François Perron

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a government-owned institutional fund manager headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Founded in 1965, CDPQ manages the funds of several depositor groups primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans which pay out benefits to more than two million Quebecers each year.

QMX Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and evaluation of mineral properties. Its projects comprises of Val d'O and Aurbel Mill. The company was founded on August 8, 1988 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.