Stephen E. Flechner, JD
Co-Founder

Steve brings 30 years of mining executive and consulting experience to Highlands. He is the former Vice President and General Counsel of Gold Fields Mining Corporation, which was the U.S. subsidiary of the former Consolidated Gold Fields of London. In that position, he established and directed the company's U.S. land, legal, permitting, and compliance functions in order to acquire, permit, finance, develop, and expand the Ortiz Mine in New Mexico, the Mesquite Mine in California, and the Chimney Creek Mine in Nevada. These three mines collectively produced 400,000 ounces of gold per year with high profitability as Gold Fields-U.S. grew from 20 people to 1,200 during Steve's 15-year tenure. Mesquite and Chimney Creek were long-term world-class producers that were later acquired by Newmont Mining.

From 1993 to 1999 Steve served as President, Director, Chairman, and Counsel of Prospex Mining, where he arranged financing of $10M, including $5M from the Korea Zinc Company, the world's largest zinc producer. From 1993 through 1995 Steve also served as President of Bradner Resources and Gold Canyon Resources. After 2000, Steve served as Consulting Counsel for Tournigan Gold Corporation, where he helped acquire the Curraghinalt gold deposit in Northern Ireland, Kremnica gold deposit in Slovakia, and uranium deposits in Slovakia, culminating in a $40M bought-deal financing.

Starting in 2006, Steve served as Consulting Counsel and interim President and CEO of Oriental Minerals, now known as Woulfe Mining Corp. In these roles he acquired the Sangdong project in South Korea, which was one of the world's largest tungsten and molybdenum mines from 1947 to 1992, and Muguk, which was South Korea's largest former producing gold mine. Woulfe Mining has since moved Sangdong toward a full feasibility study, with a minimum project NPV of $480M. In 2010, Steve was President of Standard Gold, where he worked to acquire a number of gold projects in Nevada. Other consulting clients have included Buffalo Gold Corp., Longview Capital, and Cronus Resources (now Continental Gold).

Steve is a facilitator who listens closely to geologists, engineers, land owners, environmental regulators, and financiers to make mineral projects feasible, from negotiating a deal to getting it financed and permitted and into production. He holds a BA from New York University, 1964 and JD from Yale Law School, 1967. He is a member of the American, New York, and Colorado Bar Associations, and has delivered numerous lectures on business, securities, and mineral law.