Gershom received his BSc. in Geology of Makerere University in 2008 and has over 12 years of mineral exploration and mining experience. He is a registered member of the Geological Society of Uganda (GSU). At the time of establishing GEOQUEST in 2014, Gershom worked on a variety of exploration projects from grass-roots to advanced exploration with Vangold Resources Ltd., Anglo Ugandan Corporation Ltd., Hummingbird Resources Plc. and other junior exploration companies. His industry experience includes exploration for shear zone hosted orogenic gold deposits of the Birimian West Africa, where he worked on the 4.8Moz Dugbe gold deposit of Eastern Liberia, Yanfolila deposit in Southern Mali for Mineral Resource Estimations during the project’s Definitive Feasibility Studies and Asheba project in Ghana. He was part of the team that discovered, developed and modeled the 2.47Moz Tuzon gold resource in Eastern Liberia, spearheading the modeling of the deposit fault system during the project’s DFS and has since worked on several other gold, base metal and iron ore projects in Liberia, Uganda and Rwanda. On the Tahuti Global Inc. team between 2018 and 2019, he was the geologist on Uganda’s State House resources appraisals and value addition research for the country’s mineral sector reforms. He has also been involved in various Hydrogeological and Geotechnical projects including the Tshilomba and Tshalla Hydropower plant sites investigations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under GEOQUEST, Gershom has managed and conducted numerous exploration projects on behalf of a variety of clients including those for Steel and Tube Industries Ltd., Sunbird Resources Ltd., Lafarge Holcim (Hima Cement) and Samta Mines and Minerals (U) Ltd.
Prof. Barifaijo Erasmus
Technical Advisory
Board Member
Erasmus Barifaijo received his BSc. Geology from Makerere University of Uganda in 1978, MSc. Geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Geology from Makerere University in 2000. He attained a Postgraduate Diploma in Mineral Exploration in 1992 from ITC in Netherlands, Certificates in Petrology & Advanced Laboratory Techniques from Kanazawa University Japan in 1994 and Analytical Techniques in XRF and Microprobe from the University of Vienna, in 1997. Erasmus was at the Department of Geology and (now) Petroleum Studies, (DGPS), Makerere University as a Graduate Fellow from 1978 to 1983; he was a lecturer from 1986 to 1996; a senior lecturer between 1996 and 2010 and has been Assoc. Professor since October 2010 at the department he served as Head from 2001 to 2009. In 1976, he received the Dr. Childs’ Prize in Chemistry Award at the end of second year and the Kilembe Mines’ Prize at the end of his final undergraduate year. In 2000 he received a letter of recognition for his exemplary research performance by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda for the Evaluation of Potential for the Bufumbira Volcanic Rocks to Conserve Energy, a project that was funded by the World Bank. During his time at the DGPS he advised more than 30 geology undergraduates, supervised 10 MSc. Geology and more than 5 PhD candidates most of whom are presently college members at various institutions and research, supervision is ongoing for others. Erasmus was President of the Geological Society of Uganda (GSU) from 2000 to 2002 and he is still an active member of the society; he is presently a member of; the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf), the East African Geoscience Network (EAGN) and the Association of Geoscientists in Development (AGID)
At Makerere University he has been part of various College committees including; Curriculum Development, Planning and Development, Finance among others. In 2009 he was Chairman for the Faculty of Science Task Force working on modalities for starting the Uganda Petroleum Institute as a Constituent Institute of Makerere University and is presently a member of the National Content Committee in the Oil and Gas Sector in Uganda based in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. In 2010, he was the coordinator for the RIFTLINK project that involved Universities of Frankfurt, Mainz, Darmstadt, Heidelberg Senckenberg, Germany and Makerere University. He has mentored geoscience students and is patron for various students’ associations including; the Society of Economic Geologists, Society of Exploration Geophysicists and American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Makerere University Chapter.
At GEOQUEST he has played a pivotal role as Technical Advisor and Board member as he has previously been involved in many mineral exploration projects including the evaluation of; Sukulu and Busumbu phosphate deposits, Mashonga gold, supergene base metal enrichment at Mugabuzi, Kiruhura District and the Kibaran belt and associated mineralization in the Democratic Republic of Congo and others and has participated on several environmental impact assessments. In 2012 he was a member of the technical team that evaluated the proposals for the construction of Karuma Hydropower Project. Erasmus has published more than 30 papers in both regional and international peer reviewed professional journals.
Lauben Twinomujuni
Senior Environmental Geologist
Board Member
Lauben obtained his BSc. & MSc. in Geology of Makerere University in 2006 and 2011 respectively and has over 14 years of experience in Earth Resources Exploration and Environmental Impact Assessments and Environmental Audits, as well as in teaching and research. He is a registered member of the Geological Society of Uganda (GSU) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). Lauben worked on a variety of exploration and research projects in many parts of Uganda and beyond. His experience in academia and industry includes over 10 years of teaching at the College of Natural Sciences at Makerere University, conducting Environmental Impact Assessments for Total E&P on North and South Nile projects, Tullow Oil Plc. in Bulisa area of Uganda, Tororo Solar Project and Simba Mini Oil Refinery in Tororo. As a consultant geologist, he has participated on various mineral and oil exploration projects for companies including Dominion Uganda Limited, Weatherford Drilling International, Sunbelt Mining Group and Huateng Mining Group. He has participated in research projects such as the ‘In-depth Analysis of Karamoja Mining Sector’, ‘Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Lake Edward-George Basin’ and ‘Facies Analysis & Sequence Stratigraphy of Southeast Lake Edward Basin’.
Regarding postgraduate training, Lauben has acquired various certificates from renowned international institutions such as the Earth Resources Exploration from University of Twente in Netherlands, Geothermal Energy Exploration and Development by United Nations-Geothermal Training Program, Stratigraphy and Sedimentology from University of Bergen in Norway and Petroleum Field Methods (Sequence Stratigraphy and Structural geology) in Utah, USA.
Hassan Mulambe
Senior Exploration Geologist
Hassan received his B.Sc. in Geology and Chemistry from Makerere University, Kampala in 2007 and is registered with the Geological Society of Uganda (GSU). He has 12 years’ working experience in the mineral exploration and mining sector in Uganda. He worked with AUC Mining based at Kamalenge gold mine in Mubende, where he participated in a wide range of activities from green field exploration to supervising mining operations. He has also worked at Auranda Minerals where he supervised and participated in the assessment of the potential for columbite pegmatites as well as gold mineralization in various districts in central and southwestern Uganda.
Hassan has worked as a consultant with various companies including AlJouda Mining and Kigezi Industries where he was involved in the assessment of the potential for gold, marble, tin, limestone and columbite pegmatite mineralization in various districts in central, southwestern Uganda and Karamoja. As an associate with RwenzoGreen, he was part of the Environmental Impact Assessment teams involved in the preliminary and detailed design for different roads which included; Zirobwe-Wobulenzi, Lusalira - Sembabule (97km) and Sungira National Defence RADAR access road in Nakasongola district. He also participated in the preliminary and detailed design of major construction projects that included; the Registration Block, Beskerville Avenue Kampala, and the UBOS Statistics Building, Entebbe. His role involved descriptions of the geology within the project areas, identification of potential impacts and identification of suitable rock for construction of roads.
Stella Twinamatsiko
Director Finance and Administration
Board Member
Stella has 10 years of experience previously holding various positions within administration and finance for companies including Runicorp Consults Ltd, a construction firm and Adspace Ltd., an outdoor advertising company based in Kampala. Prior to joining GEOQUEST in 2014, she worked with Mengo Hospital Occupational Therapy Department and later with the Prevention and Rehabilitation Section of the Community Health Department under the Ministry of Health in Uganda. She possesses vast knowledge of governmental relations, labour code and finance in Uganda.
Brian Atuhaire
Senior Hydrogeologist
Brian received his BSc. in Petroleum Geoscience and Production from Makerere University in 2014. He is registered with the Geological Society of Uganda and is also a registered Hydrogeologist with the Ministry of Water and Environment under the Directorate of Water Resources Management Uganda. He has worked as a Technical Consulting Hydrogeologist for over 7 years with different firms including Universal Water Consultants Ltd., Geobot Group Ltd and BIK Water Systems Ltd. in which he has been managing contracts in Uganda; working with local governments, NGOs and the Private Sector.
Brian has vast experience in water Resources Assessment, Water policies, Data Analysis and he has mostly been involved in Hydrogeological Surveys, Data Evaluation, Drilling and Design supervision, Test Pumping and Water Quality Monitoring.
Mukebezi Joy
Geotechnical Engineer
Joy holds a BSc. in Mining Engineering of Busitema University in Uganda and is a specialist in Geotechnical Engineering with years of experience spanning from mining infrastructure development to road and Hydro Power Dam construction projects. She worked with Tororo Cement (U) Ltd during the designing of their Eastern Uganda limestone quarry in 2016 and also helped in the design and sinking of Optima Mines and Minerals’ underground mine in Lubaali, Mubende district of western Uganda, in 2017. She was part of the technical team at H.M Capital Ltd during the design of a quarry at Matugga in Central Uganda after which she became an associate to the team conducting value addition studies for the mineral sector in Uganda under Tahuti Global Inc.
Prior to joining GEOQUEST in 2018, Joy also worked with Teclab Ltd as a Materials Engineer at their Kampala based materials laboratory and was involved with various road and dam construction projects across the region. She has carried out Geotechnical investigations for various roads, dams, exploration and borehole drilling projects and also for commercial buildings. She is a senior technician with vast experience in geotechnical studies with reference to the ASTM codes and British Standards and material testing procedures.
