Mr. Poulton founded Ridgeway Energy in 2007 and is a founding director of African Aura Resources. He holds an honours degree in Geology from the University of Southampton (1997) and a Master's degree in Mining Geology from the Camborne School of Mines (1998). He is a non-executive director of Stellar Diamonds Ltd, a subsidiary of AIM and TSX-V listed Mano River Resources Inc. where he was an independent director until December 2007 having previously worked for that company from 1998 to 2005. Mr Poulton is the former CEO of AIM listed Ariana Resources plc, a company he co-founded in 2002. In 2007 Mr. Poulton co-founded Altus Strategies Ltd. a UK-based resource investment company where he is the CEO.

He is a fellow of the Geological Society of London, a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a member of the Association of Mining Analysts.