John Demol currently works as a Senior Applied Research Chemist in ANSTO's Minerals Group. His role covers process development work for a wide range of metals, with a bent toward thermal treatment processes and understanding phase transformations in metallurgical processes at elevated temperature. His PhD project through Murdoch University and ANSTO examined the sulfuric acid baking of rare earth ores, with a focus on understanding how fundamental reaction processes in the bake affect the subsequent deportment of rare earths and impurities. He has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Chemistry from the University of Wollongong, and 15 years overall experience working in metallurgical process development and applied research.

Goutam Das is a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Mineral Resources, Waterford, Perth. He holds M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in chemistry from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, India. Prior joining to CSIRO in 2006, he worked in SGS Lakefield and Western Minerals Technology in Perth, Rubamin Limited in Baroda, India and Institute of Mineral and Materials Technology (under CSIR) in Bhubaneswar, India. He has over thirty-two years’ experience in hydrometallurgy in the area of base metals, light metals, chemical processing, tailings reprocessing, battery material synthesis, nano material synthesis and smectite ore slurry rheology.

Etienne has 21 years of experience in the mineral processing industry, with close to 20 years at Mineral Technologies covering laboratory metallurgical test work, process design and management, and process plant commissioning. He is currently the global head of MT’s process group, and his responsibilities include the design, execution, and evaluation of metallurgical test work programs for the development of cost-effective process circuits for the beneficiation of various ore types, including mineral sands, rare-earth minerals, iron ore and chromite ore. Travelling worldwide, Etienne participates in plant and equipment commissioning, flowsheet de-bottlenecking and manages pilot plant campaigns. He is also involved in the development and testing of new proprietary separation equipment and computer modelling software, and reviews internal and external metallurgical test work reports to support preparation of the criteria for process performance guarantees or to sign-off as a Competent Person.

Professor Sara Couperthwaite is an industrial chemist with over 15 years of experience in value-adding mining wastes and optimising industrial processes. She works at Queensland University of Technology's School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, and collaborates with industry partners to solve real-world problems using fundamental research, resulting in tangible commercial outcomes. Her primary research interest is in the adoption of clean technologies in mineral processing and the beneficial reuse of mining waste streams. She is currently leading a multi-million-dollar research program with Lava Blue to demonstrate the production of high purity alumina (HPA) from multiple feedstocks, such as clay, gibbsite, and aluminium-rich mineral producer waste streams at mini-plant scale. HPA is used as a ceramic coating on lithium-ion battery separators, which is in high demand due to the growth of the LED and electric vehicle markets. In summary, she is committed to working with industry partners to ensure the development of the most efficient and sustainable processes to address real-world challenges and is currently focusing her efforts in critical minerals.