Speaker Biographies
Prof Ian Plimer, Director, Hancock Prospecting
PROFESSOR IAN PLIMER is Australia’s best-known geologist. He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology. He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation research professor of ore deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München (Germany). He was on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University. He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and has written 12 books on earth history, religious fundamentalism and climate change. He is a regular broadcaster and conference speaker.
He won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. In 1995, he was Australian Humanist of the Year and later was awarded the Centenary Medal. He was Managing Editor of Mineralium Deposita, president of the SGA, president of IAGOD, president of the Australian Geoscience Council and sat on the Earth Sciences Committee of the Australian Research Council for many years. He won the Eureka Prize for the promotion of science, the Eureka Prize for A Short History of Planet Earth and the Michael Daley Prize (now a Eureka Prize) for science broadcasting. He was an advisor to governments and corporations and was a regular broadcaster.
Professor Plimer spent much of his life in the rough and tumble of the zinc-lead-silver mining town of Broken Hill where an interdisciplinary scientific knowledge intertwined with a healthy dose of scepticism and pragmatism are necessary. He is Patron of Lifeline Broken Hill and the Broken Hill Geocentre. He worked as a senior manager for North Broken Hill Ltd, was a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney. In his post-university career he is proudly a director of a number various unlisted private Hancock Prospecting companies (Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd, Hanrine Exploration Ecuador SA, Queensland Cola Pty Ltd, Atlas Iron Pty Ltd, Mulga Downs Pty Ltd,, Hancock Beef Ltd.
A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology and orebody discoveries. It is insoluble in alcohol. A ground-hunting rainforest spider Austrotengella plimeri from the Tweed Range (NSW) has been named in his honour because of his “provocative contributions to issues of climate change”. The author would like to think that Austrotengella plimeri is poisonous.
Ian Plimer identifies as ZnFe4(PO4)3(OH)5 and demands the appropriate pronoun be used.
Dr Jennifer Purdie, Asset President, BHP’s Olympic Dam
Jenny Purdie joined BHP in February 2021 and is Olympic Dam Asset President.
Jenny has more than 30 years of global management and leadership experience spanning operational, business improvement and corporate roles in the mining, energy, heavy manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors. She brings a strong balance of operational, commercial, and technical skills to Olympic Dam, and the capability to combine strategy with project execution.
Jenny’s most recent role was the Executive General Manager, Gas Distribution at Jemena, where she led the gas distribution business in New South Wales. She has previously held senior leadership positions with Adani Renewables, Rio Tinto and Alcoa.
Throughout her career, she has developed strong skills in managing people, health and safety, community and stakeholder relationships, environment and reducing costs.
Jenny holds a Bachelor and PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Auckland and an Executive MBA from Mt Eliza Business School. She graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors course with Honours.
In 2019, Jenny was named ‘Exceptional Woman 2019’ at the Minerals Council of Australia Women in Resources National Awards.
Stephen Biggins, Managing Director, Core Lithium
Stephen has 25 years’ experience as a geologist and as an executive in both the mining industry in Australia and internationally.
He has applied his Honours Degree in Geology and MBA as the founding Managing Director of several ASX-listed companies.
As Managing Director of Core Lithium (ASX: CXO), Stephen led the Company to the acquisition, discovery and definition of the first lithium Resources in the Northern Territory, which is one of the highest-grade lithium resources in Australia.
Stephen previously served as founding director of Southern Gold (ASX: SAU) from 2005 to 2010 and led the acquisition and discovery of the Cannon Gold Mine in Western Australia, which is currently in production. Stephen was also a founding Director of Investigator Resources Ltd (ASX: IVR) which has discovered a high-grade Paris Silver Resource in South Australia on its founding projects.
Stephen has built prospective portfolios of lithium, gold, uranium and base metal exploration projects in Australia, Asia and Africa.
Michael Goodsite, Director, Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources (IMER)
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Michael E. Goodsite MBA, PhD, FIEAust, CPEng, EngExec, is Director of The University of Adelaide’s Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources. He is the research director for the 2022 Australian National Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Bid 'Copper for the Future' and bid leader of the Hydrogen CRC Bid. He chairs the UoA’s steering committee for its sustainability strategy as well as its academic committee for mining, energy and resources. He currently is an elected councillor of The South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy (SACOME) and appointed by the Danish Minister of Energy to the Board of the Danish National Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP). Originally from the USA, his international service has included being Special Advisor to the Peking University Centre for Natural Resource Economics, China, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Swedish Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) focused on scarce resources in the Arctic. He moved to SA from Denmark where he was a founding Director of the Nordic Centre of Excellence for Strategic Adaptation Research (NCoE NORD-STAR).
Christiane Brendel, Partner, KPMG Adelaide
Christiane is a Partner within KPMG Australia's Engineering & Asset Management team based in Adelaide. She is a versatile, adaptable senior executive with more than 25 years' professional and leadership experience predominantly in the mining, resources and utilities industries as well as financial services sectors.
Christiane supports the growth of our Management Consulting division, focusing on the energy and natural resources industries and enhancing our clients’ capital projects delivery through her extensive experience. She has a wealth of knowledge in strategising and the delivery of major projects. In prior roles, Christiane was successful in gaining CEO and board approval for many multi-million-dollar projects as well as being involved in their delivery.
She is a passionate and skilled facilitator for boards and senior decision makers, and has extensive experience working with all organisational levels within Australia as well as the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe, the UK, the US, South America, and India.
Christiane uses her unique capability of strategic, technical and authentic leadership to improve competitive positioning, prepare business cases, undertake feasibility studies and improve efficiencies. She is able to develop strategy and operationalise it, and makes the complex appear easy. As an experienced strategic thinker, Christiane can 'paint' a pathway to value creation.
Christiane holds International Business and Engineering qualifications and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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