Key Personnel
Senior Management
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Dean Toye, BSc, BC Certified Assayer Past-Chairman and Founder Dean Toye graduated from the University of British Columbia (B.Sc. 1962), Vancouver, Canada where he majored in Physics and Chemistry. He obtained his BC certification as a professional assayer in 1972. Dean was an analytical chemist for major companies such as Warnock Hersey, Kennco Exploration and Amax Exploration prior to founding Acme Analytical Laboratories in 1971. In 2006 Dean received the Frank Woodside Past President’s Award presented annually in recognition of long and distinguished service to AME BC. |
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John Gravel, MScA, PGeo Executive Chairman John Gravel graduated from McGill University (M.Sc., 1985) Montreal, Canada specializing in Mineral Exploration (MINEX Program). John has worked as a professional geochemist for international companies (BP Minerals), government (British Columbia Geological Survey) and as a consultant. John joined AcmeLabs in 1994 as their quality system manager charged with designing and implementing their ISO 9002-compliant quality system. (Acme became the first ISO 9002 accredited lab in North America). |
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George Cartwright, BSc President George has been working in the minerals testing business for 30 years. He started as a Minerals Chemist in 1979 working for Bondar-Clegg Canada Ltd and has since held various positions in laboratory operations and management. More recently George’s positions were as President of Bondar-Clegg Canada Ltd., President of Intertek Testing Services Canada Ltd. George started with Acme Analytical Laboratories in 2006 as VP, Operations and has recently taken over as President. |
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Geoff Woodfield, BSc VP South American Operations From December 2005 to the present, Geoff has managed the company’s South American Operations. He is ably supported by a strong team of professionals that has positioned AcmeLabs within the top 3 minerals laboratories in the region. The aim of the team in South America is to provide value added service for our customers throughout the entire mineral commodity cycle. AcmeLabs prides itself on delivering a personalized quality service. We believe that our clients value this approach and this motivates our staff to continue to deliver. Prior to Acme, Geoff worked 13 years with ALS Chemex in Australia, Peru, Canada and Chile. |
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Michael Toy, CGA CFO Michael Toy graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (Financial Management Certificate) in 1996 and received his CGA (Certified General Accountant) designation in 1998. Prior to joining AcmeLabs in 2006, Michael has 15 years of Accounting and Business experience from his previous positions in Intertek Testing Canada, Bondar-Clegg Canada and ALS Chemex Canada. |
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Terri-Lynn Ferguson, BSc Quality System Manager Terri-Lynn graduated from with a BSc in Environmental Microbiology from UBC (1995). She has worked for AECL and in the environmental mining field as the Acid Rock Drainage Lab Manager and then Quality Manager for BC Research / Vizon SciTec where she was responsible for their ISO 17025, Washington State and OECD-GLP Accreditation. Terri joined AcmeLabs in March of 2005 as our Quality System Manager and is responsible for managing all aspects of Acme’s ISO 9001 Quality System, and our new LIMS system implementation. |
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Afshin Raissnia, BCompSc Global IT Manager Afshin graduated with Bachelor of Computing in Computer Science from Copenhagen, Denmark in 1991. Afshin has over 17 years of IT experience. Afshin was System Engineer at Webtech Wireless before he joined the Acme team. He has worked with different operative systems and has extensive experience with IT security. His duties are to manage and support the IT systems. |
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Angelo Karitsiotis Global Sample Preparation Manager Angelo has over 12 years of industry experience overseeing and setting up sample preparation facilities in Mexico, Canada, Europe and the United States. Prior to joining AcmeLabs as a Sample Preparation Manager in April 2004 Angelo had worked for Chemex/ALS Chemex for 7 years throughout Canada and the United States in various management positions. |
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Heriberto Muñoz Global Sales and Marketing Manager From December 2005 to the present, Heriberto has been a key member of our team in South America. He understands the connection between consistent high quality, good turnaround time and friendly client service. He enjoys working with people from different cultures focused on the same goal: Our clients’ satisfaction. Heriberto’s goal is that our clients can see the same Acme standard in every country where we operate.Prior to AcmeLabs, Heriberto worked for 15 years with ALS Chemex in Argentina, Peru and Chile. |
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George Siasios Regional Manager for Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia George received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry in 1995 from the University of Adelaide. George has been managing exploration and mine‐site laboratories in Africa and Australia for over 14 years. Previously he has held senior roles as Regional Business Manager of East Africa and the DRC and General Manager of a laboratory in Burkina Faso, West Africa for other companies. |
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Lauren Greenlaw, BSc Eng Regional Geochemist Lauren joined the Acme team as Regional Geochemist (North America) in February 2009. Lauren is a geological engineering graduate from Queen’s University who has worked as a geochemist and geologist for the Ontario Geological Survey, Anglo American, and Teck Cominco. She has gained global exposure to numerous deposit types including IOCG, epithermal gold, SEDEX Pb-Zn, MVT and ultramafic Ni sulphides. She has hands on experience with till, soil, stream, mossmat, vegetation, rock, drill core and water sampling in a variety of environments. In addition to her roles as geochemist and geologist in her previous employment she also functioned as a QC specialist. Lauren’s hands on experience in the field of exploration provides a unique bridge between laboratory analysis and the world of exploration geology. |
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Rick McCaffrey, DChem Business Development Manager Rick graduated with a Diploma in Chemical Technology from Sheridan College in 1979 and received his Geological Certificate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1983. Rick has over 25 years of laboratory management experience. During this time he has been the operations manager for laboratories in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Indonesia. Rick’s present duties are marketing and client services for Acme Vancouver. |
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Leo Arciaga, DTech, BC Certified Assayer Project Development Manager Leonardo graduated from BCIT with a Diploma in Chemical Technology and Metallurgy in 1980 where he specialized in extractive metallurgy. He received his BC Certified Assayer certification in 1990. He worked as a metallurgical technician at Bethlehem Copper Corp, as an analytical chemist at BHP Island Copper Division, as an assayer at Minnova Inc – Samatosum Project, as a process technician at Similkameen Mines, and as a manager of laboratory operations in Venezuela, Honduras, and Mexico. He started as a representative of international projects and monitoring QA/QC of laboratory subsidiaries. |
North America and Eurasia Managers
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Clarence Leong, DTech, BC Certified Assayer General Manager, Vancouver Clarence Leong graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (D. Tech., 1980) where he specialized in Chemical and Metallurgical Technology and obtained his BC professional assayer certification in 1981. He was an assayer for Cominco from 1980 to 1987 then joined AcmeLabs and became Chief Assayer in 1989. Clarence reviews all inspects all incoming requests for analytical work to ensure that the laboratory can meet the provisions of each contract. Clarence also evaluates all completed analyses to ensure they meet quality criteria and that the analyses satisfy all of the provisions as stated in the request for analytical work. |
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Raymond Chan, BSc, BC Certified Assayer Chief Assayer, Vancouver Raymond graduated from U.B.C. in 1979 (Biochemistry major) and B.C.I.T. in 1980 (Extractive Metallurgy specialty) in the Chemical and Metallurgical Technology program. He obtained his BC provincial assayer certificate in 1987. His work experience in assaying includes Equity Silver Mine, BC Research, Chemex labs, Skyline Gold Mine, Vangeochem Labs, Kemess Mine and Mount Polley Mine. He joined AcmeLabs in 2006 inspecting all data for their quality before being sent out. Raymond also oversees the fireassay department to ensure that it is running smoothly and efficiently. |
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Marcus Lau, BSc, BC Certified Assayer Laboratory Manager, Vancouver Marcus joined AcmeLabs after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Simon Fraser University in 1996. He received his British Columbia Certified Assayer certification in 2003. Originally hired as a laboratory technician, Marcus was promoted to the position of Laboratory Manager in 2004. In addition to overseeing all aspect of laboratory production, he is also involved in research & development as well as health & safety for AcmeLabs. |
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Scott Inglis Fire Assay Manager, Vancouver Scott Inglis graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (Diploma in Chemical Science, Industrial Specialization) in 1994. Prior to joining AcmeLabs in 2008, Scott has over 13 years of Fire Assay experience from previous positions at Cominco Exploration, Westmin Resources, Bondar-Clegg and Kemess Mines. |
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Ken Kwok, BSc BC Certified Assayer Senior Research Chemist After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Simon Fraser University, Ken has spent the past 33 years as a chemist and certified assayer specializing in many phases of analytical work in the mining laboratory. His work pioneered breakthrough flux strategies for Fire Assay and acid digestion techniques aimed to detect and measure levels of tantalum, niobium and tungsten. With his extensive experience in analytical techniques, Ken has spent the last nineteen years as a chief assayer in management dealing with process troubleshooting, method development, and data evaluation and approval. His specialization in classical wet and fire assay, and cyanide extraction has led to several best-in-class detection methods in the industry. More recently, he serves as a senior technical advisor and continues to research for new analytical techniques. |
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Wai Szeto, BA Human Resources Manager – North America Wai Szeto graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1986. Since joining AcmeLabs in 1987, she has held various support and administrative positions including interim bookkeeper and assistant administrative manager. As Human Resource Manager, her current responsibilities include company policy compliance, employee relations and benefits administration. |
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Claus Severin, MEng Senior Software Engineer Claus Severin graduated from the Hamburg University of Applied Science with a Masters of Engineering degree in Computer Science. He worked as Senior Programmer at Bondar-Clegg and ALS Chemex before joining AcmeLabs in 2006 where he took over the position of IT Manager. Claus has since taken on the position of Senior Software Engineer to completely dedicate his time in maintenance and development of Acme’s in-house Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), for sample tracking and data requisition, as well as respond to increasing customer demand for AcmeAccess, Acme’s Internet Web Portal for clients. Claus has over 18 years of experience in LIMS, Application and Database design. |
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Susie Woo Client Services Manager Prior to joining Acme, Susie has refined her expertise across many areas through 31 years with Teck Resources Ltd. Her specialties include lab data management, sample registration protocol, sample tracking and assignment, client liaison and services, staff administration and office management, as well as accounts payables and receivables. Susie will be the person to talk to for all client needs at Acme. |
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Fred Lo, MSc XRF Manager An expert in X-ray Fluorescence as applied to whole rock and minor element analysis, Fred brings 35 years of knowledge and experience. He leads the newly created XRF department to provide high quality X-ray Fluorescence data to our clients. |
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Chris Mansfield Warehouse Manager Chris moved from Nova Scotia to British Columbia in 1995, working with Bondar-Clegg until 2002 and later ALS until 2004. Chris then moved to China to teach English for 2 years where he gained multicultural experience in working with others and understanding their culture. Chris joined AcmeLabs in January of 2007 bringing 10 years of leadership and warehousing experience. |
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Stephen Tucker, BA, BEd Sample Prep Manager, Vancouver Prior to joining Acme Labs, Stephen acquired 32 years of experience with GDL/Teck. His specialties include Heavy Mineral Separation, as well as, overseeing all aspects of the sample preparation process. |
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Anthony Sikich, BA, CMA Controller, North America Anthony graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA degree in Economics in 1995 and received his designation for CMA (Certified Management Accountant) in 2004. Prior to joining AcmeLabs in 2007, Anthony has worked as accountant for diverse companies such as Law Society of BC, Teresan Utilities Services, Chartered Accountants of BC & Yukon and Vancouver International Airport. |
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Steve Samotowka Branch Manager, Smithers, BC Steve joined the Acme team in May of 2007 as manager of the Smithers sample preparation facility. He has over 12 years of field experience in mineral exploration and a strong background in geology from his studies at UBC. In the course of his fieldwork, he was involved in camp management, prospecting, geophysical and geochemical surveys, and diamond drilling. Through these experiences, Steve has a gleaned a thorough understanding of the processes and value of collecting geological samples. |
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Z. Nazli Taner, MSc Technical Manager, Ankara Turkey Nazli graduated from Hacettepe University with a BSc in Hydrogeological Engineering. She has completed her MSc in Geochemistry at Hacettepe University in 2010. She joined the Acme team as Technical Manager of Turkey in 2007. |
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Nezih Dogu Country Manager, Ankara Turkey Nezih graduated from Hacettepe University with a Linguist Degree in 1989. He has over 15 years of management experience. During this time he has been managing Hotels and Holiday Villages in the tourism industry. He joined the Acme Team in 2007 with the opening of Acme’s Sample Prep Laboratory in Ankara, Turkey. |
South America Managers
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Eric Montiel General Manager, Santiago Eric recently took on the role of overseeing our operations in Chile after several years in the more tropical parts of our company. He set up our laboratory in Georgetown, Guyana in 2006, before moving on to Venezuela and Brazil. Before Acme, Eric worked for Triad Labs, Venezuela, ALS Chemex Chile and Bondar-Clegg. A clear focus on developing good people and delivering quality results on time for our clients is what motivates Eric. |
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Rory Forde Country Manager, Guyana and Haiti Rory joined the AcmeLabs team in 2006 at the Guyana lab and was assigned to the Maintenance department. He had the responsibility of maintaining plant and equipment. He was then moved to the Client services department where he later became the Manager of the Guyana operations and brought to the job a mixture of skills honed while working in maintenance and client services. This unique blend has served him well and he has now been assigned as Manager of Acme Haiti operations. Prior to working for Acme he worked as a Design Engineer whereby he designed and supervised construction projects. |
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Oscar Olivares Country Manager, Argentina Oscar has managed our operations in Argentina since January 2006, with periodic stints in Brazil, Chile and Guyana. He is backed by a dedicated team which has many years of experience in sample preparation. Prior to AcmeLabs Oscar worked 8 years with Bondar-Clegg and 4 years with ALS Chemex in Argentina and Chile. |
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Gustavo Canizales, BEng Regional Manager, South America West Gustavo Canizales joined Acme Labs in 2009, following a career of over 12 years in Mexico and Peru in the Metallurgical and Minerals Analysis sectors. Through his experience, Gustavo brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the areas of research, administration, and quality control. He graduated as a Chemical Engineer from the University of Sonora in Mexico with a specilization in Metallurgy and has expanded on that with training in management and ISO/QS 9000 qualification. Gustavo looks forward to working with clients to develop Colombia’s full exploration potential as he oversees our businesses in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. |
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Rodrigo Perez Country Manager, Brazil Rodrigo has had a long association with AcmeLabs Chile, having worked for the company almost since its inception in 1992 performing roles such as maintenance manager and sample preparation manager. He has most recently managed our sample preparation laboratories in Chile, Guyana and Brazil, acquiring valuable experience in the process. Under his direction our Guyana laboratory became a model of efficiency, no mean feat given the difficulties of operating there. Rodrigo arrived in Brazil to undertake his latest role in October 2008. We are sure that our clients in Brazil will notice the enthusiasm that he brings to the job and the impact that he has had already on Acme’s goal of excellent service. |
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Cíntia Oliveira Client Services Manager, Brazil Cíntia is a recent addition to the Acme Brazil team and she brings an enthusiastic approach to her role. Her organisation skills help ensure that Acme’s turnaround times are very competitive. Cíntia’s daily follow up routine with the Vancouver and Santiago hub labs help us to deliver you your results on time. |
Some of the Acme Team!
