John C. Morris – Chairman & CEO
John C. Morris, along with his partner and Co-founder, Greg Stemm, founded Odyssey Marine Exploration in 1994. Mr. Morris served as Chairman of the Board and CEO until his retirement in January 2008. Mr. Morris continues to provide consulting services to Odyssey. While employed at Odyssey Mr. Morris oversaw the company grow from three employees to over one hundred and from a concept to a NASDAQ listed public company conducting deep ocean operations in several parts of the world. Mr. Morris is the Manager of JCM Marine Ventures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which is the founding shareholder of the Company and it also serves as Manager for Galt Resources LLC, a Delaware limited liability company engaged in a shipwreck project with Odyssey. Additionally, Mr. Morris is the Chairman and current CEO of Seagrass Recovery, Inc., a Florida corporation engaged in the business of sea grass impact mitigation and restoration.
Josh Adam, CFA – SVP Finance
With more than 10 years of experience in financial analysis, investment research and portfolio management, Josh is SVP of Finance at Neptune Minerals, Plc., a position he has held since June 2011. Prior to joining Neptune, Josh held various senior level positions in the financial services industry, where he conducted extensive research and due diligence on companies in the metals and mining industry. From 2003 to 2007, Josh was an equity analyst and senior portfolio manager for one of the largest hedge funds in the world, London-based GLG Partners, LP. Prior to his experience at GLG, from 2001 to 2003, Josh was an analyst in the Equity Research Sales department at Goldman Sachs. Josh is also a CFA charter holder and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Binghamton University in 2001 with a B.S. in finance and minor in economics. During his career, Josh developed a differentiated investment philosophy, which focuses on the attributes of major cycles and the identification of pivotal points.
John Turner – Chief Operating Officer
Prior to joining Neptune Minerals, Mr. Turner started, owned, and managed a number of business ventures from 1986 to 2010. Prior to Neptune Minerals, Mr. Turner was the Chief Operating Officer of Communications Equity Associates (“CEA”) Investment Banking Group. Prior to CEA, Mr. Turner was the founder and CEO of Net Infuse, Inc., a company specializing in management consulting and turnaround management for established middle market companies or divisions with strong value potential. During this period, he served as the interim North American manager for Husqvarna AB for three years generating record sales and profit results. Prior to Net Infuse, Inc., Mr. Turner was the founder and CEO of Network InfoServe, Inc. Network InfoServe was recognized in the Inc. 500, Technology 500 and the Suncoast Technology 50. Additionally, Mr. Turner is the current President of Seagrass Recovery, Inc., a Florida corporation engaged in the business of sea grass impact mitigation and restoration.
Dr. Tim McConachy – SVP Science & Exploration
Dr. McConachy is a geologist with 33 years experience in the mineral and mining industry. He was formerly Chief Geologist and General Manager with Rio Tinto Exploration in Australia and more recently Head of Seabed Ore Systems at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). CSIRO is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world. He graduated with First Class Honors in Geology from the University of New England. With the backing of Rio Tinto, he earned a PhD from the University of Toronto. He also studied at the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, and became the first Australian geologist to see „black smokers‟ from the deep-sea submersible "ALVIN" soon after their initial discovery. He co-founded the multinational Dorado Metals Group. Dr McConachy was formerly Chief Geologist and General Manager with Rio Tinto Exploration and, more recently, Head of Seabed Ore Systems at the CSIRO, Australia’s foremost R&D agency. Dr McConachy has an enviable track record of mineral discovery both on land throughout Australasia and South East Asia and at sea in the frontiers of the Pacific region. Dr McConachy has extensive "at sea" experience having participated in 16 scientific cruises and expeditions, six as Mission Leader/Chief Scientist. Dr McConachy co-shared the 2002 CSIRO Chairman’s Gold Medal which celebrates commitment and dedication to the service of science and the public good to Australia and the international community. Dr McConachy is a Chartered Professional and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. He is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Geological Society of Australia, the American Geophysical Union, the Royal Society of Victoria and the International Marine Minerals Society. He serves on the committee of the Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group. His passion is to discover and monetize SMS deposits.
Hans Smit – SVP Engineering & Marine Operations
Mr. Smit comes to Neptune Minerals with 20 years of worldwide subsea engineering, operations and management experience. Prior to joining Neptune Minerals, Mr. Smit was the Managing Director of IHC Marine and Minerals Projects focused on providing services to the underwater mining industry worldwide. Prior to IHC Marine and Minerals Projects, Mr. Smit was the Projects Director of Marine and Mineral Projects (Pty) Ltd a company specializing in providing the subsea diamond mining industry engineering and operation solutions. During this period, Mr. Smit was responsible for developing and optimizing the control and instrumentation systems for a 20m3 reverse circulation drill system supplied by Wirth of Germany to NAMCO for exploration of diamond deposits. In addition, Mr. Smit’s team was also responsible for the design and development of the NAMCO crawler and thereafter the new De Beers Crawler used subsea diamond mining. As the company progressed from its early specialization in the sub-sea diamond mining industry, the company expanded globally into the oil & gas services, general marine, and land based mining industries. The company employed mechanical, electrical and electronic engineers. Prior to joining Marine and Mineral Projects (Pty) Ltd, Mr. Smit was the co-founder, Managing and Technical Director of Delcon Marine and Industrial (Pty) Ltd later renamed Marine and Mineral Automation (Pty) Ltd. Marine and Mineral Automation specialized in providing engineering solutions to the subsea mining industry.
Harvey Cook – SVP Regional Affairs
Harvey is an accountant with over of 30 years experience in public practice. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a founding partner of the Melbourne-based public accounting practice, Whelan & Cook Chartered Accountants. In addition to his broad-based accounting and taxation skills, he provides specialized financial strategy advice to individuals and corporations within the finance, resource and service industries. In this capacity, he hasadvised Boards and Senior Executives of many of Australia's major national and multi-national corporations. He co-founded the multinational Bluewater Metals Pty. He continues to advise and serve on the boards of a number of unlisted Australian companies involved in investment, exploration and human resource consulting.
Colin Seaborn PhD – SVP Materials Handling & Processing
With his qualifications and experience in extractive metallurgy, business analysis and general management, Dr. Colin Seaborn has assisted organizations in various industries to “develop and implement optimum strategies and processes” over the past 15 years. Up until late 1995, he worked for CRA (now Rio) for over 20 years in metallurgical operations, processing research, business analysis and as a general manager. Recent projects have included providing metallurgical and business analysis advice to companies with mineral development projects in Australia and Namibia.
William McMahon - CFO
During his 35+ year career, Mr. McMahon has served as Chief Financial Officer, Controller and Treasurer for small to medium size public and private companies primarily in turnaround situations. In his capacity as a financial executive, he has implemented strategic plans, developed asset redeployment and cost reduction plans, instituted cash management systems and led restructurings which have allowed companies to quickly return to profitability. He has raised equity and debt capital, working with senior lenders and private equity partners. He has led acquisition teams and managed the subsequent integration efforts. Mr. McMahon has a diverse industry background working in manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, retail and hospitality as well as defense, high tech and wireless communication.
Mr. McMahon has acted as interim CFO for a coatings and color matching manufacturing operation supplying the automotive industry. He prepared a business evaluation on a large chain of urgent care centers. Prior to joining Tatum, Mr. McMahon was President and Chief Financial Officer of a multi-million dollar world-wide distributor of currency validation systems and was responsible for all financial, accounting and operations which demonstrated his operational acumen as well as financial by managing operations in South America, Europe, China, Australia and Arica. He has served as Managing Director for a national turnaround firm and as CFO of Serengeti Eyewear. Mr. McMahon holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.
