Dr Kathy Ehrig completed her Bachelor of Science in Geology at California State University, Fresno in 1984 and earned a PhD in geology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. She worked as a Geological Technician for the US Navy from 1974-1982 before completing her studies and finally going to work with Western Mining Corporation and, later, BHP Billiton as Principal Geometallurgist at Olympic Dam. Kathy lead the team of metallurgists and geologist who developed and implemented the testing program to characterise the mineralogy and geometallurgy of the complex Olympic Dam breccia-hosted Fe-oxide Cu-U-Au-Ag deposit, one of the largest deposits in the world. The geometallurgy team also developed the world’s first clay mineralogy model for a calcrete-hosted uranium deposit. While geometallurgy only emerged as a discipline in the early 2000s, Kathy has always focused on the ways that minerals behaved in the processing plant, recognising that value is only realised when revenue is gained from those minerals. Her current work consists of optimising the OD geometallurgy models for use in short-, medium-, and long-term mine planning and developing geometallurgy testing programs to be used in exploration. Kathy volunteers significant time and energy to a variety of research activities, contributing to numerous geological and metallurgical research projects which are co-funded by the Australian Research Council, BHP Olympic Dam, the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and University of Tasmania/CODES. She engages effectively with both academic and industry professionals as well as government, whilst also supporting and mentoring many PhD students and geoscientists. Kathy was awarded the AusIMM’s Professional Excellence Award in 2017, recognising her significant contributions to the minerals industry. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Flinders University for her work unravelling the mineralogy and geology at Olympic Dam.

In September 2015, Dr. Hodge stepped down after serving seven years as President of the International Council on Mining and Metals. His career has included assignments in the private sector, with government, in quasi-judicial processes, in civil society organisations, in communities, and with Indigenous peoples. Throughout this time he has explored both technical and social dimensions of achieving human and ecosystem well-being, seeking common ground between actors and integrating multiple values into the solutions to some of the most difficult socio-technical-environmental-financial challenges facing today’s society.

Ian Macfarlane is the Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council, a non-executive director of Woodside Petroleum, the Chairman of the Innovative Manufacturing Co-operative Research Centre, a member of the University of Queensland Rural Clinical School Toowoomba Community Advisory Committee, a Board Member of Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise, an Honorary Fellow of AusIMM Minerals Institute, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ian was elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Groom in October 1998 and is Australia’s longest serving Federal Resources and Energy Minister and the Coalition’s longest serving Federal Industry and Innovation Minister with over 14 years of experience in both Cabinet and shadow ministerial positions. Ian has extensive experience across the resources and energy, agribusiness, science and innovation, skills and training and manufacturing and industry sectors. Ian retired from the Federal Parliament in May 2016. Before entering federal politics, Ian was one of the country's most active agripoliticians. He previously farmed peanuts, sorghum and wheat, and ran cattle in Queensland's Burnett region. Ian was President of the Queensland Graingrowers Association for seven years, President of the Grains Council of Australia for two years, and simultaneously held executive positions on the Queensland and National Farmers' Federations.

Professor Neville Plint is the Director of the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia. Neville holds has a Chemistry degree, PhD and MBA from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and brings extensive leadership experience and a deep understanding of the mining sector having worked for 20 years with Anglo American in South Africa. His career has focused on delivering improved operational performance on mining sites by developing and implementing new technologies, whilst establishing a global network of research professionals in academic institutes, mining companies and research organisations.