Craig Doyle is the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. As part of the Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy, NAIF is earmarking a further $500 million towards projects in the sector. Craig has extensive executive, operational, and project funding experience across multiple industries in northern Australia. He served as CEO of Gladstone Ports Corporation between 2013 and 2016 and as Executive General Manager of Australia’s largest sugar producer, Wilmar. Craig was also the Global Technical Head for Wilmar’s international sugar operations. As a former CEO of Mackay Regional Council for nearly five years, Craig understands the needs of regional communities and key infrastructure requirements. Based in Cairns, Craig commenced in the role in June 2022.

Dr Grocott is an accomplished executive in the mining and mineral processing sector with nearly 40 years of international experience. Stephen was Chief Technical Development Officer at Clean TeQ Holdings Limited accountable for all technical and process development. He also supported technical marketing, due diligence and project funding for the A$2Billion Sunrise Ni-Co-Sc Project in NSW. Stephen’s exposure to EV and battery producers combined with his world-class expertise in process and development for minerals processing andbattery chemicals underpins the progress of the company.

Professor Ismet Canbulat is a mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in research, consultancy, management, on-site and academia. He has BSc, MSc and PhD degrees. He is currently Professor and Kenneth Finlay Chair of Rock Mechanics at the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, UNSW Sydney. His principle research interests and expertise lie in rock mechanics theory and application, ground control and rock mass classification, design of ground support systems, numerical modelling in addition to other areas in mining engineering including mine design, layout selection and geotechnical impact assessment, risk management and advanced risk based design and evaluation, ground stability aspects of mine closure and subsidence assessment. Ismet is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and, a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society, International Society for Rock Mechanics, Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (USA).

With over 28 years spent at CSIRO, Keith Barnard currently works as the Hydrometallurgy Group Leader at CSIRO Mineral Resources based in Western Australia. He is an inorganic chemist who morphed into a solvent extraction (SX) chemistry scientist and is now a manager of 30 highly skilled hydrometallurgy scientists/engineers. Working with these talented staff, he seeks to assist companies address and overcome their mineral processing challenges, including various critical minerals. Impacts can range from incremental changes in existing processes through to conceiving and developing new processes. He was a core member of the BHP Nickel West-focussed ‘battery grade nickel sulphate processing team’ that won the prestigious Sir Ian McLennan Science and Engineering medal from CSIRO in 2022. A more recent focus has been to negotiate and develop collaborative, mutually beneficial partnerships with willing companies in an effort to achieve commercial impact and deliver benefit for CSIRO, partner companies, and Australia.

Travis Baroni is the head of technology for Rio Tinto’s battery materials group. He leads a team conducting studies on several growth projects with the Rio Tinto portfolio as well as leading the technology development program for the group. He started his career is a geologist before completing a PhD in applied physics. He has spent most of his career in technical and leadership roles developing and implementing technology for mining and minerals processing operations and involved in various roles in the design and commissioning of projects.

In his role as Senior Industry Executive at Accenture – Industry X, Seelan focuses on Operational Excellence, Intelligent Asset Management, Capital Project Innovation, and digital Business Systems. He is part of Accenture's Global Mining and Metals Community of Practice. Before joining Accenture, Seelan held global leadership roles at international Mining and Metals companies. These global industry roles included brownfield and greenfield Capital Projects, Investment Management, and the development and deployment of frontline Operating Systems Excellence programs. Seelan has also been an advisor to Energy and Resources companies in Australia, Asia Pacific , UK and South Africa; delivering business transformation across operations and projects. Seelan has a BSc Geology and Economic Geology (Hons) and an MBA. He is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He also holds several certificates and post-graduate courses in innovation, mining operations, and strategy from several institutions. He is passionate about leadership, innovation and contributing to making our industry better for the environment and society.

Appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in November 2018, Nicole joined MRIWA after spending 15 years at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia coordinating industry input on a variety of government regulatory and policy issues and facilitating collaboration within the resources sector. Nicole holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and a Master of Risk Management from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Professor Ismet Canbulat is a mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in research, consultancy, management, on-site and academia. He has BSc, MSc and PhD degrees. He is currently Professor and Kenneth Finlay Chair of Rock Mechanics at the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, UNSW Sydney. His principle research interests and expertise lie in rock mechanics theory and application, ground control and rock mass classification, design of ground support systems, numerical modelling in addition to other areas in mining engineering including mine design, layout selection and geotechnical impact assessment, risk management and advanced risk based design and evaluation, ground stability aspects of mine closure and subsidence assessment. Ismet is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and, a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society, International Society for Rock Mechanics, Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (USA).