Directors & Management

Melvin A Herdrick

VP Exploration

Melvin Allen Herdrick is a geologist and member of the SME-AIME professional mining organization with over 50 years experience in mineral exploration and project development. Herdrick has extensive expertise in the discovery, exploration, and development of mineral deposits in Mexico and the US and has a strong background in evaluating the technical feasibility of mineral deposits with specific focus on gold, silver and copper. Herdrick spent 30 years as consulting geologist to multiple mining exploration companies and operators including Kennecott Copper Corp., Sundance Mining Co., Morning Star Mining Co., and Great Basin Resources, Inc. In 1994, Herdrick was appointed chief geologist at Phelps Dodge, Mexico where he was responsible for project generation and exploration, including at the Morenci open pit copper mine in Arizona and the Tyrone open pit copper mine in New Mexico.

While at Phelps Dodge, Herdrick also led the discovery and exploration programs on multiple projects including the La Florida-Barrigon and Piedras Verdes copper deposits in Mexico and served as the exploration geologist for the company in Peru, Guatemala and China. In 2006, Herdrick was appointed Vice-President, Geology at Pediment Gold Corp. where he led discovery and exploration programs on multiple gold, silver and copper sites in Mexico until the company was acquired by Argonaut Gold in 2011. While at Pediment, Herdrick led the discovery of the two-million-ounce Los Planes deposit at the San Antonio gold project in Baja California Sur and identified one-million ounces of gold with significant silver at the closed La Colorado mine now back in operation.

In 2011, Herdrick joined Sonoro Gold Corp as Vice-President, Operations where he oversees the development and implementation of all exploration programs at the company’s mineral deposits. Herdrick led the surface and underground sampling program of the main mineralized shear vein at the Company’s Chipriona property leading to its acquisition by Agnico Eagle Mines in 2016. More recently, Herdrick completed over 42,350 meters of drilling at the Company’s flagship Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico, identifying multiple clusters of northwest trending gold-dominant structures surrounded by parallel sheeted veinlets and stockwork veinlets.

James Taylor

Independent Director

James Taylor spent 35 years as an investment advisor with several firms, including Canaccord Investment Corp and Yorkton Securities from 1980 to 2011, Richardson GMP from 2011 to 2014 and Dundee Goodman from 2014 to 2016. Taylor also served as a director for Captiva Verde Land Corp. from 2017 to 2021 and for Metron Capital Corp. from 2018 to 2020.

Taylor serves as an independent director of Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. and Auston Capital Corp.

Stephen Kenwood P. Geo.

Independent Director, QP

Stephen Kenwood is the President & CEO of Majestic Gold Corp and a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. He has extensive experience in project development including the Snip gold project for Cominco Ltd and the Eskay Creek deposit for Prime Exploration Ltd. Kenwood was a project geologist on the Petaquilla copper-gold porphyry project in Panama as well as on various other projects in Peru, Chile, and China.

Kenwood also serves as a director for Optimus Gold Corp and Silver Range Resources Ltd.

Curtis Turner

Independent Director

Curtis Turner has over 20 years of experience in the mining sector with extensive expertise in finance, corporate development and operations as well as permitting and stakeholder engagement. Turner is the Vice-President and Corporate Controller at i-80 Gold Corp and the CFO at Western Exploration Inc. From 2019 to 2022, Turner served as CFO at Rawhide Mining LLC, a producing heap-leach gold mine in Nevada and from 2009 to 2017, he served as the Corporate Development Officer at Argonaut Gold playing a key role in the successful completion of four acquisitions valued at over $700 million.

Turner also served as CEO at Candelaria Mining Corp., CFO at sodium cyanide manufacturer Cyanco International LLC., Director of Finance at Yamana Gold Inc. and Corporate Controller at Meridian Gold Inc.  In 2017, Turner founded 650 Consulting LLC,  providing services for mergers & acquisitions, project valuations, strategic planning and business process review. He obtained an MBA from Utah State University in accounting and finance.

Katharine Regan

VP, Corporate Development & Secretary

Katharine Regan has over 25 years experience in business development across multiple industries in both the private and public sectors with expertise in administrative management and corporate governance.  Regan serves as an independent consultant to multiple small and mid-sized businesses, overseeing corporate development as well as the creation and implementation of strategic initiatives to improve operating efficiency and support company growth.

Regan has extensive experience in administrative operations, budgetary management and regulatory compliance for exploration companies and is a member of the Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC). She was appointed Corporate Secretary of Sonoro Gold in 2019 and Vice-President of Corporate Development in 2022.

Salil Dhaumya CPA, CMA

Chief Financial Officer

Salil Dhaumya has more than 20 years of experience, providing services to Canadian and U.S. listed companies with international subsidiaries and private companies in the areas of finance, administration and public accounting. Dhaumya served as controller and general manager of Aquilini Investment Group, business controller for Heli-One, a subsidiary of CHC Helicopter Corp., and CFO of Pan American Goldfields and Canada Rare Earth Corporation. Salil is the co-founder and CFO of Green Mountain Health Alliance, a medically focused cannabis company. Dhaumya was appointed CFO of Sonoro Gold in 2019.

Dhaumya earned a bachelor of commerce degree from Panjab University, India, with honours in cost accounting. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant, a designation obtained in British Columbia, Canada.

Jorge A Diaz

Vice-Chairman & VP Operations

Jorge Alberto Diaz Avalos is a professional mining engineer with over 25 years experience in the development, construction, and operation of metal mines in Sonora, Mexico with extensive expertise in mining development, including economic evaluation and project planning and implementation. Diaz began his career with Industrias Peñoles, S.A.B. de C.V. as part of the design team and operations manager for the La Minita polymetallic operation in Michoacan state. In the 1980s, Diaz served as corporate projects manager with Luismin, S.A. De C.V. as part of the exploration, development and commissioning of the San Antonio project in Durango, Mexico now part of the San Dimas mining operation owned by First Magic Silver.

In 1993, Diaz joined El Dorado Gold Corp. to lead the construction of the La Colorada project, producing the first doré bar only four months after heavy machinery first arrived on-site. Responsibilities including contract negotiations, mine and process engineering, project construction, project start-up and operations team management as well as environmental compliance and Ejido negotiation and community relations. In 2002, Diaz was appointed project manager at Alamos Gold Inc. to oversee the re-engineering of the Mulatos project including metallurgical testing, mineral resource modeling, open pit design, economic and technical feasibility analysis. He also secured environmental permits and water rights for industrial-scale operations and managed community and ejido relations for required surface rights.

In 2004, Diaz was appointed general manager at Morgain Minerals Inc. to oversee the design, construction, and commissioning of the El Cairo project in Durango, Mexico, now the El Castillo mine owned by Agronault Gold. In 2006, Diaz founded Interminera, S.A de C.V. to provide engineering design and construction services to the mining sector in Sonora, Mexico including Argonaut Gold’s San Antonio gold project in Baja California Sur where Interminera secured land rights and completed environmental studies as well as engineering and operations designs. Interminera also successfully develop and commissioned its 100% owned mining operation. The open pit, heap-leach Quiergo gold mine has been in operations since 2016.

Diaz joined Sonoro Gold Corp in 2011, and has overseen metallurgical testing, mineral resource modeling, open pit design, economic and technical feasibility analysis for the proposed operations at the Company’s flagship Cerro Caliche gold project. Diaz also oversees the design and implementation of QA/QC programs for exploration activities and is responsible for regulatory compliance and permitting including preparation of multiple environmental baseline studies and socio-economic assessments. Diaz was appointed Vice-President, Operations in September 2020 and Vice-Chairman of the board in 2023.

Kenneth MacLeod

President & CEO

Kenneth MacLeod has over 40 years experience in the management, financing, and corporate governance of development-stage companies in the natural resource sector. Training as a mechanical engineer, he spent the early years of his career as an independent engineering consultant engaged in the design and construction of industrial facilities related to mining, forestry, and petrochemicals. After serving as an executive office for multiple junior exploration companies, in 1994 MacLeod was appointed President and CEO of Kakanda Development Corp. Under his direction, Kakanda successfully secured over US$12 million and developed operations in Canada, Myanmar and Democratic Republic of the Congo including the completion of a Feasibility Study on Kakanda project in Katanga Province.

Between 2001 and 2009, MacLeod served as President and CEO of Western GeoPower Corp. where he successfully secured over US$130 million in equity and debt funding, managed the Meager Creek Geothermal Project near Pemberton, BC and developed the Company’s geothermal resources at The Geysers geothermal field in Sonoma County, California which was acquired by Ram Power in September 2009.

In 2009, MacLeod founded Pan Pacific Power, a private Canadian company in October 2009 to acquire and develop geothermal energy projects in the Philippines. MacLeod expanded the Company to include the development of complementary hydroelectric projects and in 2014, the Company’s Philippine subsidiaries were acquired by the Philippine conglomerate, San Miguel Corporation.

In 2014, MacLeod was appointed President and CEO at Sonoro Gold Corp. where he successfully negotiated the sale of the Chipriona gold/silver concession to Agnico Eagle Mines Limited and the acquisition of the San Marcial gold/silver exploration project as well as the Company’s flagship Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico.

John M Darch

Chairman of the Board

John Michael Darch began his career as a commercial banker with NatWest in the UK and the Royal Bank in Canada. In the 1980s, Darch shifted his focus to the natural resource sector and spent three decades co-founding six public companies and raising over US$300 million to fund exploration, development, and operations. Among the more notable start-ups is Crew Gold (formerly Crew Development) which acquired control of the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchange listed Metorex Development and its six operating mines and two development projects in Africa. Under his direction, Crew also acquired and developed Greenland’s first gold mine and developed to pre-feasibility a major nickel-cobalt laterite deposit in Mindoro, Philippines.

Other companies cofounded by Darch include Nevada Goldfields (gold, USA), Botswana Diamondfields (diamonds, Botswana & South Africa) and South Crofty Holdings (tin, UK), Western GeoPower (geothermal development, Canada & California USA) and Thailand focused Asia Pacific Resources, which discovered and developed to feasibility one of the world’s richest potash deposits.

In 2006, Darch became the principal backer and incubator of Doi Chaang Coffee, spending 10 years and US$5 million transforming a struggling coffee cooperative of an impoverished hill tribe in northern Thailand into a thriving and sustainable community with coffee growing and roasting school, a medical clinic and an international marketing and distribution channel. Today, Doi Chaang Coffee is an internationally recognized and award-winning premium coffee and has been the subject of extensive local and international media coverage as well as a book and documentary, entitled Beyond Fair Trade.

In late 2018, Darch acquired a significant stake in Sonoro Gold Corp and was appointed Chairman of the Board. Since joining Sonoro, John has helped secure over CAD $20 million in equity financing to develop the Company’s flagship Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico.