our team

We are led by a team that has a goal of building the fastest growing supplier of raw materials to the infrastructure and electrification marketplace. The executive team, management team and board of directors have over 100 years of combined operating and turnaround experience while also having significant experience navigating the capital markets.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

MARK C. JENSEN

Chief executive officer & chairman of board

Mark has been instrumental in all aspects of acquiring, restructuring and building mining operations over the past decade. Having managed through 2009 and 2015 downturns, he has been able to work with his team to significantly expand the Company’s asset base through strategic acquisitions and organic growth in a very accretive manner. Mark is a graduate from Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with Bachelor degrees in Finance and International Studies.

Tom M. Sauve

President & Director

Tom has over 12 years leading and managing mining operations and over 15 years investing, restructuring and building businesses. Having managed the due diligence process and closing, staffing and ramp up of three acquisitions in twelve months, he has a history of successfully identifying mining operations that have the ability to meet the company’s model of cost cutting and efficiency. Tom is a graduate from University of Rochester (Economics degree) and additional business studies from the Simon School of Business.

Kirk P. Taylor, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Kirk has over 16 years of accounting & auditing work at various national public accounting firms focused on tax advantaged business structuring. While integrating three acquisitions in twelve months, Kirk has implemented a robust and scalable accounting and financial backbone, and has built a finance, accounting and purchasing staff that is streamlined with checks and balances to ensure cost controls. Kirk is a graduate of Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with Bachelor degrees in Accounting and Finance and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne.

tarlis R. thompson

Chief operating Officer

Tarlis overseas all operations at American Resources’ Central Appalachian subsidiaries, which includes McCoy Elkhorn, Deane Mining, and Knott County Coal. In this role he manages the activities at the company’s various processing facilities and loadout, coordinates production at the company’s various mines, manages environmental compliance and reclamation, and is responsible for quality control and shipments to customers. Tarlis has over 15 years of experience with companies that include Commercial Testing & Engineering, SGS Minerals, Massey Energy and CAM Mining.

Gregory Q. Jensen, JD, PhD.

General Counsel

Greg has over 12 years of legal experience focused on complex case management and litigation in both the public and private sector. He’s an experienced negotiator and litigator of high profile and precedent setting cases while serving on both active and reserve duty as a United States Marine Corps Officer and “JAG” over the past 12 years. Currently promoted to the rank of Major. Greg is a graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with Bachelors degree in Finance. Additional degrees earned from Indiana University with legal focus include: PHD (minor in law), JD (law) and LLM (international and comparative law).

Mark laverghetta

Vice President of Corporate Finance & Communications

Mark has over 15 years of financial market experience holding various roles with several Wall Street firms. He has a history of successfully and efficiently translating corporate strategy, benchmarks, and financials to the investment community, while also working with members of the executive team to evaluate and define corporate strategy and financial direction. Mark has been successful in assisting in the integration of acquired assets into American Resources’ business model while analyzing the overall financial impact of such opportunities and operations. Mark is a graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Jeff Peterson

Vice President of American Rare Earth

Jeff brings nearly 20 years of experience including operations, engineering, sales, and product development to American Resources. He began his career as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Navy serving onboard nuclear-powered submarines. After resigning his Commission, Jeff joined Westinghouse Electric Company where he served as part of the engineering and licensing team in the design and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved licensing of a first-of-its-kind Generation III+ pressurized water reactor for commercial electricity generation. Mr. Peterson then joined Cyient where he was rapidly promoted to sales, strategy, and product development leadership roles. He most recently worked with Hitachi Vantara as part of the North American sales team, selling digital transformation initiatives into key industrial markets. Jeff is a graduate of Purdue University and has his Master of Business Administration from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.

David M. Sauve

Finance Manager / American Rare Earth Supply Chain Development

David manages all data aggregation, organization and analysis for American Resources Corporation including vendor invoicing, permit management, tax calculations, and daily production statistics. Additionally he uses his background in statistics and actuarial mathematics to track key operational parameters, variances, and correlations within the company’s operations in order to provide resources and data for enhanced efficiency gains across American Resources Corporation’s subsidiaries. A graduate of the University at Albany’s department of Mathematics and Statistics, David is now an Actuarial Student of the Society of Actuaries and has successfully completed SOA exams in probability, financial mathematics, models for financial economics, statistics for risk modeling, and short-term actuarial mathematics.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MARK C. JENSEN

Chief executive officer & chairman of board

Tom M. Sauve

President & Director

Michael layman

INDEPENDENT Director, chairman of audit & compensation Committee

Mr.Layman is a well-established financial industry executive with a track record for driving value and growth for both private and publicly traded companies.Mr. Layman currently serves as General Partner/CEO of Emerald Shoals Targeted Opportunities Fund LP, a hybrid growth fund backed by a network of ultra-high net worth individuals seeking novel opportunities to invest in high-growth catalyst driven companies. Prior to his current role at Emerald Shoals, Mr.Layman served at a large top-four brokerage house where he was co-owner of a private wealth management group where he was responsible for identifying attractive and undervalued investment opportunities. Additionally, he also aided in the development and implementation of various investment strategies based on differing types of needs from conservative to aggressive growth.Additionally, Mr. Layman previously worked for a private equity fund in New York where he established a strong network of relationships with research analysts and investment bankers at a number of Wall Street firms. Mr. Layman obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in business from Otterbein University.

Gerardine botte, Ph.D.

INDEPENDENT Director, member of compensation & Audit Committee

Dr. Botte has over 21 years of experience in the development of electrochemical processes and advanced water treatment. She has served in leadership roles for the Electrochemical Society and is currently the Chair of the Electrochemical Process Engineering and Technology Division of the International Society of Electrochemistry. Dr. Botte also serves as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry. In 2014, she was named a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society for her contributions and innovation in electrochemical processes and engineering. She became a Chapter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2012. In 2010, she was named a Fellow of the World Technology Network for her contributions on the development of sustainable and environmental technologies. Prior to Texas Tech, Dr. Botte was University Distinguished Professor and Russ Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Ohio University, the founder and Director of Ohio University’s Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research, and the founder and Director of the Consortium for Electrochemical Processes and Technology – an Industry University Cooperative Research Center. Her entrepreneurial spirit has led to the commercialization of various technologies and has founded and co-founded various companies to help achieve this goal.

Courtenay O. Taplin

Independent Director, MEMBER OF AUDIT COMMITTEE

Courtenay brings over 40 years of experience of sourcing and supplying iron ore, coke and metallurgical carbon to the steel industry to advise American Resources with their supply chain, logistics, customers, overall corporate strategy. He has a vast knowledge of both the global and domestic marketplace where he works with both suppliers and consumers. Courtenay currently runs his own company, Compass Point Resources, LLC which he founded in 2007. His prior experience includes Crown Coal & Coke Company and Pickands Mather Group out of Cleveland, OH. Courtenay is a graduate of Proctor Academy. He attended Hobart College and received a degree from Case Western Reserve University. Courtenay spent many years as the Division Chairman for United Way of Cleveland and is currently a long-standing member of Waite Hill, Ohio Village Council and Chairman of the Police and Safety Committee.

ADVISORY BOARD

RandaL v. Stephenson

Chairman of the advisory board

Mr. Stephenson brings over 25 years of experience and relationships in the finance, private equity and investment banking sector to assist American Resources as the company continues its path of growth. He is co-founder and CEO of a boutique FINRA-licensed broker dealer focused in the natural resources industry and has started and expanded several successful investment banking platforms at Merrill Lynch, Jefferies, CIT Group and Duff & Phelps. Randal started and managed a mining & metals equity investment subsidiary of a global trading company, acquiring over $1.0 billion in operating businesses and assets starting from just a corporate development plan. He has worldwide relationships with corporations, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments and has closed over 200 transactions valued in excess of $40 billion. Randal graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University and his Juris Doctorate (with honors) from Boston College Law School. He is an attorney admitted to practice in New York, and holds the Series 7, 79, 63 and 24 securities licenses.

OPERATIONAL TEAM

Lisa little

Head of human resources

Lisa has been an inspirational leader for the men and women of our organization. She coordinates all personnel on-boarding and ensures that the team has access to the human resources services that they need to support themselves and their families. Lisa has significant experience coordinating with the men and women of major organizations with a staff as high as 350 men and women.

Joe k. Wright

Head of Purchasing

Joe is the Chief Purchasing Manager at American Resources, overseeing and managing the procurement of supplies, parts and materials for all of the company’s operations. Under this role, he is responsible for sourcing and due diligence of new vendor relationships and managing all existing vendors to ensure American Resources’ operations are efficiently supported. Joe reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer to track all purchase orders for financial reporting and compliance. Joe has over a decade of mining experience ranging from underground mining to managing the purchasing and inventory for various mines.

Sid L. Stanley

Chief Engineer

Sid is the Chief Engineer of Quest Energy and its subsidiaries, in charge of overseeing all aspects of permitting, engineering, mine plans and design at Quest Energy and its subsidiaries. Prior to joining Quest Energy, Sid was Chief Mine Engineer at Premier Elkhorn Coal Company (a subsidiary of TECO Energy) for 22 years, managing a team of engineering and mining specialists to perform all aspects of the mining engineering. Sid has his Bachelors in Science in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech and is a licensed professional engineer in both the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Virginia. After graduating from Virginia Tech, Sid worked for seven years at Pittston Coal Company, working on all aspects of mine engineering, including reserve evaluation, mine plans, ventilation surveys, and other engineering work. After his work at Pittston Coal, he was an engineer at Ambrose Branch Coal Company for several years, performing similar work. Sid then worked at Sovereign Coal as Contract Coal Manager, whereby he managed the contract miners at the company, including negotiation of contracts and performance monitoring and evaluation. Sid has his Professional Engineering license in Kentucky and Virginia, enjoys college football, and lives in Dickenson county, Virginia with his family.

Kristie Slone

Environmental Solutions / Water Specialist

Kristie has over 15 years as a specialist in environmental stewardship in her role as an environmental engineer. She has been highly successful in managing multiple teams and leading them to ensure positive environmental compliance, efficiencies and land restoration. She has been highly recognized for her focus on the environment by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, being named an Honored Kentucky Colonel and Honored Kentucky Admiral, the highest honors bestowed on individuals for their accomplishments for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.