The team behind

Johanes Girum

Johanes Girum is the Founder and Project Director of BlackRock Exploration PLC. He leads the company’s mineral exploration, project development and business activities, with experience in mineral licensing, geological reconnaissance, field operations, project planning, feasibility studies and investor engagement.

He works closely with government authorities, technical teams and project partners to coordinate exploration activities and move mineral projects through the different stages of development. His role includes overseeing project planning, technical assessments, licensing and field activities, while also building relationships with financial institutions, investors and strategic partners.

At BlackRock, Johanes is focused on developing the company’s lithium, gold, coal, granite and graphite portfolio and moving projects from exploration and technical evaluation toward development and mining where the results support it.

Yoseph Birhan Tefera

Yoseph Birhan Tefera serves as Chief Mining Engineer for BlackRock Exploration. He supports the technical evaluation and development of the company’s mineral projects, with a focus on mine-development concepts, extraction methods, infrastructure requirements and technical feasibility.

His role includes working with the exploration and technical teams to evaluate how a mineral project can move from geological investigation into practical mine planning and development. He provides engineering input on mining methods, site requirements and other technical factors that can affect the development of a project.

At BlackRock, Yoseph supports the connection between exploration results, feasibility work, mine planning and the requirements needed to move a project toward mining operations.

Hassan

Hassan leads technology at BlackRock Exploration PLC, building the software and data systems that support the company’s exploration and project-development work.

This includes optimising the use of AI in mining, helping turn geological, field and operational data into clearer insights for planning and decision-making.

Working closely with the Project Director, Hassan develops software products that keep field programs and mining operations coordinated and running smoothly.

Dr. Binlin Wu

Dr. Binlin Wu serves as a Strategic Advisor to BlackRock Exploration and brings a strong scientific and technology background to the company’s technical work. He is an Assistant Professor of Physics with experience in optical imaging, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, computational analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

At BlackRock, Dr. Wu supports technical strategy and the analysis of complex scientific data. His role complements BlackRock’s geological and mining team by bringing additional scientific, analytical and technology experience into project evaluation and development.