James Davison, General Manager Surface Mining and Technology | Rio Tinto
James is the General Manager – Surface Mining & Technology in the Rio Tinto Group Technical team. This team is responsible for working with partners inside and outside of the business to “shape the future of surface mining”. As a team we are responsible for coordinating the technical input to group wide decarbonisation of surface mines, the change to mining systems through using smaller equipment, our digital approach to surface mines and surface mining practices.
Previous to his current role, James led a multidisciplinary team established in mid-2020 to assist with improving the practices within Rio Tinto to ensure the destruction of areas of cultural heritage significance did not occur again. This role was accountable for coordinating the delivery of the actions contained in the Parliamentary Inquiry and the Rio Tinto Board Review.
Between 2015 and 2020, James was accountable for the delivery of development studies and new technology across the Iron Ore product group. This includes new mining and rail developments and the application of new technology.
In working for Rio Tinto, James has held various roles in mining operations, both underground and open cut, in technical services and global business improvement. He has worked in numerous countries including Australia, the UK and Sweden and across a diverse range of commodities such as coal, copper, gold and Iron Ore. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of New South Wales and a Master in Applied Finance and Investment.
Jörgen Sandström, Head, Transforming Industrial Ecosystems – Centre for Energy and Materials | World Economic Forum
Jörgen Sandström is the Head of the Transforming Industrial Ecosystem Program, at the World Economic Forum.
Jörgen lead several teams who work in the forefront of industry transformation, energy transition, sustainability and decarbonisation.
These CEO-led initiatives / projects intend to deliver net-zero materials ecosystems; unlock the technologies, finance and policies that will enable them; and design new sustainable business models towards their future performance.
Jörgen is the former Head of Mining and Metals Industry at the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum’s Mining & Metals Industry community consists of the world’s leading mining and metals companies, representing a broad range of commodities and all regions. He has twenty years of experience working with energy and commodities as well as in diplomacy.
From 2008 to 2016 he was Executive Officer of Addax Bioenergy SA leading a large bioenergy venture in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
He started his career with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs with postings in Russia, Switzerland, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Estonia.
Kalev Ruberg, CEO & Executive Technology Advisor | Karu Advisory
Kalev Ruberg has been active in the information systems arena for over 40 years. As a BSc and Masters graduate from MIT, his studies included work at the Architecture Machine Lab (now the Media Lab) before carrying out digital simulation research at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) in Washington DC, University of California Berkeley Labs, and then at Georgia Tech, as an assistant professor.
In 1982 he joined Canada’s National Research Council in Ottawa, as a Senior Research Scientist where he developed a number of machine learning algorithms in the artificial intelligence field. Joining IBM Global Services, he designed large machine learning and control systems for IBM Manufacturing and clients worldwide.
In 1998, he was appointed the CIO and Deputy Minister to the Finance Minister, at the Government of Manitoba, where he was responsible for the government’s Information Services. Subsequently, he led development at a B2B e-commerce company, and then became a VP at TELUS, where he was responsible for Application Development, Business Development, and development of the IT strategy and offerings for TELUS’ Healthcare vertical.
Building on his experience at Telus, Kalev became the CIO and Executive General Manager for Information Services at Placer Dome, formerly the largest gold mining enterprise in the world here he led the restructuring of technology services worldwide. Previously, Kalev worked at Teck Resources as the CIO Vice President, Teck Digital Systems, where he was responsible for the overall digital systems services and projects for this global mining company. Most recently, Kalev was appointed CEO and Technology Executive Advisor at Karu Advisory Ltd. In 2020, Kalev was also appointed adjunct Professor at the Keevil School of Mining Engineering at UBC.
Kalev has published more than 30 papers in proceedings and journals. In 2018, he was named to CIM Magazine’s 2018 Names to Know and is Chair of the Global Mining Guidelines organization.
Laura Mottola, Partner – Vice-President, Advisory Services | BBA Consultants
A seasoned professional mining engineer and business executive with over 30 years of global experience across mining and manufacturing industries, Laura is recognized globally as a leader in operational excellence, innovation, and business transformation in the natural resource sector. In addition to her dedication to Lean thinking and practice, she is passionate about integrating systems thinking, circular economy, and other concepts to develop collaborative approaches to solving complex industry problems.
Laura, a member of the Lean Enterprise Institute’s faculty, regularly teaches Lean Strategy Deployment (Hoshin Kanri) to global industry organizations and executive teams. She founded Flow Partners, a boutique consulting firm with operations in Canada and Chile which is now part of the BBA Group, a Canadian engineering consulting company that specializes in the mining and metals and energy sectors. Laura is Vice-President of Advisory Services at BBA, a partner and part of the management team of the firm.
Notably, Laura was named in the inaugural edition of the 100 most inspirational women in mining by Women in Mining UK . She holds a B.Eng. in Mining and a Master of Engineering in Mining Automation from McGill University.
Lachlan McAndrew, Principal Advisor – Surface Mining | Rio Tinto
Lachlan’s current role is to support Rio Tinto’s surface mines in the mine planning discipline with a focus on developing and sharing leading practice and building capability. He has recently driven the development of Rio’s new Mine Planning Framework the goal of which is to simplify and standardise practices and support Rio’s operational improvement efforts.
Lachlan began his career with Rio Tinto in 1997 as a graduate mining engineer in the Pilbara after graduating from the University of Queensland. He has worked in Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore, Aluminium and Development & Technology Product Groups across various technical, studies and operational roles.
Liv Carroll, Managing Director, Applied Intelligence Natural Resources Lead | Accenture
Liv is the Natural Resources Lead for Applied Intelligence and leads the UK CoE for Industrial Analytics. Liv’s mission is to work with our industrial, mining, and wider natural resources clients to move practice from one of producers to resource stewardship and drive our greener, more sustainable future through collaboration and innovation.
As a Chartered Geologist with 20 years’ experience in the resources industries (exploration, mining, metals and quarrying), Liv works with C-suite and client teams to transform business process and operations through data-driven strategy and the development of data & AI tools for new working practices. For improved safety, sustainability, ESG and productivity, innovation is key, as well as embedding sustainability throughout the enterprise and value chain. Our natural resource industries are facing significant challenges, not least climate change, and Liv is actively driving the industry towards autonomous operations and developing critical capabilities, including effective tailings and water management.
Liv’s previous experience includes technical and advisory roles with engineering environmental consultancies to listed and private mineral explorers and operators; investment groups for due diligence; corporate strategy development and project portfolio management; and government bodies for strategic supply of mineral. Her experience is supported by an MSc in Mineral Project Appraisal from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College; a BSc (Hons) in Geology from Durham University; and an Executive Course in Behavioural Science from London School of Economics & Political Science.
Liv is passionate about inclusion and diversity. She is a firm believer that our industry is a force for good and she is dedicated to advocating for the industry; building a thriving community; and creating an environment that attracts and retains future generations of our workforce. Liv has represented Accenture on the leadership committee of GMG since 2016 and is a member of the governance committee. She was involved in the development of the short interval control guideline and actively contributes to several GMG working groups, including AI in Mining and Autonomous Operations. Liv also represents Accenture on the Camborne School of Mines Industry Advisory Board and is an active participant in the Association of the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College.
Liv was the convenor of the London Mining Sundowner, the UK’s largest mining industry monthly networking event from 2007 to 2022; is a former member of PERC (Pan European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee); a former Trustee, Council Member and Professional Secretary of the Geological Society; and continues to scrutineer for Chartership. Liv was named one of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining 2013 and 2016, and one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering 2016, a Telegraph initiative joint with the Women’s Engineering Society.
Mark O’Brien, General Manager for Digital Technology & Innovation | CITIC Pacific Mining
Mark O’Brien currently serves as the General Manager for Digital Technology & Innovation at CITIC Pacific Mining, the world’s largest magnetite iron ore operation, and China’s largest resources sector investment outside of China. His responsibilities cover strategic engagement with the business, technology leadership and innovation, and ownership of the key application and infrastructure platforms at CPM, across both IT and OT.
Mark has an involvement in mining technology that stretches over 30 years. He is a graduate of Curtin University with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and has undertaken postgraduate studies in AI, Philosophy and Ethics. Mark is also the Chair of the GMG AI in Mining Working Group, as well as a contributor to national and international collaborations around mining technology.
Matthew Moyer, VP Innovation and Business Optimisation | South32
Over nearly two decades, Matthew Moyer has held various leadership roles spanning strategy, operations, engineering, capital projects, finance, technology, improvement, and innovation in a diverse set of industries that include mining, manufacturing, healthcare, rail, steel, refining, government, agriculture and professional services / consulting.
Matthew sees his teams as his second family and strives to bring an approachable, authentic, values-driven style of leadership focused on setting high aspirations, empowering people, building diversity and inclusivity, and driving measurable performance. Over the past decade, he has established a consistent track record of rapidly translating strategy to execution, leading change, building and leading organisations, and executing performance transformations that produce tangible, sustained, performance improvement in organisations.
Michelle Thomas, Head of Innovation Delivery for Minerals Australia | BHP
In her current role as Head of Innovation Delivery for Minerals Australia, Michelle is responsible for ensuring alignment on priorities, capability, and value across the innovation portfolio and for co-designing on-site technology pilots to ensure that value is realised. Michelle joined the mining industry 2.5 years ago as Global Practice Lead for Geophysics at BHP following a 22-year career in the petroleum industry which included senior technical and leadership roles including as Head of Innovation for Petroleum, Head of Gulf of Mexico Exploration at BHP and management of various geophysics functional and exploration teams throughout her career.
She holds a BA(hons) in Earth Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK, and an MSc in Petroleum Geology from the IFP in France.
Peter Burman, Program Manager Mine Automation | Boliden
Born in 1964, Mr. Burman holds a Master of Science and M.B.A. Since 2012, he has been Project Manager in the Mine Automation Program. After working for Boliden 1988-1995 he left for the telecom business. During 17 years at Ericsson and Ascom he worked in various positions including R&D manager and Business Area Manager. In 2015, he was appointed to Program manager for the whole mine automation Program.
In addition to his role at Boliden, Mr. Burman also coordinates Boliden’s contacts with several European universities and research organizations.
Phoebe Whattoff, Sustainability Manager | Minviro
Pheobe Whattoff is an experienced life cycle assessment practitioner providing qualitative and quantitative cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessments (LCA) according to the ISO14040:2006, 14044:2006 and ISO 14067 standards for measuring the environmental impacts of critical metals. Phoebe is experienced in providing detailed LCAs for lithium, base metals, REE, and graphite materials and Li-ion battery cell/pack manufacturing and recycling. She additionally supported major battery manufacturers and OEMs in providing carbon footprint reports in line with the EU battery regulations.
Phoebe has published academic articles and whitepapers on the environmental impacts of battery manufacturing and raw material supply chains, specifically focusing on anode-grade graphite production. She led and conducted the Product Category Rules for Graphite, harmonising the LCA methodological approach for graphite LCA’s.
Rob Labbé, CEO and CISO in Residence | MM-ISAC
Rob Labbé is an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years of success across the IT security industry, within mining, software development, telecommunications, retail, oil & gas, manufacturing and healthcare. Leveraging extensive experience in cyber security risk management and critical infrastructure, he is a valuable advisor for an organization that is concerned around the security of their manufacturing or industrial networks, needing to enable a digital transformation.
Rob’s broad areas of expertise include risk management, building diverse cyber security teams, vendor management, training, and professional development. Throughout his executive career, Rob has held leadership positions with Microsoft, Fidelis IT inc. and Teck Resources Limited, and is currently CEO and CISO in Residence of the Mining and Metals Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MM-ISAC).
Heather Ednie, CEO | Global Mining Guidelines Group
Heather Ednie is an influential mining professional who has more than 20 years’ experience in the mining and metals sector, developing and spearheading vital business solutions through communications and association management.
In 2012, she became the Managing Director of Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG). The organization’s purpose is to be a catalyst for the operationalization of innovation in the global mining industry to improve the safety, sustainability and productivity of our mines. In November 2021, she became its CEO.
In September 2021, Heather and two partners launched Global Collaboration Services (GCS), a boutique business offering shared services to small organizations who don’t have the resources to fully manage operations and reach their goals. During the same month she also became the Executive Director of the Metals and Mining Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MM-ISAC) whose mission it is to improve the cyber resiliency of mining and metals companies, preventing incidents impacting safety, environmental sustainability, or operational productivity.
Prior to joining GMG, Heather led a young communications consulting firm – Modica Communications – focused on the advancement of a safe, responsible and respected Canadian mining industry. From 2004 to 2009, as Director of Media and Communications for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Heather successfully reinvented the CIM communications and editorial department as the relevant source of information for the industry.
She is a Mensa Canada member, has served as Vice-Chair of Women in Mining Canada, and is a founding member of the Women in Mining Montreal Branch organizing committee. She was also named one of the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining by Women in Mining UK in 2013.