The forefront of mineral processing innovation

Andrew is a metallurgist with over 20 years of experience in project development, mining and processing. He has formerly held senior management corporate roles including CEO and Board roles for Compass/Northern Territories Resources, Goldsmith Resources (Peru) and Australia Gold. He is an inventor and holds several patents for processing minerals containing base and precious metals. Andrew is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AUSIMM).

Danny has over 30 years professional financial and commercial experience, including senior roles at Donaldson Coal, Hydra Energy, Oil Search and Roc Oil. He has experience across IPO’s, Mergers & Acquisitions, Project Financing, Joint Ventures, Project Developments and Financial Reporting. Danny holds a Master of Applied Finance, a Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.

Emma is a strategic focused HR professional with over 15 years’ experience in a variety of industries, including mining and manufacturing. She has operated at Board level, is skilled in a wide variety of generalist functions and has specialist expertise in the areas of employee and industrial relations, talent management and organisational development. Emma is adept in managing organisational wide transformation initiatives to improve business outcomes and employee engagement. She is described by her peers as being an engaging leader, with a strong drive and motivation to deliver results and build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships.

Joel has spent the majority of his career specialising in commodity and economic market analysis. His well-earned reputation in the industry has been gained through being able to translate complex issues into concise conclusions.

American by birth, Australian by choice - Joel brings an international perspective to Cobalt Blue. His extensive career portfolio includes 12 years working in top-tier global financial institutions (Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank) covering all major metals and bulk commodities – including the key battery raw materials. For the five years prior to joining Cobalt Blue, he was with Rio Tinto (Singapore and Melbourne) where, as a Senior Manager, he led teams within the internal Market Analysis Group that were tasked with conducting and communicating market and business analysis to the executive leadership. In this role, Joel directly supported the CEO with economic and commodity market analysis.

Jan has over 20 years’ financing experience in various regions of the world including the project financing of mining projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He also played a leading role in several of the recent financings of Australian critical mineral projects.

In his roles at Export Finance Australia and investment and institutional banks, he originated and executed project finance transactions globally. He worked with a diverse range of stakeholders in multiple countries on the financing and development of projects, including several notable project financings in the mining and metals sector.

As a Geologist with 15 years of experience within the resource sector, Heath’s work spans a broad commodity profile of base, precious and industrial minerals. Heath’s expertise in mineral exploration has realised measurable returns on investments across mature and green-field terrains. With a recent focus on strategic minerals, Heath has been instrumental in the delivery of sustained Mineral Resource growth at the Broken Hill Cobalt Project, realising a 270% increase in Mineral Resource tonnes and a 196% increase in contained cobalt metal since 2016.

Bruce is an Environmental Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the private and public sectors in environmental management, approvals, regulation, and research. Bruce was previously Approvals Manager (Surface) for BHP/South 32 (Illawarra Coal) and a Senior Operations Officer with the NSW Environment Protection Authority. Along with his PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wollongong, where he developed innovative methods for managing acid sulphate soils, Bruce has extensive on-site environmental management experience to ensure compliance with relevant approval and regulatory obligations.

Dr Helen Degeling is a PhD qualified geologist with over 18 years’ experience in industry, academia and government. She has worked as an exploration geologist and Exploration Manager in gold and base metals throughout Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, as well as consulting to a variety of mineral explorers and producers both domestically and abroad. As the Director, Minerals Geoscience for the Geological Survey of Queensland she initiated the Queensland Government’s Circular Economy, Secondary Prospectivity, traceability and Sustainable REE processing programs. Helen is a passionate advocate for the growth and evolution of the minerals sector in line with the demands of a just transition towards decarbonisation and adoption of ESG standards globally.

In her current role as Project Acquisition Manager for Cobalt Blue, Helen aims to realise the opportunities for green metal extraction from mine waste to support the energy transition.

Adam has been directly involved in the mining industry and associated mineral processing technology development for over 30 years. During this time, he has worked both within Australia and internationally on gold, copper, zinc, tin, and mineral sands projects, in roles ranging from mining and processing operations through to cutting edge research and development for hydrometallurgical mineral processing. He has overseen the successful construction and commissioning of several pilot and demonstration processing facilities, as well as refurbishment and upgrade projects for commercial processing plants.

Joe is a chemical engineer with more than 30 years of experience in minerals processing project development in Australia and China. For the past 15 years, Joe has been representing Australian parties to export sustainable mineral processing technologies to China, focusing on secondary metal resources and recycling industrial metallic intermediaries. Joe is the sole inventor of a halide copper electrowinning cell and the co-inventor of a technology used for upgrading low-grade polymetallic ore or concentrate.

Andrea has held a range of leadership roles across Government, industry boards, and the private sector, all working for the benefit of people and place. She works with communities, industries, and other stakeholders to enable places to thrive. Her background is extensive in marketing, communications, engagement, and brand. The Northern Rivers (NSW), Fleurieu Peninsula (SA), Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges, and the Great Ocean Road (Vic.); are all places where Andrea has led transformational change. Born in Broken Hill, her DNA is connected to its future.