Career Timeline

Hosted mining engineering students from the University of Tennessee at the Vulcan Coal Complex in the Bowen Basin. The program brought American students to experience large-scale Australian coal mining operations firsthand — from the open cut to the highwall miner — and gave them exposure to a production environment most textbooks can’t replicate.

Joined the board of the ASX-listed gold producer with operations in the Philippines via its Philsaga Mining Corporation subsidiary and exploration in Queensland’s Drummond Basin. The appointment followed a sustained push to strengthen the company’s governance and operational direction.

Vitrinite became the first company in Australia to deploy a dedicated Gainwell GHWM300M highwall mining unit — manufactured under licence from Caterpillar — at the Vulcan South mine. The technology, selected after six years of research, accesses coal seams that would otherwise be stranded beyond the economic reach of conventional open-cut mining. Queensland’s Minister for Natural Resources and Mines attended the opening to mark the milestone.

Vitrinite’s Vulcan South project received federal environmental approval under the EPBC Act. The project targets 13.5 million tonnes of ROM premium hard coking coal across three open-cut pits with an expected mine life of approximately seven years, adjacent to BMA’s Peak Downs and Saraji operations. Approval conditions included specific measures to protect koalas, greater gliders, and squatter pigeons.

When a devastating landslide struck Masara in Davao de Oro in February 2024, Philsaga Mining Corporation — through the PMC-MMPRC Foundation and with financial support from Vitrinite — mobilised search and rescue teams and distributed relief supplies to over 1,000 affected families across two rounds of aid, providing blankets, food, clean water, and essential goods to evacuation centres and displaced communities.

Appointed Managing Director of the ASX-listed gold producer, which operated the Co-O Gold Mine in Mindanao and had recently acquired a 4,150 sq km exploration package in Queensland’s Drummond Basin — one of the largest intrusion-related gold prospecting grounds in Australia. Successfully merged the company with Ten Sixty Four, which assumed the name X64 Gold. After a prolonged governance dispute, led two separate campaigns to spill the board. The effort ultimately succeeded, and X64 is now on stable footing and rebuilding shareholder value.

Joined the board of the Nevada-based gold explorer as an independent director, providing strategic guidance and governance oversight to the Comstock district operations.

Appointed to the board of the dual-listed iron ore and lithium explorer with projects in Western Australia’s Yilgarn region, contributing capital markets expertise and mining operational experience.

Queensland Government granted the mining lease for Vitrinite’s Vulcan Complex — an A$160 million, 9 million tonne open-cut coking coal mine between Moranbah and Dysart. The lease covered the first four years of an expected 15-year mine life, creating 150+ full-time jobs with an estimated A$170 million in royalties over the initial period. Vulcan was the first Queensland resources project to have its Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan approved under 2019 legislation.

Vitrinite and the Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation were jointly awarded the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) Community Contribution Award, recognising their partnership in developing the Bowen Basin coking coal project with meaningful Indigenous engagement and shared economic benefit.

Australian Financial Review profiled Vitrinite’s 123 million tonne coking coal discovery at Karin Basin — the highest fluidity ever recorded in Australia — alongside the 61 million tonne Wilson Creek thermal and metallurgical coal find. The company had formed three years earlier when exploration spending across Queensland had collapsed from $718 million to $119 million, and the industry consensus was that coal was finished.

Co-founded a private, premium hard coking coal company holding an extensive tenement portfolio in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. Over the following decade, the company advanced from greenfield exploration through permitting and construction to become the operator of the Vulcan Coal Complex, producing steel-making coal with a resource base exceeding 430 million tonnes.

Led the mining practice at the New York-based boutique corporate advisory firm, advising and raising more than US$2 billion for dozens of ASX, LSE, TSX and AIM-listed mining and resources companies.

Served on the board of the ASX-listed mining services and resources company, now one of Australia’s largest lithium and iron ore producers.

Held a position at Australia’s largest private mining company, gaining deep operational experience across the iron ore and resources sector.

Worked at the global mining major, developing foundational expertise in multi-commodity mining operations across international markets.

Early career role at the Africa-focused global banking group, building capital markets and resources finance expertise.