Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. at shareholder meeting held on 05 August 2022, announced the John Ryan has resigned as CEO of the Company, and Mr. Steve Balch has been appointed as CEO of Spruce on an interim basis. Mr. Ryan continues as a consultant to assist with an orderly transition. Steve Balch, a resident of Ontario, Canada, is a registered geoscientist who currently serves as VP Exploration of Canada Nickel Company Inc. He is one of Canada's leading experts on geophysical techniques used to identify nickel-copper sulphide and platinum-group-metal targets.

He has 36 years of experience in geophysics, specializing in the magnetic and electromagnetic methods, but also with experience in large exploration compilations. After working at Inco for six years in the Sudbury Basin and at Voisey's Bay, Steve joined Aeroquest in 2001 and helped develop the AeroTEM system, focusing on the on-time measurements of the linear triangular waveform. In 2007, Mr. Balch founded Triumph Instruments and developed the AirTEM system, a multi-coil helicopter-borne EM system that is now in use in Mexico, China, Canada and Eastern Europe.

Steve has also been active in borehole geophysics and has worked to develop new technology including north-seeking gyros, temperature compensated induction conductivity probes and high sensitivity magnetic gradiometers. He has previously served as President and director of Triumph Instruments and of Canadian Mining Geophysics Ltd. He was President, CEO, and a director of Chevrier Metals Corp. (formerly Tawsho Mining Inc.) as well as a director of RHC Capital Corporation (formerly Rockefeller Hughes Corporation) from 2013 to 2016.

Mr. Balch also serves as a consultant to Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. and other exploration and mining companies.