Annual Dinner - A night to connect & celebrate

Mike Wort graduated in Mining Geology in 1963 and gained four years’ experience with assignments in Ghana, UK, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands before returning to London for an MSc in Mineral Process Design, gained in October 1968.

He then migrated to Australia to work for AMDEL in Adelaide and then at Mt Isa at the lead-zinc-silver mine in N W Queensland before switching to the heavy mineral sands industry south of Perth.
He then returned to UK to do a PhD on heavy mineral sands, returning to Australia in January 1980.

Since then he has worked across Australia for many companies including BHP, Rio Tinto , WMC, SNC-Lavalin and Bateman Engineering with his main focus on process plant design.

Mike has been fortunate to work with most of the major mineral commodities with the exception of bauxites and alumina. Overseas assignments during his career have included projects in Turkiye, Malaysia, Iran, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, USA, and Sierra Leone.

Today he operates as an independent mineral processing consultant.

Matt commenced studying Engineering and Commerce in 2022 and is currently in his penultimate year at the University of Western Australia. Majoring in Mining Engineering and Finance, he is passionate about the mining industry, as it offers him unique challenges and allows for innovative problem-solving. Post-graduation, Matt endeavours to combine knowledge from both his majors to better the mining industry on an operational scale.
He has undertaken work experience with IGO's ventilation team at their Nova Operation and has recently finished a winter program at Agnew with Barminco as a Truck Operator.

Matt joined the AusIMM in 2024, and has been actively involved with the AusIMM UWA Student Chapter. He now serves as the 2025 Mining Games Coordinator for the APAC Mining Games Competition to be held in Perth this year.

Furthermore, Matt was a recipient of the 2025 AusIMM Education Endowment Scholarship, providing him with an excellent opportunity to receive expert mentoring from a mining professional and learn invaluable knowledge about the mining value supply chain while interacting with other students from around Australia on an annual field trip.

Outside the mining industry and study, Matt works as a bar manager. He also gives his time to charity organisations, recently raising over $5000 for Variety Australia.