Mr. Dattels has founded and/or financed a number of mining ventures with his most recent being UraMin Inc. which was sold in July 2007 for $2.5 billion to Areva, the French government-owned fully integrated uranium company. Mr. Dattels was an executive at Barrick Gold Corporation during its formative years when it grew from a capital base of $10 million to a market capitalisation of $2 billion when he left in early 1987. During his employment with Barrick, he was a Director and Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance. In the past decade, he has completed several financings either directly or through his merchant bank, Regent Mercantile Bancorp Inc., in the natural resources sector. This has included exploration, development or production projects in minerals, base metals and precious metals, with the main areas of focus being Africa and Asia.

Mr. Dattels was the Chairman and founder of Caledon Resources PLC, an AIM-listed Australian coal producer and Chinese exploration company, and was the co-founder and Managing Director of AIM-listed Oriel Resources PLC, a developer of nickel and chrome assets in Kazakhstan. Most recently, Mr. Dattels founded a new venture called CCEC Ltd. which is acquiring thermal coal projects in China. CCEC Ltd. recently merged with Regent Pacific Group Limited, a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.