Our People
Director
Chris Hanson
Chris Hanson has +25 years mining experience in practical operational mining and consulting both in Australia and internationally, and has strong industry experience and credibility in the areas of underground and open cut geotechnical engineering.
He is a Competent Person (CP) for Resource Estimation under the JORC Code, having conducted a number of high profile JORC Resource assessments including for the Moatize and Carmichael Coal Project. Chris is currently the Site Senior Executive for the Springsure Creek Coal Project and has significant experience in structured integrated project management, with a Diploma from the AIM in this area.
Director
Andrew Huston
Andrew Huston is a Project / Construction / Engineering manager having directly managed over A$960m worth of project work with a majority of these being brown field projects. This capability extends across the mining industry (coal, copper, gold and uranium), power generation (hydro & thermal) as well as LNG study manager experience.
This unique experience has fostered the development of an in-depth understanding of what is required to deliver a successful project, right from the study phase through to commissioning and handover. The project management experience is supported with seven years in maintenance as a workshop supervisor or mechanical engineer within the power and mining industries.
Director - Coal Geology
David Green
David has over 35 years of experience in coal geology from exploration planning to mine site operations and for the last 3 years he has been the Coal Geoscience Manager with the Queensland Geological Survey leading a team evaluating the current and future coal resources in Queensland. He has a broad knowledge of Queensland coal resources and industry and also has experience in Mongolia, Canada and Indonesia.
David is experienced at the geological evaluation and assessment of coal projects, including regular access of Government resources and provision of statutory company reports. David has been jointly awarded 3 ACARP project grants which included an evaluation of acoustic scanners and the development of CoalLog.
Director - Studies
Patrick Humphries
Patrick has over 20 years' experience in underground coal mining operations, feasibility management and mining research. Patrick has led major project feasibility studies for Adani Mining Australia, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, Vale and Mount Isa Mines (now Glencore) to identify, develop and deliver high capacity underground coal mines in a timely manner.
Patrick has a solid background in underground coal production including roles as Longwall Superintendent, Technical Services Superintendent and Ventilation Officer at a number of Queensland mines. He has extensive expertise in the development, implementation and management of Principal Hazard Management Plans for Ventilation, Gas, Mine fires and Spontaneous combustion. Patrick has been a leader in the development and application of innovative inertisation techniques for the prevention of spontaneous combustion in underground coal mines resulting in increased safety and productivity in Queensland coal mines.
Principal - Open Cut Mining
Hernan E. Retamal
Hernan has over 30 years' experience in open cut mining operations, project management, contract mining, contract management and mine consulting across gold, coal, base metals and minerals mining. He has strong capability in the areas of construction and feasibility study management, open pit mine design, running safe and efficient operations and mine costing primarily in Australia, South East Asia and South America.
Hernan has conducted numerous operational mining audits with focused on maximising equipment productivity, selectivity and maintaining safe and efficient operations. Hernan has recently coordinated project Management of Spoil Landform Rehabilitation Modelling using Vulcan, 3d-DigPlus and Dozesim modules at Queensland mines.
Principal - Underground Mining Engineer
Sean Wilson
Sean has had over 13 years’ experience in the underground coal mining industry with extensive experience in the operation and design of high productivity longwall mining operations and is highly proficient in the operation of various specialised software packages including Deswik, XPAC and VentSIM.
Sean’s operational experience comprises of the management of all areas of coal mine technical services including subsidence, spontaneous combustion, complex geological/geotechnical conditions, gas drainage and operation/management of ventilation circuits. Sean has been involved in the preparation of several engineering studies at various levels for major projects including the Teresa Project Pre-Feasibility Study (Link Energy Pty Ltd) and as Project Leader for the Carmichael underground Feasibility Study.
Principal - Projects
Vimal Pulikottil
Vimal has over 25 years global experience in Project Management and Estimating having directly managed /supported projects and estimates up to
A$ 4.5b value, both greenfield and brown field. Her capability extends across industries including mining (alumina, copper, coal), power generation (clean coal technology) , hydrocarbons (LNG, shale gas) , agrochemical processing and infrastructure development.
This varied experience and a natural flair for working with people has developed a growing strength in successful project delivery, from concept to commissioning and handover to operations. She's had the pleasure of working with project and satellite offices located across the globe including Australia, South America, Italy and India.
Principal ConsultaNt
Dan Buckley
Dan Buckley has over 35 years of experience in the Australian mining industry. His background encompasses board and executive positions in project exploration, feasibility studies, development, mining operations and business development as well as senior consultant roles in mining engineering, project evaluation and advisory consulting. He has held CEO and executive director positions in operations management and business development with two ASX listed companies.
Dan has had significant involvement in high level strategic business development activities including identification and assessment of merger and acquisition opportunities and due diligence investigations. He has also been involved in management of tender submission and liaison with Government agencies associated with resource allocation areas. In mining operations, Dan has held both on-site and corporate operations responsibilities including Board Level reporting and company representative in a Joint Venture. He has managed mining contract tendering, evaluation and negotiation as well as administration of the mining contracts.
Dan’s project development experience includes management of greenfield and brownfield project developments including EIS, Development Approvals, Mining Leases, and all required approvals and licences. This has also involved Federal, State, Local Government and Community liaison in relation to new projects and ongoing mining operations. He also has corporate and operational experience in strategic assessment of assets and operational restructuring including negotiating with mining contractors, rail operators and unions.
GIS Services
Chris Schlebusch
Chris Schlebusch has a background in electronic engineering, industrial design and more than 10 years in the spatial industry as both a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consultant and the GIS lead for a large multi-disciplinary mining, infrastructure and logistics project. He has worked on mining, resources and infrastructure projects in Australia, Africa, Asia, South America and Canada where he supported decision making with GIS and cartographic products in addition to providing hardware, software and process solutions.
He has deployed and managed geoscientific information management solutions, enterprise GIS infrastructure and web GIS tools using platforms such as Micromine's GeoBank, Esri's ArcGIS suite and Latitude Geographics' Geocortex. His cartographic products have underpinned Environmental Impact Statements, Mining Lease Applications and Prospectus publications.
Project Delivery Services
Kimberley Saunders
Kimberley is a Project Manager/ Contracts Manager / Stakeholder Engagement and Business Development professional having directly managed and supported over A$500m worth of scope with multiple major projects and proponents. In addition, Kimberley established and managed her own private consulting firm which specialised in project approvals and early planning through to execution, operations and maintenance phases at a critical time in the Energy market for Australia. The project management experience is supported with over fifteen years working across New Zealand and Australia, in addition to Global reach via work with proponents such as ConocoPhillips.