About Us

Sahara Gold Corporation is a gold exploration and development company founded in Mauritania by three partners, with offices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and an extensive network of mining professionals in Africa, Asia (including the Middle East), Australia, Europe and North America.

In 2011, a senior Mauritanian geologist, Dr Sid Ahmed Reyoug approached Dr Karamo Sonko with an opportunity and a trust that he could not resist. At that time, Dr Sonko was Vice President of Shark Minerals in Mauritania, a Canadian junior exploration company, after serving for four years as Vice President and Deputy Director General of Tasiast Mauritania Limited. Tasiast was a Red Back Mining subsidiary which had made one of the biggest discoveries of gold in Africa during the preceding 30 years.

Dr Reyoug, who had been working with an Australian junior exploration company in Northeast Mauritania, which had left the country, invited Dr Sonko to form a partnership with him to apply for licenses in the same area. Subsequently, Dr Sonko also invited another Mauritanian friend who is a former banker and actuarial scientist to join Dr Reyoug and himself.

Over the years, the two gentlemen were involved in various projects in different parts of Africa, including major natural resource discoveries, but maintained their interest in this part of Mauritania revealed by Dr Reyoug. Opinions from their network of competent international geologists show the area to be one of the most prospective in Africa, with the potential for building the next big gold mine in Mauritania.

In December 2023, the partners finally secured three separate titles over the most explored part of the grounds where earlier exploration, including drilling, had exposed tremendous potential through the assay results obtained, ranging from 1g/t to 437 g/t of gold.

Governance

Dr Karamo NM Sonko is a world citizen, Executive Chairman of Sahara Gold Corporation and Strategic Adviser to the Managing Director and CEO of Perseus Mining.

He has 26 years of experience in natural resource (gold, phosphates and petroleum) exploration and management. For the last 20 years, he has focused on gold, during which period he has worked for multiple companies from Australia, Canada and South Africa.

He served at the top levels of several mining companies (among others) which have made historic and large discoveries of gold across Africa and transactions with the biggest companies in the world, such as the Lundin Group of companies (in which he was Vice President and Group Adviser), Barrick Gold, Endeavour and Perseus Mining.

Throughout his career, Dr Sonko has never been involved in a gold exploration project which has not resulted in a major discovery.

Dr Sonko is also a scholar and an innovator. He has taught in 5 universities in Canada, France and the United States. He has worked for the Organisation for African Unity (OAU, now the African Union (AU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN) and other organizations.

Dr Sonko is the innovator of the Strategic Management Sustainability Framework (SMSF) and Tool (SMST), a computerized comprehensive approach to challenges and their solutions that every organization/company needs.

The SMSF has been presented at top organizations and corporations in different parts of the world, such as NextEnergy Capital (a London Stock Exchange-listed group), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), headquartered in Jeddah, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) now in Riyadh, Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA), Etisalat Academy in Dubai, and the Organization of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) in Brussels.

He is the author of papers in refereed journals and the first book ever on comprehensive or holistic Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), published by Palgrave Macmillan (London and New York) and launched in Burj Khalifa during COP28 in Dubai, the largest COP so far.

Dr Sonko has a PhD (with Distinction) from the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver (Colorado, United States of America); M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge (England); and B.A. (First Class) from the University of Swaziland.

His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe was the President of the Republic of South Africa from September 2008 and May 2009 and Deputy President of South Africa from May 2009 to May 2014 and. Upon his inauguration as President, the late President Mandela summarized the personality and stature of Motlanthe as follows:

We have known you for a long time and you are eminently deserving of this high honor. You are a quiet, firm and principled leader, one who puts reason above emotions and one who seeks to unite rather than divide. We know that our country is in good hands with you at the helm of government.

His Excellency is also known for his commitment to public causes and for his dedication to always keeping a low public and political profile.

Richard P. Clark has a long and highly successful track record in the mining industry including Red Back Mining Inc. where as President and CEO he led Red Back to become an intermediate gold producer.

Mr. Clark successfully guided Red Back through all facets of growth including discovery, feasibility, financing and production coupled with successful corporate acquisitions culminating in the acquisition of Red Back by Kinross Gold Corporation in late 2010 for US$7.1 billion.

In addition to his success at Red Back, Mr. Clark was instrumental in the discovery and feasibility of the Block 14 Gold Project in Sudan through Orca Gold, which was acquired by Perseus Mining in 2022. He is also the founder and currently holds the position of Director at Montage Gold Corp., which was founded in 2019, served as Chairman and CEO of. Mr Clark was also the President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Shark Minerals, Inc. (2011) and the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at TVEON, Inc.

A summary of Mr. Clark’s outstanding career covers:

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Red Back Mining, Inc. from 2000 to 2010;

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Sirocco Mining, Inc. from 1994 to 2014;

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at RB Energy, Inc. from 2011 to 2015;

Director at Kinross Gold Corp from 2010 to 2011;

Director at Minera Andes, Inc. from 2008 to 2009;

Director at Sunridge Gold Corp. from 2007 to 2008;

Director at Corriente Resources, Inc. from 1996 to 2010;

President & Director at Orca Gold, Inc. from 2013 to 2023, Independent Director at Lucara Diamond Corp.;

Independent Non-Executive Director at MAG Silver Corp., from 2010 to 2020;

Director at Sanu Resources Ltd.,from 2010 to 2020;

Director at Fortuna Silver Mines, Inc., from 2004 to 2009;

President at Tombstone Exploration Corp., from 2008 to 2010.

Mr. Clark is a lawyer with a geological background and is a CGIC / ICSA Accredited Director. He did his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Sophia Shane has decades of experience in capital markets, corporate development and investor relations following a career spanning nearly 30 years at the highly successful Lundin Group of Companies.

At the Lundin Group, she was involved in all aspects of marketing, branding, shareholder communications, corporate access, financing, regulatory compliance as well as media relations.

Sophia has been a Director of a number of public companies including Anfield Ventures which ultimately became Equinox Gold. She is currently a Director of Interfield Global Software Inc. (IFSS:NEO), a company that provides a fulfillment marketplace for the efficient procurement and management of mining and oil & gas industrial equipment around the globe. She was a Fellow of CSI (FCSI®️) and early in her career an Investment Advisor at Odlum Brown Ltd.

Mr. Terry Fry is Executive Vice President, Global Energy Strategy, Cadmus Group, a leading American strategic and technical consultancy helping to solve the world’s most challenging problems. Cadmus deploys a team of more than 1200 professionals from permanent offices in Europe, North America, and Asia, as well as more than two dozen project offices globally. Its staff have experience working around the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states (UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman), and other Middle East countries (Jordan, Egypt).

Mr Fry delivers energy system economics, clean energy, and intelligent grid solutions to public and private energy sector organizations. He has served as advisor on energy industry restructuring policies and regulations that encourage efficient energy systems, focusing on integrated resource resilience planning, advanced grid solutions, demand-side management initiatives, community engagement, and private sector services.

His background includes more than six years in the renewable energy industry and 25 years in energy utility solutions. He has served five US Commerce Secretaries in six terms as an appointed Advisor on renewable energy and energy efficiency, and was named a Smart Grid Pioneer by Smart Grid Today magazine. Among other areas of expertise, Mr Fry also develops methods of equitable access to affordable and resilient clean energy resources across industries.

He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.Phil in Economics from Cambridge University. He serves as Sustainability Adviser, deriving his competence in this area from his academic background and vast experience globally.

Management

Dr. Sid’Ahmed Sidi Reyoug is a Mauritanian national with 26 years of mining administration experience and geology. He was a former Ministry of Mines employee as the technical manager responsible for the Mining Registry (World bank project). He is the Chairman and owner of several companies involved in mining exploration and other services and in industrial innovations in Mauritania.

He is the Regional Administrator of Aura Energy Pty Ltd (an Australian uranium company) and has extensive experience in exploration and development in West Africa.

Ms. Mariama Sonko has expert knowledge of sustainability and impact investments. She is a GRI certified Sustainability Adviser at Jula Consultancy and General Manager of the Strategic management Sustainability Framework (SMSF) and Tool (SMST) Project. She is the co-author of Demystifying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): Charting the ESG Course in Africa, the first book ever on comprehensive or holistic ESG, published by Palgrave Macmillan (London and New York) and launched in Burj Khalifa during COP28 in Dubai, the largest COP so far. She has extensive experience in high-level presentations on sustainability to audiences from major companies and organizations around the world. She has degrees from the Paris Sorbonne and Heriot-Watt University and postgraduate training in various areas of sustainability and fintech from Harvard and Cambridge Universities. She is fluent in English and French.

Mr. Ahmed Mohamedou is a specialist in risk and stochastic finance and has worked for several banks in Europe and Africa: namely Fortis, Belgolaise and Generale de Banque de Mauritanie.

He now heads his own businesses in North and West Africa: MCA (Mauritanienne pour le Conseil et l’Audit) (a partner of BDO International), Servisud, Speed’as, SMMCI (Societe Mauritano–Marocaine pour le Commerce International) and Global Trade.

He has taught as a part-time lecturer at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania. Mr. Mohamedou has a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (France), a Master’s degree in actuarial science from the Free University of Bruxelles (Belgium) and a Master’s degree in Finance from Saint Luis University, Bruxelles.

Ahmed is fluent in Arabic and French and moderate in English.

Geological Management

Kweku Koranteng Sackey is a geologist with 18 years of experience in the mineral exploration industry in West Africa.

His experience mostly relates to orogenic style deposits particularly shear controlled and vein hosted gold deposits and volcano sedimentary and intrusion related deposits.

He has been part of several greenfield resource discoveries, notably Sabodala in Senegal, Ampella’s 3.25 million ounces Batie Gold Project in Burkina Faso, now owned by Centamin, the Seguela project formerly owned by Newcrest Mining and currently operated by Fortuna Silver, and the 3.3 million-ounce Hummingbird-Pasofino Dugbe project.

He has also been involved in Bauxite exploration in Ghana and Iron ore exploration in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Ghana and is a member of the West African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Ransford Kwasi Anarfi is a seasoned geologist with over 19 years’ experience working in various senior positions across Africa. He holds a BSc. degree in geology from the University of Mines and Technology (Ghana) and a graduate certificate in Geology from the University of London (U.K).

He is currently studying for his Master’s in geological engineering. He is also in the certification process for admission into the Australian institute of geoscientist (AIG) as a competent person under the JORC Code.

He is well experienced in orogenic gold deposits, specializing in quartz vein systems, shear zone and structurally controlled deposits. During his days at Kilo Gold Mines in the DRC, he supervised the discovery of the 1.675 million oz Somituri gold project. Also, he supervised the mineral resource expansions of Montage Gold’s Kone gold project, seeing it grow from 3.16 million oz to 4.2 million oz in Cote d’Ivoire.

He has been part of several target generation and resource drilling and planning projects for junior exploration companies, including Hummingbird Resources in Liberia, Eagle lithium in Nigeria, and Vital Metals in Burkina Faso, amongst others. Hummingbird found a little over 800,000 ounces on the first resource calculation in 2010 and was increased to 3.8Moz in 2012, they are currently having a resource of about 4.01 million ounces. Ransford has also worked for Red Back Mining and Orca Gold.

Gharabi Mohamed Salek has about 16 years of experience working as a geologist and in safety, database and QAQC manager, among others. He has worked as a Senior Supervising Geologist for Canadian major mining company, Kinross Gold in Ghana and Mauritania.

He received a Certificate of Commendation from Kinross for working 2,000,000 man-hours without a Lost Time Injury.

He has also consulted for a number of exploration companies. He has a B.Sc. in geology from the University of Nouakchott.