Roundtable Leaders and Biographies
Shaun Barker (Academia)
CODES (Australia)
Table #1, Leader 1
Shaun completed his Ph.D. at The Australian National University in 2007, and then worked for 5 years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit, where he worked on developing vectors towards Carlin-type gold deposits, and developing new stable isotope methods suitable for the mineral exploration industry. Since 2012 he worked at the University of Waikato in New Zealand as a senior lecturer in Earth Sciences, before recently beginning a new position at the Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences (CODES) at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Regina Baumgartner (Industry)
Teck Resources (Chile)
Table #11, Leader 1
Regina earned a Ph.D. and is a qualified geologist in base and precious metals. She lived in Peru over 10 years and is currently based in Chile. She has been navigating in the last 18 years between academia, greenfields, and brownfields exploration as well as an over 4-year mine assignment. She is keen to share some insights on personal experiences since when she was a student, she found this extremely helpful for her career.
She currently works for Teck in Chile and is also professor at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP) when schedule permits. She also served the SEG as Vice-President of Student Affairs between 2014 and 2016.
Dave Broughton (Industry)
Consultant (Canada)
Table #4, Leader 2
Mineral exploration geologist, +30 years primarily in Canada (orogenic Au, sediment-hosted Cu, Zn), the Central African (Zambia-DRCongo) Copperbelt (sediment-hosted Cu, Co, Zn), and South Africa (Bushveld PGE-Ni-Cu). VPX Ivanplats (now Ivanhoe Mines) 2008-2016, major discoveries at Kamoa and Platreef. MSc: Waterloo, Canada; Ph.D.: CSM, USA. Currently director and consulting advisor to several companies, adjunct professor at Laurentian University. Strong believer in field geology, creativity, working with students and young professionals, responsible mining and exploration practice.
Paula Brunetto (Industry)
Lundin Mining (Chile)
Table #7, Leader 2
Paula is an exploration geologist with more than 7 years of experience on greenfield, brownfield, and project evaluation in Teck Resources and Lundin Mining. Paula obtained her BSc degree from Universidad de Chile and completed a M.Sc. degree at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at UBC in Vancouver. Paula has worked in porphyry, epithermal, and IOCG deposits in Chile and NW Turkey. This year, Paula joined the Early Career Professionals Committee as representative of South America.
Annick Chouinard (Industry)
Consultant (Canada)
Table #3, Leader 2
Exploration geologist with an M.Sc. in metamorphic geology and a Ph.D. and Postdoc in economic geology. Aside from a short time as VP Exploration for Andina Mineral, Annick has been happy in the shoes of a consultant. After a decade of great field experience, preferably in remote areas, she has been focussing for the last fifteen years on data integration and optimization of our, generally, huge data sets. From micro to deposit scale. From grassroots to advanced mining. From small to world-class deposits.
Advocate of interdisciplinary collaboration and currently trying to improve her engineering language skills. One of her last projects is bringing her...right back at the University, using the SEM and microprobe. Always happy to brainstorm on a new challenge!
Jesse Clark (Industry)
BHP (Australia)
Table #6, Leader 1
Jesse graduated from the University of Adelaide equipped with a B.Sc. with first class honors specializing in economic geology. He started as a mine geologist with BHP at Olympic Dam in 2015 in the global graduate program. Jesse is a very passionate SEG member and currently serves as the Australasian representative, and Chair of the Early Career Professionals Committee and an SEG mentor. He is also an active AusIMM member, and is currently the Roxby Downs Branch Chair, serving on the committee since 2015. In 2017, Jesse began his MSc in Economic Geology at CODES focusing of advanced skills in field mapping and linking structural and paragenetic observation in complex terrains. Currently, he is directly applying these skills with his colleagues towards a revised structural architecture for the complex Olympic Dam orebody.
Cari Deyell-Wurst (Industry)
Corescan (Canada)
Table #2, Leader 1
Dr. Deyell is a geoscientist specializing in spectroscopy applied to mineral exploration. She is currently a consultant with Corescan Australia and works out of her home office in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Deyell has a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, Canada and spent 6 years working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Ore Deposit Research, University of Tasmania, Australia. She has two elementary-aged children and shares parenting duties with her husband — also a geologist.
Alina Gaibor (Industry)
BHP (Chile)
Table #4, Leader 1
Alina is a geologist with more than 25 years of professional experience in mineral exploration, including epithermal precious metal prospects, copper-gold porphyries and orogenic gold deposits. Her experience covers regional greenfields surveys through to resource and reserve definition managing drilling programs, database management and geochemistry surveys and QAQC. Alina enjoys fieldwork and have mostly worked in remote field camps. She worked in Ecuador, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Canada, the Philippines and is currently based in Santiago, Chile.
Elizabeth Holley (Academia)
Colorado School of Mines (USA)
Table #3, Leader 1
Dr. Elizabeth Holley is an exploration and mining geologist and an Assistant Professor in the Mining Engineering department at Colorado School of Mines, where she heads the Mining Geology Research Group. Dr. Holley and her graduate students work on a wide variety of research problems in mining, throughout the lifecycle from ore deposit genesis and mineral exploration to closure, reclamation, and mineral resources policy.
Dr. Holley holds a BA in Geology from Pomona College, an MS in Geochemistry from Otago University in New Zealand, and a Ph.D. in Geology from Colorado School of Mines. She also serves as the Education and Training Program coordinator for the Society of Economic Geologists and has organized more than 100 professional development short courses to date. Prior to joining the faculty at Colorado School of Mines, Dr. Holley worked in mineral exploration on five continents and contributed to the discovery of the White Gold deposit, Yukon.
Constanza Jara (Industry)
Barrick and UWA (Australia)
Table #11, Leader 2
Chilean geologist, graduated from Universidad de Concepcion. Spent +7 years in Barrick Exploration, Chile, mostly working in the Andes of Chile-Argentina. Best time in her career was to be part of the Alturas (HS epithermal Au-Ag) discovery team. Currently pursuing a PhD at University of Western Australia on the Structural Evolution of the El Indio Belt, since 2015, supported by Barrick. Her main geological interest are gold exploration and regional geology. She loves the mountains and a strong advocate on sustainability on both Exploration and Mining.
Doug Kirwin (Industry)
Consultant (Thailand)
Table #10, Leader 1
Doug is an Australian geologist with 45 years of international experience. His exploration teams have been responsible for several well-known mineral discoveries which have are now being mined, the most notable being the giant Hugo Dummett gold copper deposit in Mongolia developed by Rio Tinto. He was executive vice president of Ivanhoe Mines from 1996 to 2012 and currently an independent consulting geologist. Doug has an M.Sc. in mineral exploration from James Cook University where he is currently an adjunct professor of geology. He is currently the SEG president elect.
Pilar Lecumberri-Sanchez (Academia)
University of Alberta (Canada)
Table #1, Leader 2
Assistant professor at the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at University of Alberta. Grew up in Spain, got her undergraduate in geology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. She was a visiting researcher at GFZ Potsdam, and a postdoc at ETH Zurich and University of Arizona. Her research focuses on geochemistry of mineral deposits with a particular interest in magmatic-hydrothermal systems (porphyry- and granite-related systems). Her main aim is to improve our understanding of the behavior of elements on Earth and to apply the results to current challenges in mining.
Susan Lomas (Industry)
Consultant (Canada)
Table #6, Leader 2
Susan has over 30 years of experience in the exploration and mining industry. She is President of Lions Gate Geological Consulting Inc. (LGGC) and in February, 2018, she founded the Me Too Mining Association to launch a conversation in the mining industry around sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination.
Miguel Montes (Industry)
Teck Resource (Chile)
Table #2, Leader 2
Chilean Geologist, father of 2 children and part time mother! Undergraduate degree from Universidad de Chile and an MSc degree from Queen's University. He has been working in exploration since 2005 and in Teck since 2010, mainly in porphyry copper environments: Balances the family/work.
Duncan Proctor (Industry)
Independent Consultant (Mexico)
Table #2, Leader 3
N. Duncan Proctor is an exploration geologist and CSM alumni who has over 12-years experience in professional industry. He was part of the Kamoa Copper deposit discovery team in DR Congo and has spent five years with Ivanhoe Mines managing projects in the Central African Copperbelt. Duncan is also co-founder of the Early Career Professionals committee within SEG and has been an advocate for increased participation and involvement of young professionals within the Society. He and his wife currently reside in Mexico with their two adventurous kids.
Fabien Rabayrol (Student)
UBC (Canada)
Table #7, Leader 1
Fabien is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. His research work consists in reconstructing the tectono-magmatic evolution of the Anatolian metallogenic belt in Turkey. He obtained his Master's degree from UniLaSalle in France in 2011, and subsequently worked for Balmoral Resources and Teck Resources as field geologist. Fabien has an extensive experience with SEG Student Chapters as former treasurer of the SEG Student Chapter LaSalle France and president of the UBC SEG Student Chapter. He is currently a North America representative at the SEG Student Committee.
François Robert (Industry)
Barrick (Canada)
Table #10, Leader 2
François holds a degree in Geological Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, where he also obtained MSc and PhD degrees. His Ph.D. focused on the classic orogenic Sigma gold-quartz vein system at Val d'Or, Quebec. This was followed by a post-doctorate at the University of Michigan.
He joined the Geological Survey of Canada in 1985 as a research scientist where he carried out applied research on gold deposits in Canada and abroad. In late 1997, he joined Barrick Gold Corporation where he occupied various positions in Canada, Australia, and South America. He is currently VP and Chief Geologist for Global Exploration.
He has published numerous papers in scientific journals and served on several committees of scientific organizations, including presidency of SEG in 2015. He has received several awards from SEG, including the Waldemar Lindgren Award, SEG Silver Medal, and Ralph W. Marsden Award.
Danielle Schmandt (Academia)
University of Adelaide (Australia)
Table #5, Leader 2
Danielle has a BA and MS in geology and currently currently finishing her Ph.D. with research on mineralogy and geometallurgy of the Olympic Dam deposit. She started her career in exploration geology and then gained experience in resource modeling and estimation. She also worked with the dark side (oil and gas) in inorganic geochemistry analysis and interpretation. She self-proclaims herself to "Jane of all trades" Geologist with a leaning towards geochemistry.
Libby Sharman (Industry)
BHP (Chile)
Table #5, Leader 1
Libby is an exploration geologist with a research background. She completed her Ph.D. at McGill University and has since then gained experience in different facets of the exploration and mining industry including as a project geologist, researcher and communications specialist. She has experience on varied deposit types and is currently working for BHP in Chile as their Principal Global Geoscientist for copper exploration. Her eclectic background and personal experiences have fostered an interest in improving the mining industry, and making it a more inclusive and appealing sector in which to work.
Adam Simon (Academia)
University of Michigan (USA)
Table #8, Leader 1
Adam earned degrees in geology from the University of Maryland and Stony Brook University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University for two years, where he investigated the formation of volcanic rocks in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Adam spent seven years as a faculty member of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and in 2012, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan where he is a professor. He combines field, analytical and experimental work to unravel the genesis of mineral systems, including IOCG, IOA, porphyry and Carlin systems. Adam co-authored the textbook Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, and has published fifty papers in the field of mineral resources.
Benjamin Teschner (Student)
Colorado School of Mines (USA)
Table #9, Leader 1
Benjamin is a Ph.D. Candidate at Colorado School of Mines where his work explores how social and community variables can be integrated into mine design, valuation, and planning. Ben has eight years' experience working with mining companies and governments managing the social impacts of mining projects around the world.
Anne Thompson (Industry)
PetraScience (Canada)
Table #8, Leader 2
Exploration geologist. Founder of PetraScience Consultants. Co-editor Atlas of Alteration. Half of a dual career couple. Councilor @SocEconGeol. Past editor @RFG2018. Parent. Advocate for new approaches to diversity. Typically optimistic.
John Thompson (Academia)
University of Cornell (USA)
Table #9, Leader 2
John divides his time between Cornell University, where he is the Wold Professor of Environmental Balance for Human Sustainability, and Vancouver, BC, where the family company focuses on exploration, mining and sustainability. John has over 35 years in the mining industry and related research, and has had diverse volunteer roles including membership in World Economic Forum councils, Chair of Resources for Future Generations 2018, Chair of Geoscience BC, and past President of SEG. He is currently Chair of Genome BC and a Board member for exploration and mining technology companies. He is trying to decide what to do next.
Alan Wilson (Industry)
Antofagasta Minerals (Australia)
Table #10, Leader 1
Alan is a Ph.D. qualified economic geologist with over 25 years global experience in base and precious metal exploration. Having lived in 6 different countries on three continents during his career thus far, and explored in over 30 countries on five continents, Alan is keen to share his experiences and insights with future generations of exploration geoscientists.