Truck, hoist or conveyor? Navigating the trade-offs in underground mine design

Nik Gresshoff is a senior mining and materials technology executive with extensive global experience driving productivity and innovation in the mining sector. As Manager for ABB’s Mining and Materials business in Australia and Cluster Manager for Australia, South Africa, and Southeast Asia, he leads diverse, high-performing teams delivering mining solutions that are increasingly automated, electrified, and digitalised.

Nik specialises in optimising mine infrastructure and material haulage systems, having led numerous studies that help mining companies assess and implement efficient solutions across hoisting, trucking, and conveying. His work focuses on improving throughput, reducing costs, and enhancing sustainability through practical, technology-driven outcomes.

His career spans senior leadership roles at Siemens and Schneider Electric, where he led the development of national strategies, restructured sales organisations, and designed global tools to support scalable growth. His ability to align technical innovation with commercial strategy has made him a trusted advisor and change agent within the industry. A passionate advocate for sustainability, Nik is widely recognised for his thought leadership on decarbonisation in mining. He regularly shares insights through presentations and talks that challenge conventional thinking and inspire action toward a lower-carbon future.

Nik holds a Master’s in Engineering and an MBA from Melbourne Business School, equipping him with a powerful blend of analytical rigour and business acumen. His leadership style is grounded in collaboration, curiosity, and a commitment to building high-performing teams.

Outside of work, Nik explores his personal interests in aviation and gold prospecting, bringing the same sense of exploration and innovation to his hobbies as he does to his professional mission.

Chris Faast is a mining engineer with more than 20 years of mining and business experience in a range of roles which encompass the majority of both mining and business operations.

He has specialised experience in mine planning, company finances and mining consulting. Chris takes pride in being able to understand client’s needs, and meeting or exceeding their expectations by communicating and delivering the relevant information that they need.

Chris has experience with resource and reserve preparation for approval to JORC Code (2012) and NI 43-101 stand-ards, from orebody modelling to optimisation to project financial evaluation.

He has experience with a variety of commodities and deposits, including precious metals, base metals and bulk com-modities across Australia and Africa.