Board of Directors

Ronald Thiessen holds a BComm degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a Chartered Professional Accountant designation. Since the 1980’s, he has concentrated on the management and financing of public and private companies. As Director of Corporate Development for HDI, beginning in 1996, and as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2000, he and his associates have completed in excess of 20 property or project acquisitions, raised over $1.4 billion in equity financing, and built an impressive portfolio of advanced mineral exploration, development and mining projects.

Mr. Thiessen and the HDI directors won the Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004, and he and the Northern Dynasty team received the Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award for the Pebble East deposit in 2007. He was awarded the E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development in 2008 and was named the Business Person of the Year by the Canada-Southern Africa Chamber of Business in 2011. Most recently, he was presented with the 2013 William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration and a fellowship (FCPA, FCA) from the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia.

Russell Hallbauer, has been an integral part in the mining industry for the past 35 years. Since joining Taseko in 2005 as President, CEO and Director, Mr. Hallbauer has led the Taseko team in the advancement of the Company through production expansion and asset acquisitions. In 2021, Mr. Hallbauer retired from his position of President and CEO, but remains a Director of Taseko.

Prior to joining Taseko, Mr. Hallbauer was Senior Mining Executive at Teck Cominco Ltd. where he oversaw the Highland Valley Copper mine in central BC and was Chairman of the Joint Venture Compañía Minera Antamina in Peru. Mr. Hallbauer has also served as Teck Cominco’s General Manager of Coal Operations responsible for the Bullmoose, Quintette and Elkview Mines.

A British Columbia Institute of Technology and Colorado School of Mines alumnus, he has been recognized as a leader in the mining industry receiving the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010. In addition, Mr. Hallbauer was awarded the Selywn Blaylock Award from Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in recognition of his work in the advancement and development of the mineral industry in Western Canada.

Mr. McDonald is a senior corporate executive with more than 30 years of experience in mining, corporate development, financial and management roles. He joined Taseko as Chief Financial Officer in 2013, was appointed President in June 2019 and CEO in July 2021.

Mr. McDonald has led Taseko through a number of key financing transactions, including the company’s most recent US$400 bond refinancing, and oversaw the construction and operation of the Florence Copper Production Test Facility, which demonstrated the economic and operational viability of Taseko’s 100% owned world class copper project in Arizona. 

Prior to Taseko, Mr. McDonald was CFO of FNX Mining Ltd. and its predecessor Quadra Mining Ltd., a mid-tier copper producer with five operating mines in Canada, Arizona, Nevada, and Chile. He also held senior executive roles with Yukon Zinc Corp. and Cumberland Resources Ltd. prior to its acquisition by Agnico-Eagle Mines in 2007.

A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Mr. McDonald holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

Ms. Dhir has over 20 years’ experience in the resources sector, most recently, as a co-founder and executive of ZinQ Mining, a private base and precious metals company which focuses on the Latin American Region.  Prior to ZinQ Mining, she was Vice President, Corporate Development and Corporate Secretary at Katanga Mining Limited. Ms. Dhir is the chair of privately held Heritage Environmental Services, LLC.

Ms. Dhir currently serves as a non-executive director of Capital Drilling an LSE listed mining services company and serves on the Board of TSX-listed Montage Gold Corp. 

Ms. Dhir is a graduate of the General Management Program (GMP) at Harvard Business School and has a law degree (Juris Doctor) from Quinnipiac University and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Toronto.

Robert Dickinson is an economic geologist who serves as a member of management of several mineral exploration companies, primarily those for which Hunter Dickinson Services Inc. provides services.

He holds B.Sc. (Economic Geology) and M.Sc. (Finance) degrees from the University of British Columbia (BC). A strong advocate for the minerals industry, he is a long time Director of the Britannia Mine Museum and trustee of MineralsEd, a very successful mineral resources education program developed for all BC teachers.

Mr. Dickinson was Canada’s Mine Developer of the Year in 1990 and British Columbia’s Mining Person of the Year in 2000. He and the HDI directors received the Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004 and he and the Northern Dynasty team won the Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award for the Pebble East deposit in 2007. He has also been recognized with the 2008 A.O. Dufresne Award for his contributions to exploration and mining in British Columbia and the 2010 Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal for distinguished achievement in mining administration. In 2012, Mr. Dickinson and co-founder of HDI, Robert Hunter were inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in recognition of their demonstrated outstanding lifetime achievements benefiting the Canadian minerals industry.

Ms. Maguire is a practicing attorney in Phoenix, Arizona focusing her legal practice in the areas of water, environmental, mining and administrative law. Ms. Maguire represents clients in legal matters involving regulatory compliance and permitting, water management and conservation, environmental litigation, and land use planning. Ms. Maguire has served as the founding President and CEO of the Arizona Center for Public Policy, as Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Fife Symington. She began her career with Conoco-Phillips, in the International Crude Oil Trading Department at its headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Ms. Maguire holds three degrees from Arizona State University: a Juris Doctorate received in 1988, a Masters in Business Administration received in 1979, and a Bachelor of Science received in 1977. She was awarded an AV-Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell, and was awarded the Michael J. Brophy Distinguished Service Award by the Environmental Law and Natural Resources Section of the Arizona State Bar. In 2001, Ms. Maguire was awarded the Outstanding Alumnus of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

Mr. Mitchell is a Chartered Accountant (CPA-CA) with over 35 years of senior financial management experience in both public and private equity sponsored companies. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Coeur Mining, Inc., a precious metals producer operating mines throughout North America. Peter joined Coeur in 2013 and was responsible for investor relations, financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, information technology, tax and compliance, in addition to serving as a key team member on the company’s acquisition and divestiture team as well as leading all capital markets activity in multiple equity and debt financings.

Previously, he held executive leadership positions in finance and operations with a variety of U.S. and Canadian companies, among them Taseko Mines Limited, Vatterott Education Centers, Von Hoffmann Corporation and Crown Packaging Ltd. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Stabilis Energy, Inc and Northcliff Resources Ltd where in both cases, he is also the Audit Committee Chair. He earned a BA in Economics from Western University and an MBA in Finance from the University of British Columbia.

Ken Pickering is a Professional Engineer and mining executive with 45 years of experience in the natural resources industry, building and operating major mining operations in Canada, Chile, Australia, Peru and the US. Mr. Pickering is currently an international mining operations and project development private consultant. Prior to this role he held a number of senior positions worldwide over a 39 year career with BHP Billiton Base Metals including President of Minera Escondida Ltda. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (BASc) and AMP Harvard Business School.

Mr. Pickering was intimately involved in the planning, development and initial operation of the Escondida copper project and through several subsequent expansion phases that placed Escondida as the single largest copper mine in the world, producing 1.4 million tonnes of copper per year.

In her role as elected Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation since 2017, Crystal Smith has been immersed in business and project development in BC.  During her tenure as Chief Councillor, she has led the Haisla Nation’s involvement with LNG Canada, the first LNG export facility on Canada’s West Coast. She is also instrumental in Cedar LNG, the world’s first Indigenous majority-owned LNG project, which completed federal and provincial environmental assessment processes in 2023 and achieved a final investment decision in June 2024. Under her leadership, the Haisla Nation has established numerous joint ventures and limited partnerships for the benefit of the Nation.

Ms. Smith is Chair of the First Nations LNG Alliance, an advocacy group of Indigenous governments and organizations pursuing an expanded liquified natural gas industry in Western Canada. She also serves as a Director for the First Nations Climate Initiative, a group that promotes responsible economic development.

Ms. Smith obtained her ICD.D Designation through the ICD-Rotman Director Education Program in January of 2023 and joined the Taseko board in November 2024.