Mark Somlyay

Career chronology

• Before Perseus; exact dates and roles unverified: Barrick Gold and other mining businesses — Finance/commercial roles. AAMEG board: Mark Somlyay, Chair (Somlyay professional biography)

• Before October 2022; exact group-role commencement unverified: Perseus Mining — African commercial/finance management; Group General Manager Commercial. Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (PDF pp 1–2, previous Perseus experience)

• From October 2022; end date unverified before April 2024: Chesser Resources — CFO. Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Appointment commencing October 2022)

• Before 22 April 2024; exact start/end unverified: Agnico Eagle Mines — Finance Director, Australia. Aura appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Prior employer biography)

• 22 April 2024 to expected 8 December 2026; resigned 12 August 2026: Aura Energy — CFO; notice-period handover. Aura appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Commencement date); Aura FY2026 annual report (PDF pp 39–40 and 51)

• Current undated professional-body disclosure at cutoff: AAMEG — Chair. AAMEG board: Mark Somlyay, Chair (Chair profile)

Education and qualifications

Commerce degree and CPA reported

Reported September 2022 · issuer reported · low materiality

Chesser reports a University of Queensland Bachelor of Commerce and CPA qualification. Award date and current register status were not independently established.

Attribution: Responsibility not applicable. Former employer disclosure, not independent credential verification.

Relevance: Relevant accounting and funding background.

Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Qualification paragraph)

Contributions and company outcomes

Prior commercial work overlaps two delivered Perseus mines

2014–2022 · issuer reported · medium materiality

Chesser explicitly credits Somlyay with work on funding/development of Sissingué and Yaouré. Perseus’s FY2022 report records first gold at Sissingué in January 2018 and Yaouré in December 2020; the group produced 494,014oz in FY2022. Group totals are not his individual achievement.

Attribution: Individual involvement documented. His contribution is reported by an employer; the mines’ delivery is separately evidenced, without a quantified personal allocation.

Relevance: Relevant experience in financing African greenfield developments.

Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Perseus contribution biography); Perseus FY2022 sustainable development report (PDF pp 10–11, company history and operating results)

Chesser sale provides transaction exposure, with limited attribution

October 2022–2023 · issuer reported · low materiality

The dated Aura appointment release identifies Chesser’s Fortuna acquisition as 2023, correcting Aura’s undated web biography stating 2024. Somlyay’s CFO appointment began in October 2022; no reviewed source quantifies his individual deal contribution or post-sale integration outcome.

Attribution: Role overlaps event; causation unproven. CFO tenure overlaps the transaction; contribution and deal returns are not independently isolated.

Relevance: Useful transaction experience, distinct from commissioning or running a mine.

Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Commencement); Aura appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Chesser acquisition biography)

Business failures and setbacks

FY2026 audit flags funding-dependent going concern

FY2026; September 2026 audit · documented · high materiality

Aura reported an A$11.624 million FY2026 loss, and its auditor drew attention to material going-concern uncertainty in an otherwise unmodified audit opinion. The October quarterly report disclosed A$10.6 million cash at 30 September and estimated two quarters of funding at then-current expenditure; project-financing discussions continued. These financial vulnerabilities do not establish fraud.

Attribution: Role overlaps event; causation unproven. Somlyay served as CFO during the accounts; financing is a board/team responsibility and no personal accounting breach is established.

Relevance: The funding timetable directly bears on the CFO handover.

Aura FY2026 annual report (PDF p65, note 3(d); PDF p111, auditor report); Aura September 2026 quarterly activities and cash-flow report (Financial summary and funding pathway)

Governance and interests

Two-step CFO handover creates continuity risk

August–December 2026 announced transition · issuer reported · high materiality

Somlyay resigned on 12 August 2026 and is contractually expected to remain through 8 December unless otherwise agreed. Davey is expected to commence early November. The announced overlap supports handover, but actual completion and allocation of duties remain future events at the cutoff.

Attribution: Individual involvement documented. Named resignation, contractual notice and successor timing; no performance-related reason is established.

Relevance: Financial continuity matters while Aura seeks construction funding.

Aura FY2026 annual report (PDF pp 39–40 and 51); Aura appoints leadership team to build Tiris (CFO appointment and commencement)

Suitability for the current role

Fit for Aura’s next development stage

Assessment at 10 October 2026 · analyst inference · medium materiality

Documented African commercial experience and participation in delivered gold developments fit Aura’s funding needs. Near-term finance continuity is limited by his resignation and the funding-dependent balance sheet.

Attribution: Responsibility not applicable. Analytical judgment based on the cited career and delivery evidence.

Relevance: Professional suitability for the disclosed role; this is not a personal integrity score.

Chesser appoints Mark Somlyay CFO (Perseus work); Aura FY2026 annual report (PDF pp 39–40,65,111); Aura appoints leadership team to build Tiris (CFO transition)

Evidence gaps

• Previous-employer start/end dates, quantified personal financing contributions and client-specific safety/environment responsibility remain incomplete.

• The reviewed appointment and AAMEG records do not establish a London Mining role; namesake or aggregator associations were not adopted.

• CPA register status, university conferral and actual November/December handover completion were not independently verified.

• Earlier 10 October person/topic searches were inherited and were not independently reproduced in the 31 October refresh; the later search was targeted rather than a complete repeat of every topic.