Northern Vertex Mining Corp., a gold exploration and development company operating principally in the United States and Canada, has appointed Ed Duda to the position of corporate secretary, effective as of Sept. 23. He also has been appointed chief financial officer.

Duda brings to Northern Vertex over 22 years of senior industry experience within private and public companies in all aspects of corporate finance, administration, strategic planning, operations, business development, risk management and technology implementation.

He is a former senior vice president and CFO of Vancouver-based full-service broker dealer Union Securities Ltd. During his tenure there, he served as a senior member of the executive committee and was responsible for overseeing finance, regulatory reporting and risk management for 14 offices and over 300 employees.

Other positions held by Duda include vice president, CFO, and privacy officer of Group Health Global Partners; chief operating officer of Haywood Securities; and vice president, administration and credit for Blackmont Capital.