Management

Rick Winters

CEO, Director

Mr. Winters is the Principal of RAWsources LLC, a mineral industry management consultancy.  He is a member of the adjunct faculty of the Mining Department at the Colorado School of Mines.   

Until 2019, Rick was President of RMB Resources Inc, representing the North American offices of RMB Resources, the resource merchant banking business of the FirstRand Group of South Africa. In his capacity with RMB, He was involved in dozens of junior company financings from pre-IPO equity to corporate debt with a focus on structured finance.   Prior he was Vice President Corporate Development for Golden Star Resources, a Canadian gold and diamond exploration company; an equity, sell-side mining sector analyst for Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco investment bank, and held various positions within the mining industry from Miner to senior engineer with such companies as Phelps Dodge, ASARCO, Homestake Mining, and Echo Bay Mines. He has been involved with the development of 25 mines in 15 countries.   

Rick received his undergraduate degrees in business and economics from the University of Montana and his Master’s degree and post graduate studies in Mineral Economics at the Colorado School of Mines. He has sat on the boards of public, private resource companies, non-profits organizations and has served as an Inspector General in Canadian bankruptcy proceedings. 

John Seaberg

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Seaberg is a veteran mining executive and Board leader with more than 25 years of global experience across the precious metals sector. He has held multiple Csuite and governance roles, recognized for strengthening corporate strategy, enhancing capital markets performance, and guiding organizations through complex operational and financial transformations.

John currently serves as Advisor, M&A for the Saudi Arabia Mining Corporation (“Maaden”), Saudi Arabia’s largest mining company, where he provides strategic oversight on global acquisitions, valuation, and due diligence to support longterm portfolio expansion. His prior leadership includes serving as CEO of NV Gold Corporation, CFO of Condor Gold PLC, SVP/CFO of Calibre Mining Corporation, and Executive Chairperson of Paramount Gold Nevada Corporation, where he oversaw governance, capital allocation, and stakeholder engagement at the highest levels.

Earlier in his career, John spent a decade in senior roles at Newmont Mining Corporation, including VP of Investor Relations, Group Executive of Internal Audit, and Director of Corporate Development, where he led global investor relations strategy, strengthened compliance frameworks, and managed a significant royalty and equity portfolio.

He holds an MBA from the University of Denver (2012) and a BSBA from Colorado State University (1990). He was awarded the designation of Accredit Director having satisfied the requirements of ICSA Canada through completion of the Directors’ Education and Accreditation Program.

Graden Colby

Chief Operating Officer, Director

Graden Colby is a seasoned mine developer and operations leader with over 20 years of progressive experience in underground and open pit mining in Nevada. Graden is known for building high-performance teams and delivering results in complex, large-scale environments and brings an exceptional track record in safety leadership, operational execution, and mine development to Blossom.

Most recently, Mr. Colby spent over five years at Nevada Gold Mines, where he oversaw better than 5Mtons/year underground operations producing over 900,000 ounces of gold annually as well as over 60Mtons/year of open pit production.  Prior to that, Graden spent 14 years at Newmont Mining Corporation in roles of increasing responsibility, including as Mine Manager at the Leeville operations and the Carlin Portal Mines. Earlier in his career at Newmont, he served as Superintendent at Carlin Portal Mines and General Foreman at the Midas Mine.

Mr. Colby holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining and Mineral Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

John DeDecker

Vice President, Exploration

Dr. John DeDecker brings distinguished academic foundation and over a decade of hands-on industry experience. He holds a B.S. in Geology from North Carolina State University, an M.S. in volcanology and igneous petrology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines, where his doctoral research tackled fundamental questions in the genetic modelling of world-class unconformity-related uranium deposits. John is also an internationally recognized expert in hydrothermal geochemistry, volcanic stratigraphy, and epithermal deposits.

Most recently, he served as Vice President of Exploration at Eskay Mining Corporation, leading exploration for Au-Ag-rich VMS deposits in one of British Columbia's most prolific mining camps, and has consulted across a broad range of deposit types including epithermal Au-Ag, Carlin-type gold, sedimentary-hosted vanadium, skarn, and CO2 sequestration prospects.

Alan Haslam

Vice President, Permitting

Alan brings an extensive 37-year career in mining, with a strong focus on permitting, to Blossom. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Permitting, at Perpetua Resources Idaho Inc. where he successfully completed all Federal National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and State permitting for the Stibnite Gold Project in order to initiate construction in October 2025. Prior to that, he was the Director of Mining for Agrium Inc., serving various functions in both the U.S. and Canada, including managing exploration programs, development of life of mine plans, permitting of multiple mines through NEPA and state processes, development of new mines and mine expansions, managing mine operations, and reclamation and remediation of historic mine sites.

During his career Alan has worked closely on NEPA and State permitting with several agencies including, United States Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Water Resources, and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, among others.

Alan has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology from Idaho State University. He is an active member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration and the American Exploration and Mining Association.

Brandon Throop

VP, Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Mr. Throop brings more than 15 years of capital markets and investor relations experience. Most recently, he served as Director, Investor Relations at New Gold Inc., where he was responsible for global investor communications and played a key role through the successful acquisition of the company by Coeur Mining Inc. in March 2026. Prior to that, he was Manager, Investor Relations at Lundin Mining Corporation.

Before transitioning to investor relations, Mr. Throop spent more than eight years in equity research covering the metals and mining sector across all stages of exploration, development and production. 

He holds a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies specializing in Finance from the University of Western Ontario and is both a Certified Professional in Investor Relations (CPIR) from the Canadian Investor Relations Institute and an Investor Relations Charter (IRC) holder from the National Investor Relations Institute.

Aaron Calhoon

Mine Engineer

Aaron Calhoon is a mining engineer with more than 25 years of experience focused on designing and operating complex, mechanized mines and helping teams turn plans into working, reliable operations.

He has decades of underground experience, having worked every side of the industry—from running a jackleg to leading large, complex mining projects. Aaron began his professional career in the U.S. Navy, where he developed a disciplined, clear-eyed approach to project management and a focus on building great teams. He has held senior engineering and leadership roles overseeing mine design, project evaluation, capital planning, and operational optimization across the Western United States and Australia. He lives in Salt Lake City with his family.

Aaron received his B.S. Mining Engineering degree from the University of Nevada, Reno Nevada, in 2013.

John Schaff, B.Sc.

General Manager

Mr. Schaff has worked for over 30 years in the exploration industry for both junior and senior mining companies. John has actively participated in numerous discoveries including Kennecott’s Gemfield, Midway, Castle Au deposits in Nevada, the Whistler Cu-Au deposit in Alaska; Rio Tinto’s Eagle Cu-Ni deposit in Michigan, the Tamarack Cu-Ni deposit in Minnesota, the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada; and Noranda’s Lynne VMS deposit in Wisconsin. Mr. Schaff’s experience also includes serving as Exploration Manager with Coeur Explorations Inc, where he was an integral part in the discovery of the +500k ounce C-Horst Au deposit (the south end of Anglo’s Merlin/Arthur deposit) located in the highly active Bare Mountain Mining District near Beatty, Nevada. In 1987 John received his Bachelor of Science (Geology) from Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota.