Carl Esprey’s long and varied career within the natural resource investment and development sector began at Deloitte before he moved to BHP Billiton as an M&A analyst. Carl moved into equity investment as a fund manager at GLG Partners in London in 2008, focused on natural resources investments. Carl is also the founder/chairman of a Portugal headquartered legal cannabis business, director of London listed Contango Holdings Plc and CEO of Waraba Gold Limited, a CSE, Frankfurt and OTC exploration company. Carl established Lithium Africa Resources Corp. in 2021 and since that time has used his experience and network to secure a wide range of prospective lithium assets across Africa.

Dr. Tom Benson is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Lithium Africa. A volcanologist and globally recognized lithium exploration geologist, he previously served as Vice President of Global Exploration at Lithium Argentina and earlier at Lithium Americas. In those roles, he led corporate exploration strategy to define some of the largest lithium deposits in the world — including Caucharí-Olaroz and Thacker Pass, now the largest measured lithium resource on the planet. Dr. Benson has served as a Director and Geological Advisor of Lithium Africa since 2023, bringing deep technical expertise in lithium deposit exploration and portfolio growth to his leadership of the Company. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University.

Mamadou Coulibaly is a veteran geologist with over 15 years of experience in mineral exploration. He started working with Randgold and has since collaborated with various academic institutions, including Kingston University and the University of Western Australia, developing extensive knowledge and experience in the geology of the West African Birimian. 

Toluwalase Seriki is currently the Head of Business Development in Ganfeng Lithium’s Africa division. He has 4 years of experience in the industry and began his journey by establishing an exploration company in Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy from the University College, London and is completing an MSc in Energy Studies at the University of Dundee.

Blake Hylands is a veteran explorationist and is currently CEO and founder of Lithium Ionic where he co-discovered of multiple Li deposits in Brazil. Prior to Lithium Ionic, he led the discovery of >8Moz gold equivalent at Troilus Gold Corp.

Mr. Kanellitsas is Chairman of Lithium Argentina AG, which he joined as an independent director in June 2013 when the company was known as Lithium Americas Corp. He has held various executive roles with both companies since September 2015, including Interim Chief Executive Officer from October 2023 to March 2024. He has more than 30 years of experience in the investment banking and asset management industries and was a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Geologic Resource Partners, LLP from 2004 to 2014. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Sun Valley Gold, LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York and San Francisco. He has served on several public and private company boards, including Lithium Royalty Corp. and Largo Physical Vanadium Corp. Mr. Kanellitsas holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Mr. Ortiz co-founded Lithium Royalty Corp. (LRC) in 2018 and served as its Chief Executive Officer and President, building a globally diversified critical-minerals royalty portfolio spanning jurisdictions including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mali, Serbia, Finland, and the United States. He led the company through its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in March 2023 — the only IPO completed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that year — raising C$150 million, and subsequently through its acquisition by Altius Minerals Corporation, which was completed in March 2026. He began his career as an equity research analyst in the Basic Materials group at Credit Suisse in New York and later served as a buy-side analyst focused on lithium, battery components, and specialty chemicals. Mr. Ortiz is a founding member of the London Metal Exchange (LME) Lithium and Cobalt Committee, serves on the Board of Directors of Sinova Global Inc., and is a CFA charterholder. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago and is fluent in English and Spanish. 

Tyron Breytenbach is a Co-founder and Capital Markets Advisor of Lithium Africa. A geologist and capital markets professional, he spent a decade in the mining industry — specializing in resource estimation at Detour Gold — before moving into international equity research at Cormark Securities and Stifel Canada. He has co-founded multiple resource companies, including Lithium Africa and Roxmore Resources, and serves as a director of Rua Gold. He holds a BSc (Honours) from Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) and is a designated P.Geo in Ontario.