Rick Valenta

Director of the BRC and the JKMRC – the geology, mining and mineral processing centres at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at UQ.

Rick Valenta is the Director of the BRC and the JKMRC – the geology, mining and mineral processing centres at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at UQ.  Prior to that, he spent 23 years in Exploration and Development with major and junior mining companies in Australia and Canada in senior technical and executive roles. He has been involved in numerous mineral discoveries and development projects covering gold, copper and uranium. His current role is focused on innovation to provide future mineral supply and to make mining and mineral processing more sustainable.  He leads a team of more than 100 researchers and postgraduate students working with over 30 industry and government partners.