Balkan Mining and Minerals Limited announced the appointment of Valerie Pascale, formerly of Modern Core as the Company's in-country head of ESG and permitting in Canada. Ms Pascale has worked Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) capacity in the mining industry for 13 years. Until recently, she was the Manager of CSR at Newmont (formerly Goldcorp) for almost 11 years.

Ms Pascale worked with NGOs, Aboriginal organizations, community groups, and governments on a variety of development projects and pro before moving to the private sector. Ms Pascale is a graduate of International Development Studies from Guelph University in Canada. While at Newmont, she was responsible for the development of the first CSR and Human Rights corporate policies.

Ms Pascale worked closely with the VP of CSR to develop the first corporate CSR Framework/Strategy for Goldcorp. She was responsible for the ongoing development of corporate CSR strategies, policies, and guidelines. She supported global CSR/community relations teams, exploration teams, development projects and operations.

She also focused on building strategic partnerships with various stakeholder groups to maximize the local benefits of mining and to achieve effective and sustainable community development.