana studies at James Madison University, where he was director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

From 2008-2017, he was concurrently Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and Editor-in-Chief of ASMEA’s peer-reviewed quarterly Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is the author of several books and more than 350 articles, essays and reviews on African politics, security, and economic issues. He currently also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Africell Global Holdings and of Rainbow Rare Earths as well as a strategic advisor to several other companies, with a particular focus on managing geopolitical risk and developing business in Africa.

Pham is the recipient of numerous state honours and awards from African countries in recognition of contributions made over the course of his career to strengthening relations between the United States and Africa. In 2022, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy.

A chartered accountant, David is an investor and advisor to companies in the Asian and North American capital markets.

David has been the Chairman of Wolmar Investments Ltd., a private investment company, since November 2001.

He was previously a senior partner of Grant Thornton in Hong Kong, and a director of Ivanhoe Capital Pte Ltd., a private company based in Singapore.

David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of I-Pulse Group, where he is responsible for overseeing the company’s global financial strategy, governance, and capital allocation to support its growth and long-term objectives.

Bradley is a seasoned business executive with over 32 years of experience in funding, building, acquiring, advising, and managing businesses across various industries. He began his career in 1988 at Billiton Ltd. (now BHP), where he held various roles until 1997, including international business development and strategy for Samancor Limited, the world’s largest producer of manganese and chrome ore and alloys.

Bradley has worked in corporate finance at Kleinwort Benson Ltd. and as an investment banking consultant at The International Bank of South Africa (a joint venture between Dresdner Bank and BNP Paribas).

From 1999 to 2001, he served as a senior executive in the special projects division at Mercantile Bank. In 2002, he served as group business development executive at South African management consultancy, the IQ Business Group leading the business process practice.

In 2002, Bradley co-founded Decorum Capital Partners and served as the Chief Investment Officer and executive director of the New Africa Mining Fund (NAMF) until 2006. He currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer at I Pulse Inc. and serves as a non-executive director of African Gold Acquisition Corp (“AGAC”).

Daniel Pfeffer has spent the majority of his career in the global critical minerals space, with technical, financial and managerial experience across a variety of operating and investment roles. Mr. Pfeffer currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Office of the Chairman at I-Pulse Inc. Prior to that he was a partner at New York-based hedge fund Bornite Capital. Mr. Pfeffer ran metals and mining investments at Point72 in Connecticut and served in the Natural Resources Fund at 3G Capital in New York. Before his buyside experiences, he was an investment banker in Morgan Stanley’s Basic Materials Group in London and worked as an exploration geologist.

Erik Bethel is a global finance professional with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. In 2020, he was nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Previously, he was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed unanimously by the Senate to represent the United States at the World Bank. During his tenure, Mr. Bethel participated in the analysis and deployment of over $100 billion in capital across the developing world through grants, loans, equity investments, and other financial products.

In the private sector, Mr. Bethel’s career has centered on emerging markets, with a specialized focus on the natural resources and mining sectors. He served as a managing director at Franklin Templeton Investments, where he executed private equity transactions in Latin America. Prior to this, he was based in Shanghai, China, as Managing Partner of SinoLatin Capital and Managing Director of ChinaVest. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bethel held a variety of private equity and investment banking positions at J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley in both New York and Mexico City, where he concentrated on resource-related opportunities. Mr. Bethel earned a BS in economics and political science from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin.

Samantha Carl-Yoder is the co-chair of the international and critical minerals practices at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. In her nearly 20 years of service at the U.S. State Department, she worked in both Washington, D.C. and embassies across the world to build strategic partnerships for companies expanding domestically and overseas. Prior to joining the private sector, she served as a foreign service officer in Indonesia, Peru, Myanmar (Burma) and Brazil. She also held senior positions in the Trump and Obama administrations, including chief of staff to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the State Department, chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau of Energy Resources and as a senior advisor to two deputy secretaries. Samantha is also on the board of the Atlantic Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Council.

Andrew joined Ivanhoe Atlantic in 2023 to lead the corporate development and finance functions.

As Deputy CEO, Andrew is responsible for the Company’s strategic and corporate initiatives.

Andrew has 17 years of experience in the resources sector, the last 7 years of which have been in corporate roles across Africa, including Head of Corporate Development & Strategy for Alufer Mining which own the Bel Air bauxite mine in Guinea.

Andrew has a strong background in natural resource financing and advisory, with over 10 years in several roles across London and Toronto, playing a pivotal role in financing many West African iron ore companies.

Kevin McLean has over 30 years of experience in the mining sector. He began his career in Australia in gold and base metals and then iron ore with Rio Tinto and Fortescue. He then expanded his career in Africa, leading mine, rail, and port operations of a large iron-ore project in Sierra Leone.

From 2015 to 2020, Kevin was Project Director, Operations Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bel Air Mining, the Guinea subsidiary of Alufer Mining.

As Chief Operating Officer of American company Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc, and a Non-Executive Director its subsidiary Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG), he is working to bring the highest-grade iron ore in the world to market from the Kon Kweni project in Guinea.

Jim is an experienced finance professional and chartered accountant with significant corporate experience, particularly in the resource sector.

He has served as Finance Director/CFO for several resource companies including Emmerson PLC, Moxico Resources plc, GreenRoc Mining Plc, Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd and Avocet Mining Plc.

Previously Jim worked at Anglo American plc within the finance, business development and strategy departments of Anglo Industrial Minerals.

Oumar is an experienced project management and mining professional with over 14 years in the industry and a deep knowledge of the Guinean mining sector.

He has been with SMFG since 2011, holding various senior roles within the company, including serving as the Acting Directeur Général since early 2024 and Nimba Operations Manager for 2 years prior, where he led all operational and development activities towards construction.

Oumar has a strong technical background with mine planning, engineering, and project management roles across the bauxite and iron ore sectors within Guinea.

Joe focuses on Ivanhoe Atlantic’s commercial negotiations with Government and origination and execution of its inorganic growth opportunities. Joe is a mine finance professional and mineral strategist, previously Investment Manager at a mining private equity fund in London where he headed up deal origination and led the full cycle of transaction execution and management of its base metal development assets.

Before this, Joe was at CRU Group where he completed bottom up supply and demand forecasting, modelling and asset due diligence and supported project financing packages for major copper mines including Oyu Tolgoi, Sierra Gorda and DeGrussa along with the post-IPO support of iron ore developers London Mining and African Minerals.

Joe holds a BEng Hons Materials Engineering and an MSc Metals & Energy Finance from Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London.

Henrique leads Ivanhoe Liberia, championing the Company’s initiatives to finalise rail and port infrastructure access agreements with the Government of Liberia. He oversees environmental reporting and community liaison for Ivanhoe Atlantic’s operations in Liberia.

Henrique has extensive experience with a background of working in Liberia, Nigeria and the United States. He has been a consultant with Ivanhoe Atlantic since late 2021, supporting active engagement with the Company’s stakeholders in Liberia and assisting with development plans for the Kon Kweni Iron Ore Project in Guinea and projects in Liberia.

Outside of his professional endeavours, Henrique is active with human service organizations, volunteering in highly impactful activities for Liberia. His significant contributions range from disease prevention awareness programmes during the 2014 Ebola crisis in Liberia, to being a key member of the professional Support Staff of volunteers to the Presidentially appointed Liberian National Response Coordinator for COVID-19.

Henrique is a graduate of New York University, with a Master’s in Public Administration and earned a Bachelors from Canisius College (now Canisius University) in Buffalo, New York.

Aurore has more than 20 years of experience in heavy industry, including 12 years in the exploration and operational mining sector. Aurore has held regional HR management positions with IAMGOLD and Perenti in Africa, North America and the UK. She has also worked as a consultant for drilling companies and for Centamin.

Most recently, she held the position of Head of HR for International Operations for Perenti UK.

Aurore holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Perpignan Via Domitia, France and specializes in African Law.

Brent directs Ivanhoe Atlantic’s global corporate affairs through the integration of communications, government and stakeholder relations, policy, and reputation management across all jurisdictions.

Prior to his appointment at Ivanhoe Atlantic, Brent served as a Director at Consulum, the leading government advisory firm in the Middle East. In this role, he provided strategic communications counsel to the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Japan and senior government representatives while building geopolitical relationships and international narratives through his leadership of a Japan-based marketing and communications team.

Earlier in his career, he led stakeholder engagement and communications strategies across both public and private sectors in Australia, including with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy. He has also managed several successful election campaigns at every level of government, including serving two terms as a capital city councillor, and has served as a non-executive director of one of Australia’s oldest sporting organizations.