Experts

Dr Vanessa Guthrie is an experienced Executive and Director with a career spanning thirty five years in the resources sector, in a variety of diverse minerals and energy resources. Vanessa has qualifications in geology, environment, law and business management including a PhD in Geology. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Curtin University in 2017 for her contribution to sustainability, innovation and policy leadership in the resources industry.

Vanessa is on the board of a number of organisations, including listed companies Santos Limited, Orica Limited, Lynas Rare Earths and North American Construction Group. She is Chancellor of Curtin University and a Director on Cricket Australia. She is an active member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and Chief Executive Women (CEW), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

Vanessa’s contribution to the mining industry has been recognised both in Australia and globally, including an Officer of the Order of Australia, and being recognised as one of the world’s Top 100 list of inspirational women in mining.

Dean Ireland is a search consultant with Spencer Stuart advising boards and CEOs on  executive search, succession, assessment and development. He has worked extensively across the global mining and energy sectors, and was previously a Partner with Egon Zehnder International.

Prior to his executive search career, Dean was a senior executive with GE in the capital and energy divisions, ending his tenure there as Head of Strategic Planning for GE Power in the U.S.

He began his career in management consulting and investment banking before joining Pacific Dunlop, where he served as manager of corporate affairs and investor relations.

Dean holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Marketing from Melbourne Business School. He serves on the Nomination Committee for Cycling Australia as well as the Board of an innovative disability housing foundation, Summer Foundation. He previously served as a Non-Executive Director of the Melbourne Business School where he was also President of the Alumni Association and not-for-profit microfinance provider Opportunity International.

Jim Hayman is a partner emeritus in Heidrick & Struggles’ Melbourne office and founding member of the Mining & Metals Practice and advisor to the Chief Executive Officer & Board of Directors Practice. He has conducted Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Executive searches across the global mining industry.

Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Jim was the managing partner of another international executive search firm’s Australian operations as well as regional director, Asia Pacific, for that group.  Jim began his career with Philip Morris Australia in corporate planning and mergers and acquisitions. He was the economist with General Motors-Holden before becoming finance director and managing director elect of an international trading company’s Australian operations.

Jim is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Monash University and a MBA from University of Melbourne.

Liz Wall is a Director of Royal Road Minerals and Chair of the Social Practice Forum. She has more than twenty years of global experience assessing and addressing social and environmental risks and impacts associated with extractive sector investments in developing countries.

Originally trained as a mining engineer, a Rhodes Scholarship allowed Liz to pursue further studies in poverty reduction and environmental management. She has worked in more than forty countries, commencing her career with Rio Tinto in both project and corporate roles, focusing on health, environment and community aspects, before moving to the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) as a social development and environmental specialist. Liz has established a successful consulting business (Shared Resources Pty Ltd), has held a number of board-appointed roles and is regularly in the position of advising major mining companies on significant investment decisions. Recognizing the evolving expectations of social and environmental performance, Liz retains close connections to fellow practitioners, delivers training courses on key topics, and authors books and papers on topics in this area.

Liz holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) from the University of NSW, a Masters of Science and a Masters of Philosophy from Oxford University.

Michael Nossal is Non-Executive Chairman of IGO Limited. He is a senior mining executive with 35 years’ experience in gold, base metals and industrial minerals. His executive career focused on strategy and business development, and he led significant M&A and internal growth initiatives for several companies, most recently Newcrest Mining Limited and MMG Limited. He has broad international experience and his executive and non‑executive roles have included companies listed on the ASX, LSE, HKEX and TSX.

As a director he has further developed his strong interest in the ESG agenda and believes mining companies can and should be a force for positive change in the countries and communities in which they operate.

Michael has a Bachelor of Science from Monash University, and a MBA from The Wharton School.

Mpho Nkeli is Executive Chair of Search Partners International (AltoPartners South Africa) and Non-Executive Director of Impala Platinum Holdings Limited. She has also served as Independent Non-Executive Director of Sasol Limited and Non-Executive Director of African Bank Investment Limited.

Mpho served Vodacom Group Limited as the Chief HR Officer responsible for Health, Safety, Environment and Facilities and was an executive director of Vodacom South Africa (Pty) Limited from 2011 to 2014, having previously served as an executive director of Alexander Forbes from 2005 until 2010.  

Mpho holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a MBA.

Sam Retallack is Chief People Officer of IGO Limited. Sam initially joined IGO in 2013 as Human Resources Manager and has been integral to the growth of the business, including the 2015 acquisition and integration of Sirius Resources’ Nova-Bollinger Project which was commissioned in 2017.

Sam has over 25 years’ experience in senior management, human resources, consulting and operational roles across the mining, finance, legal and biomedical sectors. Prior to joining IGO, Sam led large workforce -based businesses within Aherns Department Stores and Ansett Airlines.

Sam has a Bachelor of Science from Edith Cowan University, with post-graduate qualifications from Curtin University.  She is a Graduate of the Australasian Institute of Company Directors.

Sean Russo is Principal and Founding Director of Noah’s Rule. Sean is passionate about helping companies manage market risk to build strength and sustainability in their businesses.

Since founding Noah’s Rule in 2004, Sean has become a leading advisor on financial and commodity market risk, including negotiations and oversight of hedging execution.

Sean has a strong track record in delivering strategic risk advice to CEOs, company boards and senior management. His success at Noah’s Rule comes from deep industry knowledge gained over more than 30 years in financial markets. Previous roles include Managing Director of Treasury at NM Rothschild and Sons (Australia).

Sean is an ardent advocate of educating resources boards and leadership teams in financial risk management, and he has a firm commitment to developing innovative, responsible and intelligent risk solutions.

David Rowe is a Managing Director and Principal with Noah’s Rule. With over 30 years of industry experience, much of it in the development of treasury products, Dave possesses deep knowledge of precious and base metals, energy, agricultural and financial markets and is adept at reporting, pricing and trading risk across these markets.

Before joining Noah’s Rule, Dave held senior roles at NM Rothschild (Australia), the National Mutual Royal Bank and Citicorp. At NM Rothschild and Sons (Australia) Limited he was a director and managed large trading and sales teams as Head of Trading and Head of Market Risk.

Dave has a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and a Graduate Diploma in Theology from Morling Theological College.

Fiona Robertson is a highly experienced mining company director, currently serving as Non-Executive Director of Bellevue Gold Limited, 29Metals Limited and Whitehaven Coal.

Fiona has a corporate finance background, with more than 20 years’ experience as CFO of ASX-listed emerging and mid-tier mining and oil and gas companies, preceded by 14 years with Chase Manhattan Bank in London, New York and Sydney in corporate banking, credit risk management and mining finance roles. Previous Non-Executive Directorships include ASX-listed oil and gas producer, Drillsearch Energy Limited, where she chaired the Audit & Risk Committee, and Heron Resources Limited. 

Diana Drinkwater is a metallurgical engineer with over 40 years’ experience in mineral processing operations, engineering companies and R&D organisations, and a recognised expert in delivering metallurgical education across Australia, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe.

Diana is a Director of Metcelerate Limited, and Principal of Mineralis Consultants. She is Chair of the Education Commission of the International Mineral Processing Council (IMPC) and was Director of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) from 2014-2020 where she Chaired the AusIMM Metallurgical Society.

Dr. Fred Hess is a highly experienced metallurgist and former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PanAust Limited. He is currently Non-Executive Chairman of Ironbark Zinc, and a Non-Executive Director of JK Tech.

Fred’s career spans more than 40 years in open cut and underground project development, operations and senior management across the Asia Pacific region. At PanAust, Fred had direct responsibility for development and operation of the Phu Kham and Ban Houayxai mines in Laos.

Fred has a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry, Mathematics), Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Inorganic Chemistry) and is a Doctor of Philosophy (Metallurgical Engineering).

Dr. Patience Mpofu is the CEO of Insight Mining Experts, a consulting firm that specializes in ESG and Sustainability in the mining industry. She also advises mining companies and governments on critical minerals to support the transition to a more sustainable and circular mining industry, and she currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of Orion Minerals Limited.

Patience started her career as a metallurgist with Anglo American, and then went on to senior leadership positions in strategy and business development, mergers and acquisitions, and sustainability. Most recently she served as a Vice President of Corporate Affairs Africa for South32 where she made significant contributions to the company’s sustainability and success.

Patience has earned numerous awards, including Pan African Most Influential Women in Mining and she is a prominent figure on the speaking circuit on the World Circular Economy Forum, Futures Mineral Forum Inaugural Responsible Investment Forum, International Mining and Resources Conference in Australia and the Mining Indaba in South Africa.

Patience holds a PhD in sustainability from UNISA Australia, and an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD, France.

Jim Askew is a mining engineer with over 45 years of international experience, 40 years of them as a Board member and/or Chief Executive Officer for a wide range of Australian and international publicly listed mining, mining finance and other mining-related companies. He has had continuous involvement with the global mining industry since 1985.

Jim has been a CEO of public resource companies for over 20 years and served on Boards internationally since 1983. Jim is currently Chairman of Syrah Resources’ Board and Non-Executive Director of Evolution Mining.

Previous company directorships include Asian Mineral Resources (Chairman), Eldorado Gold (Non-Executive Director), Endeavour Mining (TSX), Golden Shamrock Mines, Golden Star, PMI Gold (Chairman), Rayrock Limited (TSX), Sino Gold (Chairman) and Yamana Gold (Non-Executive Director).

He was awarded the Presidents Medal of the AusIMM for services to the global mining industry in 2018, additional to other industry awards.

Alex Atkins is a mining engineer with over 30 years’ global mining experience. Currently serving as Non-Executive Director of Perenti Limited and Non-Executive Director of Aquirian Limited, Alex is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion in mining, and women into mining leadership and boards.

Alex’s career started in Kalgoorlie and she went onto a successful career with Placer Dome, earning her 1st Class Mine Manager’s Tickets in Western Australia and Queensland. Later on, she built off her technical and operational knowledge in consulting and regulatory roles, before pursuing a board career.

Alex holds two Bachelor of Engineering Degrees and a MBA (Finance). She is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Chartered Professional Fellow of The AusIMM and Engineers Australia.

Marcelo Bastos is an experienced international company director with more than 30 years of operational, logistics, project development and senior leadership experience in the mining sector.

Marcelo is currently Non-Executive Director of Anglo American PLC, Aurizon Holdings Ltd and IGO Ltd. He has previously held Non-Executive Directorships with Iluka Resources, OZ Minerals, Golder Associates, AMIRA and Golding Contractors.

During a two-decade career with Vale, he held various senior executive roles in iron ore, gold and copper. Marcelo then joined BHP in 2004, where he served in roles including President Nickel Americas, President Nickel West, and President Steel Making Coal. He then joined MMG, where he held the role of Chief Operating Officer from 2011 to 2017, responsible for the group’s global operations, sales and marketing across copper, zinc and gold. In this role, he also led the planning, development and ramp up of the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.

Marcelo holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil MBA from Fundacao Dom Cabral (INSEAD associated)

Dr Peter Trout is a mining engineer with extensive industry experience in Australia, Asia and the Americas.  Having established a successful executive and senior management career with ASX-listed mining companies including Newcrest, Perilya, PanAust and Aurelia Metals, Peter now operates a boutique mining engineering and management consultancy.

Peter’s experience spans site operations, project evaluation and development, mergers and acquisitions, mine planning and design, operational improvement, contract management, research and development, and stakeholder relations functions.  His expertise and knowledge encompass underground and surface mining operations and commodities including gold, copper, zinc, lead, lithium and coal.

Peter is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  He holds Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering degrees from The University of Queensland.