Mr Mason obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Morehead State University, Kentucky, and has worked across many minerals throughout North America, although predominantly in US coal for more than 40 years. In more recent times, he has assumed executive management positions in some very large and significant producers of coal in the United States including having formerly served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Xinergy Ltd, a Toronto TSX Listed public company, producing up to 3Mtpa of metallurgical and thermal coal; Chief Operating Officer of Appalachian Fuels, LLC. managing a workforce of 600 employees and producing 8Mtpa of metallurgical and thermal coal from five surface mines and three underground mines; and Vice President of Technical Services and Business Development of AEI Resources, Inc. which was the 4th largest coal producing company in the Unites States, at the time, while operating 50 surface and underground coal mines producing in excess of 54Mtpa.