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Dr. Bernhard Free | Dr. Richard Culbert, P.Eng.
Dr. Bernhard Free
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Pacific Bay Minerals, Ltd.
Dr. Free has been an independent consulting geologist since 1993 and has worked in uranium, precious metals, oil and gas exploration, mine development and production for over 40 years. He has been an officer and director of a number of public companies since 1984 and in June, 2006 he joined Pacific Bay Minerals, Ltd. as Advisor to the Board of Directors responsible for evaluating uranium opportunities worldwide.
As Senior Geologist with Cominco from 1966 to 1976, Bernie developed conceptual exploration guides for uranium and discovered a new zone of Witwatersrand type uranium mineralization in the Elliot Lake area (Keelor Lake). His experience also included exploration for
- intraformational uranium mineralization in the Carboniferous sandstone basin in New Brunswick,
- Exploration for Athabasca-type unconformity related uranium mineralization on all Proterozoic Basin contacts of the Canadian Shield,
- numerous exploration projects targeting albitite related mineralization in the Canadian Shield, and
- exploration for unconformity and Blind River type conglomerate related uranium mineralization in the Proterozoic Roiraima Formation in Guyana and the Nullagine and Kimberley Basins in Australia.
From 1976 to 1984 Bernie was General Manager for Exploration and Project Development for Uranerz Exploration and Mining in Canada and General Manager of the ISL (In-Situ Leach) uranium development program for Uranerz USA responsible for ISL production from the Ruth deposit in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, and the joint development of NaOH-ISL process technology with Wyoming Minerals (Westinghouse). During this time with Uranerz he explored for "roll front" type deposits in the sedimentary basins of Wyoming, and for stacked and tabular configuration sedimentary uranium deposits in similar geological environments in New Mexico, South Texas and Utah. He was involved in project development for "supergene" Yeerilee-type deposits in Nevada and southern Arizona and autunite deposits in Washington State. In collaboration with Scintrex, Bernie developed a custom- designed airborne spectrometer system for direct ground check with special technology to eliminate atmospheric "anomalies", and led in the development of hydrochemical uranium adsorption technology for field reconnaissance.
Bernie received his Bachelor's degree in Geology and Doctorate in Geology from the University of Graz, Austria.