East Africa Metals President and CEO Andrew Lee Smith’s Passion, Ability and Concern for Community Win Accolades from All Sides

East Africa Metals president and CEO Andrew Lee Smith is a professional geologist with 30 years of experience exploring, developing, and operating African and North American base and precious metals mining projects.

He holds an Honours BSc in Earth Sciences from the University of Waterloo and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia. Smith received the Mining Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1994 from the Quebec Prospectors Association for his role in the development of the Beaufor and Sleeping Giant mines. He was named Outstanding Alumnus of 2009 by the Science Faculty of the University of Waterloo for his contributions to international mineral exploration.

Smith is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and achieved the ICD.D accreditation — the only professional designation for Canadian directors recognised nationally and internationally.

This is a man with exploration and discovery at the heart of his career. During his first-year geology course, Smith was inspired by Dr Alan Morgan, and his professional passion was ignited. The University of Waterloo later came to recognise Smith as one of the most successful alumni. In 2009, he received the Faculty of Science Distinguished Alumni Award.

After graduating from the Earth Sciences programme, Smith moved to Quebec to work for Aurizon Mines. Over the next decade, the geologist assisted in bringing two gold mines into operation. In 1994, Smith received the Mining Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Quebec Prospectors Association. Later that year, Aurizon transferred Smith to Vancouver to take an executive role as vice- president of exploration.

The experience gained in his role as vice-president of an Canadian public company prepared Smith for success in the world of entrepreneurship. In 2000, he formed True North Gems Inc, a publicly traded Canadian junior resource company focused on the exploration and development of North American gemstone projects. True North has discovered and explored coloured stone prospects, including Yukon emeralds, Baffin Island sapphires, and the Fiskenaesset Ruby deposit on the south-west coast of Greenland. The quality of stones in the properties controlled by True North are among the best in the world.

One of Smith’s most significant accomplishments is the negotiation and signing of an agreement with Kaska Dene, First Nation of the Yukon. The True North agreement has been called a major milestone and a landmark agreement in First Nation relations in Canada, the first time in Canadian history that a corporation has recognised the unresolved rights of First Nations to resources from their traditional territories.

In 2004, Smith formed Canaco Resources Inc, a Canadian junior resource company focused on gold exploration in Tanzania. In September 2009, Canaco was pleased to announce a major gold discovery in the region.

Smith has made notable contributions to Canadian and international mining for his discovery.

Smith believes in giving back to the community. In each of his exploration activities, he has involved graduate students, many of whom have gone on to complete degrees. Through the companies he has founded, he has struck unique agreements for profit-sharing with the indigenous people. He has built schools and brought clean water for communities around his company’s gold mines in Africa.

Barry Warner, chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, sums Smith thus: “He is a passionate and gifted geologist. He is a wise and entrepreneurial businessman. He is a caring and unassuming individual. We are extremely proud to count him among our own.”

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