Renowned mine closure expert with 25 years experience.

Carl has 25 years experience in the mining industry globally, with a focus on mine closure and rehabilitation. Following his undergraduate science degree at UWA, he completed an Honours thesis on seed ecology and his Doctorate on fire ecology both in Alcoa’s rehabilitated bauxite mines in Western Australia. He then took up an academic position at the University of New England in NSW where he developed one of the first focused units on ecosystem rehabilitation, supervised more than 50 students and published more than 60 refereed papers.

In 2001, he took up a position in Alcoa’s research department and made the switch to operational mining roles in 2004. He was Environment and Community Manager for Alcoa’s mining operations in WA for five years. Carl then moved to Anglo American’s Met Coal operations in 2011 to the position of Regional Environment Manager responsible for nine operating sites and nine projects in Qld, NSW and British Columbia (Canada).

In July 2014, he took up a global position with Anglo as Global Head of Mine Closure Planning working at all 60 of their then operations around the world. Carl left Anglo in early 2022 and became a Director and Principal Closure/Rehabilitation of Unearthed Environmental Services Pty Ltd. Clients already include Anglo American, BHP, Glencore, ERA (Rio Tinto), ICMM, AusIMM, Newmont, Newcrest, South32, Fauna and Flora International, and the Queensland Government.

Todd is the Land Stewardship and Rehabilitation Lead for Anglo American Plc and is based in Brisbane, Australia. He has over 17 years experience in environmental management, rehabilitation and closure fields. During his career, he has had exposure to brownfield and greenfield projects in bauxite, coal, gold, iron ore, diamonds, platinum, nickel and copper across Australia and internationally. Todd has been employed in rehabilitation and closure-focused roles for the past 10 years, with his current role driving progressive rehabilitation and integrated programs across Anglo American’s global assets. Todd is passionate about building rehabilitation and closure competencies at the operational and corporate level to drive responsible mining practices and value creation for all stakeholders.

Dr Sheridan Coakes is a Social Scientist with 30 years research and applied experience in the areas of social impact assessment and management and stakeholder and community engagement. Sherie has contributed to the development and institutionalisation of SIA practice in industry and government across Australia and has been involved in numerous large-scale public and private sector development projects in diverse sectors such as mining, quarrying, oil and gas, forestry, renewable energy, infrastructure and urban development.

Sherie currently holds the position of National Social Practice Lead with Umwelt Australia where she leads a national group of 20 social practitioners and is also a member of Umwelt’s Executive Management Team. She is a Convenor of the SIA Community of Practice for the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ), has led the SIA Strategic Environmental Advisory Committee, charged with developing a specialist certification for SIA in Australia and New Zealand, the first of its kind globally, and is a member of the Certified Environmental Practitioners (CEnvP) Certification Board. In May 2021, Sherie was appointed as a Commissioner to the NSW Independent Planning Commission, responsible for making decisions on large and contentious project development applications across NSW.

Kim has over 20 years’ experience in the environmental, social and closure aspects of resources projects throughout Australia and internationally, across all life cycle phases and in operational, corporate, project and consulting roles. For the past 10 years, Kim’s focus has been on integrated closure planning and execution, and all that it involves, across the entire lifecycle of resource assets.

Cherie is Director of Mine Lakes Consulting and Principal Environmental Scientist. She has over 25 years’ experience in consulting and research, focused on the mining industry and with water resources. Cherie’s primary skills are in environmental management, ecotoxicology, ecology, geochemistry and hydrogeology. Cherie is a recognised leading international expert on pit lake sustainability, mine closure planning and rehabilitation; with project experience across Australasia, Asia, and North and South America.

She has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific journal and conference proceeding papers, book chapters, and leading practice industry guidelines, a book and international industry articles and conference presentations on pit lakes, mine closure, aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology. Cherie has helped develop guidance for mine closure, pit lakes and mine water impacts for Western Australia, South Australia, the Commonwealth of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Canada and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Founder of Okane Consultants, Mike works with the company as a senior technical advisor applying technical expertise and knowledge on risk management best practices as tools for development and communication of project objectives and designs. He provides peer review for numerous government and private agencies while also being a member of multiple advisory panels. Mike is also the chair of Okane’s board of directors, and serves as a director of the Landform Design Institute and chair of its Technical Advisory Panel.

Jonathan is a Mine Closure Practitioner with KCB, located in Newcastle Australia. Jonathan has over 16 years of consulting and Owner’s experience in mining, hydro-electric power and ports. He has led several mine closure projects located across the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, Peru, and Papua New Guinea. He is passionate about water stewardship and building professional closure planning capacity within the industry.

Dr Neeltje Slingerland is the national mine closure practice lead for WSP in Canada. Although based in Vancouver, Neeltje has a truly global portfolio and relishes navigating dynamic challenges with her clients and contributing to a positive mining industry legacy. Among her publications are over 20 papers on geomorphic design and tailings storage facility closure; Neeltje has also co-authored the closure chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME) Tailings Handbook, as well as national mine closure guidance for the governments of developing nations.

Neeltje has taught full-length courses, short courses, and workshops at universities, conferences, and for professional societies across North and South America. Neeltje is a geoscientist, a registered landscape architect, and has a PhD in geo-environmental engineering.

Dr Bjorn Weeks provided Teck Resources with strategic leadership and technical direction on all closure related matters. Prior to joining Teck in 2022, Björn was the global lead for mine closure services at WSP/Golder. With over 28 years of professional experience, he has dedicated his career to mine closure. He has worked on the development and execution of mine closure plans around the world, working with many of the world’s leading mining companies. He has also developed international mine closure guidance documents, including the ICMM’s 2019 Closure Good Practice Guide, and APEC’s 2018 Mine Closure Checklist for Governments. He is the current Co-Chair of ICMM’s Mine Closure Working Group.

His academic background includes a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering, and a Ph. D from the Norman B. Keevil School of mining at the University of British Columbia.