Our Leadership
Damian Pearson
Director
Damian is a senior private equity investor with Oryx Global Partners, focused on mineral investments for supply chain security and to support energy expansion and transition. Previously he was at EMR Capital, a specialist resources private equity group with +US$2bn FUM. Earlier in his career Damian co-led Australian metals and mining investment banking coverage for Deutsche Bank where he was an early mover into the critical minerals space and successfully led several battery materials transactions. He holds a LLB (Hons) and is a Chartered Accountant.
Ernie Ortiz
Cofounder and Director
Ernie was most recently a Director, Co-Founder, President and the CEO of Lithium Royalty Corp (LRC), which listed on the TSX in 2023 via a CAD$150m IPO. In December 2025, LRC agreed to be acquired by Altius Minerals Corporation for over CAD$500m. He managed the origination, structuring, and execution of LRC’s royalties. Ernie has visited many of the world’s lithium deposits, as well as several of the chemical and battery plants that service the EV industry. Ernie is a founding member of the London Metal Exchanges (LME) lithium and cobalt advisory committee.
Anthony Tse
Cofounder and Director
Anthony is the former MD and CEO of Galaxy Resources, where he served on the Board for 11 years. Galaxy merged with Orocobre in 2021 to form Allkem, and then subsequently Livent to create Arcadium Lithium which was acquired by Rio Tinto in March 2025. During his tenure at Galaxy, Anthony grew the company from an initial US$20m market capitalisation, managing a global portfolio of assets in Australia, Canada and Argentina and building one of the largest capacity and most technologically advanced lithium processing facilities in China. Anthony is currently Executive Chairman of LiFT Power, a Canadian lithium developer listed on the TSX which recently agreed to merge with Winsome Resources (peer lithium developer) and Chairman of Nano One, a cathode active materials technology company listed on the TSX.
Jesse R. Edmondson, PG, MS
CEO, Director, and Founder
Jesse has over 14 years of experience leading mineral exploration programs for critical minerals projects on private land in the southeastern United States. He has built a strong network of geologists, mineral rights attorneys, equipment operators, service providers, and government officials at the local, state, and federal levels.
He also brings more than nine years of experience as a government relations specialist advancing critical minerals development in the U.S., with direct connections to key officials at the White House, DOE, and DOD. An experienced federal grant writer, Jesse was the primary author of the largest federal grant ever awarded to a critical minerals project in the Western Hemisphere.
Jesse holds a B.S. and M.S. in Geology from the University of Arkansas and is a registered Professional Geologist in Alabama.
Dr. Robert Cook, PG
Cofounder, Director, and VP of Exploration
Dr. Cook is one of America’s most accomplished professional geologists, with more than 40 years of experience in both the state of Alabama and surrounding region. Dr. Cook is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geology at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama and headed the University’s Department of Geology for more than two decades. Dr. Cook’s professional specialties are mineral exploration, environmental geology, and mining.
Dr. Cook holds a Doctorate degree and Master of Science graduate degree in Geology from the University of Georgia, in addition to a degree in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Cook has consulted for the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and the United Nations (UN). Dr. Cook has been a member of American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Alabama Academy of Science, Geological Society of America, Alabama Geological Society, Georgia Geological Society, and the Society of Exploration Geochemists, among several other professional organizations.