D. Chad LePoudre: The President and Principal Geotechnical Engineer of LGG

Chad believes that the best business originates from loving what we do and doing it to the best of our ability. He is internationally recognized, experienced and competent project and operations manager, executive and technical principal. In nearly 34 working years have benefited from a suite of various experiences and learnings, culminating in a career focused on geoenvironmental engineering, particularly focused on tailings engineering, tailings management and tailings governance. His operations management style is generally paternalistic, and I enjoy building and/or working with teams of highly qualified people so that we can successfully tackle the most challenging (and fun) projects. With engineering experience primarily within the disciplines of waste and tailing management, including site investigation, design, dam safety management systems (including Dam Safety Reviews), containment systems (slurry walls, lining systems, seepage collection, etc), slope stability assessment, instrumentation installation and monitoring, and advanced laboratory testing. His best days at work are visiting mine sites, consulting with various stakeholders, and providing knowledge transfer through workshops and/or mentoring other engineering staff. Chad has functioned as the Engineer of Record for tailing dams, has authored environmental impact statements for new mining projects, and has been the project manager for numerous site investigation, design, construction, and monitoring projects related to tailings and water related to mine, industrial and municipal waste. Most recently he was the Global Practice Lead—Tailings for BHP, where I established tailings standards, guidance, GISTM conformance processes, and participated in various assurance activities. 

Relevant Experience and Achievements: 

· 2024 to Present: President, LePoudre GeoEnvironmental Group Inc.

· 2019 to 2024: Global Practice Lead Tailings, BHP

· 2011-2019: Vice President, Geoscience & Materials Testing (2017-2019), Geoenvironmental Services (2011-2017)

· 2003-2011: Vice President and shareholder, Geotechnical Services, MDH Engineered Solutions

· Significant Canadian Dam Association (CDA) involvement, including: 

- Past President (2018); President (2017); Vice-President (2016), Secretary-Treasurer (2013-2015), Provincial Director of SK (2012), Mining Dams Committee chair (2020-21). Awards: Halliday Award for Service (2022); Service Recognition (2018); Service Recognition (2012);

· I received a Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in 2018

Brian is a Senior Geoenvironmental Engineer specializing in closure planning and reclamation of tailings and mine rock storage facilities (TSFs and MRSFs) with 30 years of experience, including 21 years in consulting and 9 years in industry. He has extensive knowledge of geotechnical, hydrogeology, and geochemistry principles to support developing scientifically rigorous closure plans for TSFs/MRSFs, coupled with practical experience to optimize costs for implementation. Brian is a SME in the design, construction, and performance monitoring of TSF/MRSF final landforms/cover systems, having published over 15 papers in this field.

Brian’s passion is the design of sustainable landforms for closure of TSFs and MRSFs, striving to return the disturbed landscape to a productive end land use while mitigating potential risks to human and ecological receptors to acceptable levels over the short, medium and long terms.

Relevant Experience and Achievements: 

Effective February 1, 2026, Brian joined LePoudre Geoenvironmental Group (LGG) in a senior technical review capacity. Prior to 4.5 years with BHP Legacy Assets and 4.5 years with SNC-Lavalin (now AtkinsRéalis), he was a Senior Geoenvironmental Engineer with O'Kane Consultants (OKC) based in Saskatoon. Over a 15-year period, Brian helped OKC grow from two staff in 2000 to about 60 staff in 2015, with offices across Canada and in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Focus of work was on application of unsaturated zone hydrology to closure of TSFs/MRSFs, specializing in the design, implementation, and performance monitoring of cover systems for all types of mine waste. Roles included being a project manager, field engineer, construction supervisor, office manager, Vice-President, and COO.