Professor Mäkelä was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 13 November 2008. He majored in geology and mineralogy at the University of Helsinki and holds over 38 years experience from a variety of scientific, operational and administrative activities in the economic geological and mining sector in Finland and abroad. Before joining he retired as a Director from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). Prior to joining GTK in 1994, he spent six years as a Technical Manager and Alternate Director of the UN Revolving Fund for Natural Resources and he remains a member of the UN Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development.