The Combined Team
A partnership of highly experienced teams with decades of experience
SD Capital Advisory Ltd.
David Buckle has extensive experience in strategic business planning, emerging markets and corporate finance. He was a Board Director for over 20 years of which 15 were in publicly quoted companies. His experience has been gained in both large and small companies ranging in turnover from $20mn to $2bn and market capitalisations ranging up to $10bn. His senior staff roles have included Overseas Treasurer for the Multinational Unilever Plc. Here, as Chief of Staff, he was the Chairman heading up the Executive Committee Secretariat. Post his time in Unilever, he successfully made the transition to the mining sector, becoming Executive Chairman of a Canadian Junior Resource Company based in Ghana and, latterly Corporate Finance specialising in debt advisory mandates as COO and Head of Mining and Infrastructure for Frontera Capital Ltd, a frontier market specialist. In recent years, he founded SD Capital Advisory Ltd specialising in project debt sourced from Export Credit Agencies.
Simon Munns has over 30 years experience in financial markets, working for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Nomura in a variety of international locations. His specialization was Japanese and Asian Equities. Having left Morgan Stanley in 2005, he went on to set up his own hedge fund with a colleague which they ran until mid-2008, closing the fund and handing money back to investors in the wake of the 'Financial Crisis'. After that, Simon spent time working for a number of fund groups both in the UK and Switzerland, raising capital for their existing funds and advising them on new fund structures. In recent years, his focus has shifted somewhat, to aiding small and medium sized corporations raise growth and development capital.
Dr Kurt Forrester
Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer
+44 (0)7828 025 768
Kurt Forrester is a Chartered Chemical Engineer and Chartered Professional Metallurgist. During his 15 year career he has been professionally engaged as an engineering consultant in the metals and minerals, environmental and applied research domains. This includes process development, feasibility assessment (PEA, PFS, BFS) as well as detailed design (EPCM). He has a broad experience base across several commodities including base metals, gold, rare earth elements and industrial minerals. Kurt is a graduate of the University of Sydney (2001) with a BEng (Hon 1st) in Chemical Engineering and more recently with a PhD in Engineering (2007).
James Ramsdale-Smith is a geologist with over 15 years experience in the mining industry. He has spent several years in exploration before moving into corporate finance specialising in raising debt and equity for junior and advanced development projects. He was previously an analyst, specialising in raising private equity for precious and base metal companies. Prior to this, Mr Smith was a Project Geologist in Cornwall managing tin exploration projects. He has a first-class honours degree in Environmental Resource Geology from the University of Manchester, and a Master’s degree in Mining Geology from the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter. Mr Smith is also a Director of private junior explorer focussed on rare earths in Namibia.
Caroline Smith has recently been employed as a financial analyst. After studying a B.Com Economics and Finance, she completed an Honours in Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) where she wrote her dissertation on the sustainability of fiscal policy whilst contrasting and comparing the Zambian and Rwandan economies.
GKB Ventures Ltd.
Over 35 years of international banking experience. Previously MD & Global Head of Barclays Capital, Capex Financing Solutions Team responsible for the Barclays Group ECA business worldwide. He has served as Chair of the British Bankers’ Association Export Finance and Trade Committee. He was a Commissioner on the UK “Cole Review”, set up to assist UK Government to define a future strategy for UK Exports, and more recently became the Lead Judge for the UK National Export Excellence Awards. He is a regular public speaker on international trade & ECA finance.
Previously the Head of Emerging Markets on the Capex Financing Solutions Team at Barclays Capital. He is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, working for several years at Simmons & Simmons on structured ECA financing, documenting many high profile ECA transactions in the ECA market. He has led the BBA panel for the development of various new UK Export Finance Initiatives and is currently the Chair of the Financial Services Committee at the Business Council for Africa.