Mark Wallace - Current Work

Current Work

Wallace currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Tigris Financial Group, a New York City-based investment, advisory and asset management firm that focuses on natural resources and the natural resources sector through its Electrum Group of Companies. In that capacity, he headed the transaction team for Silver Opportunity Partners in its acquisition of Idaho's historic Sunshine Mine. Regarding that acquisition, Wallace told Bloomberg Businessweek, "It was no doubt a complicated and risky transaction. Through our expertise, we were able to minimize the risk involved, resolve litigation, and reunite the patchwork and fractured ownership interests that inhibited the mine and limited its value over the last decade." In 2011, Sunshine Silver Mines filed its S1 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission describing its intention to go public on the NYSE and TSX.

Wallace’s work with Electrum has included leading its investment and operational entry into the Polish mineral sector through Śląsko Krakowska Kompania Górnictwa Metali Sp. z o.o. (SKKGM) and Amarante Investments S.p. z.o.o. (Amarante). In 2011, SKKGM commenced a drilling program at its Bolesławiec-Iłowa and Osiecznica-Nowiny concessions in Lower Silesia and at its concession near Myskow. Also in 2011, Amarante announced its application to the Polish government for nine concessions for mineral exploration in and near Wroclaw and Kobierzyce. In relation to their work in Poland, Wallace was quoted as saying that the Group’s team hopes “to make discoveries of copper, tungsten and silver in Poland.” In the same article, Wallace stated that gold, due to the uncertain business environment, has “practically become a currency again,” and that the Group’s belief that supply and demand fundamentals would continue to be the key economic driver for copper, silver and other metals.

Wallace has also attempted to secure the necessary regulatory approvals and community support for Electrum’s efforts to explore its Paramount mine claims in eastern California’s Bodie Wilderness Study Area. Wallace spoke for Electrum’s Cougar Gold subsidiary at a February 2011 meeting in California. There, he explained that additional exploratory drilling in the area cannot occur until the Wilderness Study Area designation is removed. In an August 2011 Wall Street Journal article, Wallace described the Bodie dispute as "'the tip of the spear' in a growing national debate over balancing conservation and resource extraction." In the Los Angeles Times he described the great potential of Paramount. "A lot of us are quite fond of the people there. This could be a real success story."

Also as part of his work with Electrum, Wallace serves on the board of directors of Niocan Inc., a Canadian TSX listed company whose Quebec mining assets focus on niobium and iron ore.