Dr Richard Walley OAM is a Noongar man and one of Australia’s leading Aboriginal performers, musicians and writers. Richard is a working director of his family-owned business, Aboriginal Productions and Promotions, which delivers cultural awareness and learning programs and has been in operation for over 25 years. Richard is a committed leader in the promotion of Noongar culture, and has extensive experience working alongside Australian and international organisations as a cultural consultant and presenter. Richard lectures on Aboriginal culture at UWA and is a regular host and participant at significant public and cultural events in Perth and the South West. In 1978, Richard formed the Middar Aboriginal Theatre which has since taken Noongar culture to 32 countries. It is estimated more than 10 million people have experienced a live performance from Middar, contributing to the company’s win of the 1988 Gold Swan Tourism Award. In 2015, Richard was named a State Living Treasure from the Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts for his lifetime contribution to arts and culture.

Lynn has recently moved into the role of Chief Advisor Orebody Knowledge Technical Assurance for Rio Tinto, looking after the group Resource and Reserve reporting. Prior to this Lynn was General Manager – Resource Knowledge & Definition for Rio Tinto; leading a global team providing orebody knowledge expertise for Rio Tinto Exploration. She is a geologist by background with over 25 years’ experience in the mining industry. Prior to Rio Tinto, Lynn worked in operational and consulting roles, most recently as General Manager Operations for Snowden Mining Consultants. Lynn actively advocates for inclusion both within Rio Tinto and across the Resources sector. She is a past Chair of the national AusIMM WIMnet committee and sits on the state WIMWA summit committee. She is a recipient of the 2014 MCA Women in Mining Scholarship for the AICD Company Director’s Course and was awarded a place on the 100 Inspirational Women in Mining list in 2018. Lynn has two daughters and spent several years on their school board as Secretary and Chair.

Rene is the principal consultant with RSC. He holds a Master’s degree in Structural Geology and Tectonics. Rene is a Chartered Professional and a Fellow with the AusIMM, a Registered Professional Geologist with the AIG, and has published papers and provides training on sampling, QAQC, and resource estimation.

Bill Johnston was sworn in as the Mines and Petroleum, Commerce and Industrial Relations, Electoral Affairs, and Asian Engagement Minister in March 2017. As our State’s first Asian Engagement Minister, Minister Johnston’s focus was to capitalise on the rapid population and economic growth in Asia to create more job-boosting opportunities in Western Australia. After almost two years in those roles, Minister Johnston was appointed Energy Minister on December 13, 2018.To accommodate these changes, and to focus on this important new role, the Asian Engagement, Commerce and Electoral Affairs portfolios were handed over to other Cabinet Ministers. He retains the Mines and Petroleum and Industrial Relations portfolios.

Mark is leading a high performing team that is building BHP a safer, smarter, better West Australian Iron Ore (WAIO). Together, he and his team are transforming the way work is done by mine geologists. They are leading innovation and continuous improvement, embracing value chain automation, and, empowering the planning and technical function. He is creating a culture of high performance by connecting people with vision and purpose, evaluating business strategy and measuring return on investment. He is leading inclusion and diversity in his workplace and continues to explore flexible work options for his people. His mining geology team is making a difference across the business scorecard. Mark has 20 years of experience in a variety of mining companies and commodities including gold, metallurgical coal and iron ore. He has enjoyed frontline and leadership positions in the technical services from mine planning and production scheduling to exploration and mining geology. Mark has a Bachelor of Science with Honours (Economic Geology) from the University of New England, is an accredited Return on Investment (ROI) practitioner and holds certificates in mindful leadership and professional photography. He is also recipient of an international business excellence award (SAI Global) for professional services in the field of risk management, compliance and evaluation.

Jacqui has a background in statistics, geoscience, and law. Her career spans resource modelling, project evaluation, university research guidance, and the development of programs for mining industry collaboration and innovation. Jacqui has been active in community service to the industry via roles on Australia's JORC, professional society leadership, and involvement with students at universities and schools.

Kathy, FAusIMM(CP), completed a PhD in Geology from the University of California- Berkeley in 1991 and left San Francisco in 1992 to join the former WMC as a research geologist to work on the genesis of the Olympic Dam deposit, and to provide mineralogical support to metallurgy. In 2006, she moved to Adelaide to lead the development of a geometallurgy program. In 2017, she received a Professional Excellence Award from the AusIMM and a degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa from Flinders University in recognition of her contribution to the geological and geometallurgical understanding of the Olympic Dam deposit.

Abe Whaanga is currently a Senior Mine Geologist at OceanaGold’s Waihi Operation and has been working there for over 3 years. A Victoria University of Wellington graduate, Abe began his geology career in komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide deposits in Kambalda. He has over 10 years experience working as a Geologist in the WA mining industry and 3 years in the GIS industry. His experience in gold, nickel and iron ore commodities includes geological and structural modelling, resource estimation and geophysical techniques, as well as database, project and financial management.

Graduating in 2008 with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Geology from the Camborne School of Mines in England Simon then began his career as a Graduate Geologist with KCGM at the Fimiston Open Pit and Mt Charlotte Underground Mine. After 7 years with KCGM, in which he filled a variety of roles, he transferred to the Newmont Goldcorp Tanami Operations where he currently holds the role of Senior Mine Geologist.

Perry is a mining and resource geologist with 30 years’ experience in open pit mining and grade control, geological data collection, resource estimation and production reconciliation (gold, copper, nickel, uranium, bauxite, coal and iron ore). Perry is also a qualified JORC Competent Person for the reporting of Mineral Resources (copper-gold, uranium etc.). A graduate of Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, Perry’s career started as a graduate mine geologist in the Western Australian goldfields. Over the following fifteen years, he worked in mine and resource geology roles at various copper, gold and nickel mining projects. Perry moved to Queensland in 2001 with MIM/Xstrata as Senior Geologist at the Ernest Henry Copper-Gold Mine before joining Rio Tinto (Brisbane) in January 2006, where he is currently Principal Advisor - Mine Geology.