Daniel Howe had no concept of geology until he attended an inspiring and mind-blowing first lecture at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in 1998 – Planet Earth. From that point his desire to understand the earths systems and processes has continued. An opportunity to take a 12-month work placement with Western Mining Corporation in Kambalda in 2000, as part of his Bachelor of Applied Science (Geoscience) was the spark that ignited a passion for mining geology. Following completion of his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree at The University of Western Australia he returned to Kambalda to pursue his interest in combining geology with value creation at the St Ives Gold Mine. Throughout the last 20 years Daniel has been fortunate to experience and apply his learnings across the eastern goldfields of Western Australia, centred on gold and nickel, open pit and underground, and across both small and large mining operations. In his leadership roles within several companies, he continues to seek excellence in mining geology, through developing talent and skills, continued focus on understanding mineralisation controls and systems, ensuring decisions are made with value outcomes in mind, and optimising systems and processes for efficiency and accuracy.

Lauren is a geologist with 20+ years industry experience across the globe. Her diverse operational career has spanned across Western Australia, Papua New Guinea, East Africa, North and South America and Asia. She has experience in many facets of mine geology including production, resource growth and reserve replacement, resource estimation/competent persons, reconciliations, ore body knowledge and other disciplines. She is passionate about advocating for the mining industry and the many exciting and rewarding opportunities to be experienced. Currently working for OceanaGold as Head of Exploration, Brownfields, she is looking forward to sharing insights around the opportunities and challenges for mine geologists to sustain operations and extend mine lives. Post graduate qualifications include MBA, Graduate Certificate in Mineral Economics and the certificate Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Andrew Job is a Mining Engineer with over 25 years experience in the mining industry. He has worked as a mine manager and general manager of mines and operated in a range of commodity groups. He completed a PhD in the use of Artificial Intelligence and advanced sensors to inform precision mining techniques. Most recently he founded Plotlogic, that develops and deploys sensors and AI for in-mine rock characterisation.

Sarah has over 20 years experience in the mining industry. She has worked in both the Exploration and Mine Geology fields. Based in the Western Australia Goldfields region, she has worked at 3 underground operations, and over 20 open pits. Sarah is currently the Senior Mine Geologist at the Invincible underground Mine, in Kambalda WA.

Vinicius Andrade is a geologist with background in mineral exploration, mine geology, data analysis, and ore characterisation across a range of commodities, including Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Au, and diamond projects in Australia and Brazil. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Brasilia and a Master’s degree in Raw Materials Exploration and Sustainability from the University of Bologna, Italy. Currently, Vinicius works at Glencore in Brisbane, focusing on long-term projects, geometallurgical domaining, and modelling workflows to enhance orebody knowledge and resource optimisation. His previous experience includes extensive underground mine geology at George Fisher and Mount Isa Copper Operations, where he contributed to grade control, geological mapping, and core logging for Cu, Pb and Zn mineralization. Vinicius also conducted research for his Master Thesis as an intern with Rio Tinto Exploration in Bundoora, VIC, working with drill core data from Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), SEM-MLA and geochemical assays for data analysis and predictive geometallurgy. His work included early acid rock drainage estimations, mineralization distribution and penalties assessments.