# Dean O'Keefe Chief Technical Officer ## Career chronology - **Ten years in open-pit operations, exact employers/dates unspecified: Open-pit mining operations** — Geologist / quarry manager. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4) - **Managed a Beijing-based consulting business for 14 years, growing operations in China and Mongolia to >50 staff; company identity and exact dates not specified: International geology and mining consulting business** — Manager / operator. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4) - **Led a team of approximately 200; dates and business results not stated: Micromine** — General Manager. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4) - **Current role; Victory current leadership page/roster identifies CTO; appointment date not found: Victory Metals** — Chief Technical Officer. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4); [Board of Directors and Management]() (selected company JSON roster) ## Education and qualifications ### Geology, geostatistics and professional qualification claims [vtm_dean_qualifications] As reported 12 March 2026 · issuer reported · medium materiality Victory’s March 2026 release describes O’Keefe as a geologist, geostatistician and quarry manager, Fellow of AusIMM, and sign-off Competent Person for JORC and NI 43-101 reports across multiple deposit types. It does not name degrees or validate current professional status; independent membership/competence checks were not completed. **Attribution:** Individual involvement documented. Issuer appointment release states the credentials; the underlying sign-off reports and membership register were not independently verified. **Relevance:** Highly relevant to resource estimation and technical oversight; requires credential and sign-off verification. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4) ## Suitability for the current role ### Role relevance and evidenced background [vtm_dean_okeefe_fit] Background reviewed through 2026-10-09 · analyst inference · low materiality The issuer describes 35+ years in geology, geostatistics and mining, JORC/NI 43-101 resource-estimation work, and AusIMM fellowship. Current title in the selected roster: Chief Technical Officer. This supports role relevance at a high level; the public evidence reviewed does not establish personal causal responsibility for employer or project outcomes. **Attribution:** Responsibility not applicable. Role-fit judgment based on the selected roster and issuer-reported professional background; no causal claim is made. **Relevance:** Relevant to the current Chief Technical Officer responsibilities, subject to the evidence limitations recorded below. [Board of Directors and Management]() (Executive biography or corporate-directory entry for the named person) ### Prior operating, consulting and software-management breadth [vtm_dean_career] Career periods as reported in March 2026 · analyst inference · medium materiality The March 2026 issuer release reports ten years in open-pit operations, 14 years managing a geology/mining consultancy from Beijing that grew to over 50 staff, and service as Micromine General Manager leading about 200 staff. Company names for the consultancy, exact dates and independently measured results are absent. **Attribution:** Individual involvement documented. The issuer directly describes leadership scopes but supporting employment records and business outcomes were not independently located. **Relevance:** Relevant resource-estimation, technical valuation and organizational management background for CTO responsibilities. [VTM Strengthens Leadership with World-Class REE Experts]() (p. 4) ## Evidence gaps - Appointment date and specific prior employers/consultancy name were not established in a dated primary chronology. - Degree and professional status/competent-person sign-off were not independently checked against institution, AusIMM and underlying technical reports. - No independently corroborated project outcomes or attributable success/failure for prior roles were identified. - No exhaustive adverse legal, safety, environmental or governance screening for the specific employers/projects was completed.