EXPERIENCE

Mr. Ellis is a minerals property appraiser (valuer, valuator), geologist, and minerals economist. He specializes in conducting independent market value appraisals (valuations) of mineral lands, mine and quarry properties, particularly for litigation support as an expert witness. Mr. Ellis develops his valuations in accordance with the USA's national valuation standards, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), the International Valuation Standards (IVS) and other applicable standards. He often supplements the valuations by conducting supporting geological and economic evaluations or market studies for the relevant mineral commodities.

His 35 years of professional experience include:

• Appraisal/valuation of mineral properties, mines, quarries, and royalty interests
• Mineral property takings and business damage assessment
• Expert witness testimony on mineral property and business valuation issues, and related topics
• Bid determination
• Investment and acquisition analysis
• Economic risk assessment and decision analysis
• Reserve and Resource delineation and estimation
• Mine planning and feasibility studies
• Transportation and market studies
• Geological and economic evaluations
• Grass roots exploration
• Environmental reviews and hazardous waste remediation
• Computer systems management, programing and database development

Mr. Ellis has held important professional posts and has received a number of professional awards. He has been the Chairman of the Extractive Industries Expert Group of the International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC), London, since he formed the Expert Group in January 2001 (then called the Extractive Industries Task Force). Under his leadership, the Expert Group developed the international standards for valuations (appraisals) in the minerals and petroleum industries. The finalized standards were first published in the Seventh Edition (2005 edition) of the International Valuation Standards (IVS), released on 9 February 2005 (view February 2005 IVSC News Release). The Expert Group has since drafted a best practice Technical Paper designed to supplement the standards. This was approved by the Standards Board of the IVSC for exposure for public comment at its November 2007 meeting. Publication of the Technical Paper is expected in mid-2008.

The Expert Group has written influential submissions on minerals and petroleum valuation policy matters to major international financial insitutions, such as the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Monetary Fund, and to securities regulators. It has also written influential submissions to other mining and petroleum standards setting bodies. During his Chairmanship, Mr. Ellis has provided extensive input on valuation and related matters to the Extractive Industries Project Team of the International Accounting Standards Board. He has also provided written and verbal submissions to other standards setting and regulatory bodies internationally.

Mr. Ellis was the 2000-2002 President of the American Institute of Minerals Appraisers. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Round Table Group, the largest international think tank for academic experts.

He has written or presented 60 professional papers, of which 40 have been published, more than a third of those being in peer reviewed journals. (View Publications). He is a frequently invited speaker at professional meetings, universities, and national and international conferences. He has taught economic evaluation techniques to more than 40 groups of industry professionals.

As an independent consultant since 1983, Mr. Ellis has developed a solid reputation for providing quality and timely consulting services. He has given expert witness testimony as a minerals appraiser, geologist and minerals economist, for private and government litigations, for and against mining companies. In recent years, Mr. Ellis has specialized in providing expert testimony on market value appraisal of mines and quarries.

Mr. Ellis has many years of experience working in the minerals industry outside the USA. He has substantial field experience working in:

Australia

Ecuador

Indonesia

Papua New Guinea

Ellis International Services' commitment to excellence can involve drawing upon a select team of consultants to meet specialized project demands. Meeting the client's needs is given the highest priority.

Minerals Valuation, Geology, and Mineral Economics Experience

Specific projects conducted by Mr. Ellis include:

Valuation/Appraisal Projects
• Bauxite, Australia: Advised on tax matters valuation for a bauxite mine and alumina refinery.
• Coal, Colorado: Provided expert geologist and minerals appraiser testimony to Arapahoe County Commissioners on the geology, economics and valuation of certain coal resources.
• Coal, USA: Valued coal mines and coal resources throughout the USA for acquisition and corporate reporting purposes.
• Coal and Petroleum, Colorado: Reviewed ownership and mining history of coal resources to determine present ownership and surface development implications. Estimated value of oil and gas reserves, advised on acquisition and compatible development.
• Copper-Zinc, Wisconsin: Advised company and State officials on the appropriate appraisal standards and methods for determination of the value of the Crandon zinc and copper deposit for potential acquisition by the State of Wisconsin.
• Dolomite, Kentucky: Market value appraisal of an underground dolomite mine for a foreclosed mortgage loan.
• Gold: Fairness opinion analyses for mergers of Canadian and USA listed and unlisted companies.
• Gold, Nevada: Annual market value appraisals of mineral lands and royalty interest in the Marigold gold mine.
• Gold, Venezuela: Market value appraisals of Las Brisas, an undeveloped 10 million oz reserve gold property.
• Gravel, Colorado: Market value eminent domain (condemnation) appraisals of a gravel quarry and adjoining gravel property, southern Colorado. Conducted the appraisals of the surface real estate as a Certified General Appraiser and the appraisals of the minerals estates as a Certified Minerals Appraiser.
• Hard Rock Aggregates, Connecticut: Rock Acquisition v. State of Connecticut. Market value appraisal for compensation for condemnation of an operating quarry property for a highway project. The appaisal included market valuation of backfilling reclamation of the quarry with clean fill disposal from the greater New York City region.

• Manganese, Arizona: Market value appraisal of a manganese ore stockpile and processing operation.
• Oil and Gas, California: Valued the environmental liability associated with the acquisition of Santa Barbara area petroleum fields by a present value method. This was based on using decision trees and Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the long term liability for more than 5,000 petroleum wells and 7,000 associated facilities.
• Oil Shale, Colorado and Utah: Market value appraisals of oil shale properties.
• Onyx, Arizona: Wrote a critique report of valuations of an onyx quarry property, for mortgage loan financing.
• Phosphate and Sulfur, south-east USA: Conducted supply-demand studies and developed long range market forecasts for the international phosphate rock industry and the sulfur industry. Assisted with discount rate selection and other aspects of market value appraisals.
• Platinum, USA: Valuation of platinum exploration properties and exploration business, for litigation support.
• Sand, Colorado: Takings valuation for highway project, Weld County.
• Sand and Gravel, Colorado: Animas Valley Sand and Gravel v. Board of County Commissioners of La Plata County. Appraised the value of a sand and gravel mining property in La Plata County for an inverse condemnation litigation, abiding by specific Colorado Supreme Court appraisal instructions for a regulatory takings value determination. Testified in Colorado District Court as an expert witness geologist, minerals economist and minerals appraiser.
• Sand and Gravel, southwest Colorado: Market value appraisal of a sand and gravel quarry property for acquisition. The appraised property included two operating quarries, irrigated crop land with farm buildings, and a planned residential subdivision.
• Sand and Gravel, Colorado: Independent critique of two appraisals of compensation for taking of sand and gravel property, Adams County.
• Sand and Gravel, Colorado: Takings compensation valuation for an operating quarry, Empire, western Colorado.
• Sand and Gravel, Colorado: Varra Companies v. Nelson. Provided written expert opinion on the market royalty rate for mining of a sand and gravel property near Denver, Colorado.
• Sand and Top Soil, Colorado: Nichols v. La Plata County. Appraisal of the value of lost profits from excavation of sand and top soil.
• Silica Sand, Colorado: CSSI v. Briargate. Provided expert witness testimony as a geologist, minerals economist and minerals appraiser, on valuation of damages to a specialty industrial silica sand mining and processing operation.
• Silver, Idaho: Independence Lead Mines v. Hecla. Appraised the market value of a major silver deposit in Idaho before and after mining. Testified as an expert witness in an Idaho District Court on the value of damages related to a net profits interest royalty lease.
• Silver, Nevada: Kogan v. Silver King Mines. For a major Nevada silver mine, estimated mined and unmined resources by claim using geostatistics on drilling data and aerial photo interpretation. Provided expert witness testimony on geology, economics, geostatistics and valuation.
• Tripoli Silica, Arkansas: Market and use value appraisal of an operating tripoli silica mine property.

Economic Evaluation and Market Studies

• Coal Gasification remediation, Eastern USA: Evaluation of environmental remediation options for mild coal gasification plant sites, using Monte Carlo simulation and decision trees with NPV analysis.
• Coal, International: U.S. and international coal market studies.
• Coal, New Mexico: Economic evaluation of alternatives for development of San Juan Basin coal resources.
• Coal, Pennsylvania: Evaluated two underground coal mines from geological and economic perspectives for potential acquisition.
• Coal power plant, Arizona: For a feasibility study of a coal-fired power plant in an arid portion of Arizona, simulated stream and groundwater supplies over the life of the project together with the resultant economic risks to the project.
• Coal, USA: Conducted domestic and international coal market studies to evaluate future opportunities and impacts for railroad transportation of coal.
• Coal, Wyoming: All phases of feasibility study economics for Caballos Rojo coal mine, Wyoming. Conducted coal market studies and economically analyzed sales contract proposals.
• Diesel, Gasoline and LNG fuels, Mexico: Economic evaluation assistance for proposed conversion of the Mexico City bus system from diesel and gasoline fuels to LNG.
• Economic evaluation program, Colorado: Wrote a computer program for economic evaluation of mineral and energy projects, including sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation.
• Gold, Nevada: Economic evaluation of the Getchell gold mine in Nevada for possible redevelopment.
• Gold and Copper, Kyrgyzstan: Economic evaluation of eight gold and gold-copper deposits.
• Lignite, North Dakota: Comparison of the future competitiveness of North Dakota lignite production against the potential intrusion of coal from adjacent states. Evaluated potential products and possible government assistance schemes for mines and power stations.
• Magnetite-Ilmenite, Canada: Economic evaluation of a magnetite-ilmenite deposit, Ontario.
• Methanol and Natural Gas, International: Evaluated the economics of methanol production from natural gas worldwide.
• Mine closure, USA: Economic evaluation of closure options for mines, including use for municipal and hazardous waste disposal.
• Natural Gas plant remediation, Texas: Economic evaluation and decision analysis, including Monte Carlo simulation, for remediation of a contaminated natural gas processing plant site.
• Oil Shale, Colorado: Feasibility study economics for Colorado oil shale properties.
• Oil Shale, Colorado: For Chevron v. Occidental, conducted an economic risk assessment of oil shale property development.
• Oil Shale, International: Summarized data on oil shale properties worldwide and developed a mining cost algorithm used in acquisition evaluations.
• Sand and Gravel, Weld County, Colorado: Evaluated the geological and economic viability of mining a sand and gravel deposit to supply the Denver region market.
• Silica Sand, Colorado: Conducted a market study for silica sand from a Colorado Springs mine. Recommended target markets and pricing strategies.
• Synthetic Jet Fuel, USA: Evaluated the economics of jet fuel production technologies from synthetic natural gas.
• Zinc, Alaska: Advised on royalty management matters associated with a major zinc mine.
• Uranium, Texas: Feasibility study economics for Texas uranium mines.

Geological Exploration and Evaluation Projects

• Base Metals, Australia: Geological mapping and exploration for base metals, Victoria.
• Base Metals, Australia: Geological mapping, sampling and drilling of Australian silver-lead-zinc and copper properties in South Australia and Tasmania.
• Base Metals, Tin, Nickel and Platinum, Australia: Exploration mapping and sampling of base metals, tin, nickel and platinum group metals properties in Tasmania.
• Coal, Australia: Development drilling and surveying for coal mines and new power station construction, Latrobe Valley, Victoria.
• Coal, Indonesia: Exploration and reserve development drilling for operating South Sumatra coal mines.
• Coal, USA: Coal exploration drilling and evaluation, Illinois Basin and Northern Great Plains. Statistically evaluated core analysis procedures.
• Coal, Western USA: Developed reserve estimates and provided other technical support for two coal property litigation cases.
• Copper, Papua New Guinea: Conducted regional copper exploration throughout western Papua New Guinea.
• Copper and Diamond, NW Australia: Regional copper and diamond exploration, NW Australia.
• Gold, Australia: Exploration and development drilling, reserve delineation and interpretation, for development of the Telfer gold mine, one of Australia's largest gold producers.
• Gold, Colorado and Utah : Geological evaluation of Colorado and Utah placer and hard rock gold properties.
• Gold, Ecuador: Independent geological reports for the Canadian stock markets on gold exploration and mining properties in Ecuador.
• Gold, Papua New Guinea: Advised on exploration and development strategies for a large, placer gold deposit in Papua New Guinea. Also advised on a proposed buy-in.
• Gold and Silver, Australia and South Pacific: Survey of gold and silver properties in Australia and South Pacific with an emphasis on metallurgy.
• Iron, Australia: Iron ore prospect evaluation in ultramafics, Tasmania.
• Magnesia, Australia: Brine water magnesia survey.
• Minerals, International: Researched minerals availability for Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South American countries.
• Minerals, Nevada and Arizona: Mapped mineral resources and land ownership within and surrounding the Lake Mead National Recreation Area of Nevada and Arizona.
• Nahcolite, Colorado: Evaluated Colorado nahcolite prospects. Managed land applications and appeal. Wrote geological testimony for Interior Board of Land Appeals.
• Natural Gas, New Mexico: Geological evaluation of a New Mexico natural gas field for production expansion potential.
• Nickel, Western Australia: Geological mapping and drilling of nickel prospects.
• Nickel and Gold, Australia: Regional exploration for nickel in Western Australian greenstone belts, delineation of targets through geochemical sampling, magnetics, and geological mapping, and diamond drilling of mineralization. Underground geological mapping in gold mine.
• Petroleum, Indonesia: Stratigraphic exploration drilling for petroleum in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
• Rutile, Western Australia: Exploration drilling of Western Australian mineral sands property for titanium minerals.