Past President of CIM (2024-2025)

With more than 35 years of experience as a leader and innovator within the mining industry, Ian Pearce has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the mining sector. He has held senior engineering and project management roles at Fluor Inc. and executive roles at Falconbridge Limited and Xstrata Nickel. He currently serves as chair of the boards at MineSense Technologies Ltd. and Lilac Solutions, and as non-executive director at Metso Outotec, Northland Power Inc and NextSource Materials Inc. He is a senior advisor at KoBold Metals and Electrasteel.

His interests go well beyond the mining industry. He is an active supporter of several non-profit organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, Engineers Without Borders Canada, the Trans Canada Trail, the Canadian Museum of Nature and Eva’s Initiative in Toronto.

Jack Zhang is associate vice-president of strategic technology at Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) and adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He earned his B.Sc. at Shandong University and Ph.D. at University of Saskatchewan in chemical engineering. He began his mining career as a metallurgist at Cameco in 2007 and subsequently joined SRC in 2011 to establish mineral processing services. 

With experiences in engineering, operations, and R&D, Jack’s expertise encompasses uranium, potash, phosphate, rare earth elements, lithium, and medical minerals, with a particular focus on the extraction and recycling of critical minerals. He has collaborated with over 200 companies globally within the mining sector to develop and commercialize technologies. He has led the development and commercialization of several critical mineral separation and refining technologies from their conceptual stages to full implementation. Additionally, he actively contributes to professional communities through roles such as technical committee member, lecturer, reviewer, and author.