Our People

Andrew Vigar

• BAppSc (geol.) QUT 1977; MSc (incomplete) UQ, W.H. Bryan Mining Research Centre.
• FAusIMM
• Andrew has 26 years experience in the minerals industry, from regional exploration to mining but with an emphasis on evaluation and mine work. He has held senior positions with Emperor Gold, WMC, Costain Australia and CRA (Rio Tinto) prior to commencing full-time consulting in 1996. He has consulted to a large number of companies and projects. Prior to establishing Mining Associates in 2003, he spent 5 years with SRK Consulting, with an emphasis on technical Due Diligence for mergers, acquisitions and capital raisings. He was a Fellow and past national council member of the AusIMM and Chairman of the International Mine Geology 2000 and 2003 conference committees. He is the current chairman of the AusIMM Geoscience Task Force. He is the Principal of the highly successful Brisbane Mining Club.

Graham Muggeridge

• BSc(Hons) Geology, U of Queensland,
• Fellow AusIMM, Chartered Professional Geologist, Member of GSA, IAGI
• Graham has 35 years experience predominately in exploration management of programmes for coal, mineral sands, uranium, base metals, gold and industrial minerals in Australia and coal in Indonesia where he was involved in all aspects of the exploration process including project generation. He has experience in GIS applications (MapInfo/Discover) and geological modelling software such as Minex. His coal experience includes the planning and implementation of the coal exploration program in East Kalimantan, Indonesia leading to the feasibility study and his role as site manager of trial mining at PT Kaltim Prima coal operations at Sangatta.

Bruce Wright

• MBA, MEng.Sc, Juris Doctor Law (JD)
• FAIM, FAICD RPEQ; Dip. Company Directorship, Mine Manager (Qld, NSW & NZ)
• Bruce has over 30 years experience in surface and underground mining in Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand. He has managed mining operations in QLD & NSW and has been a General Manager of mining operations in QLD & Company Director of an International Mining company. He has been a Mining Consultant for 12 years involved with coal, gold, nickel, iron ore, rare earths and uranium. Bruce had developed the GHD multi-discipline Mining Services Group Brisbane and headed up that group as Manager Mining for 4.5 years undertaking resource evaluation, mine design, feasibilities, economic evaluations and due diligence. Bruce is committed to delivering to its client’s quality services and innovative solutions for resources projects, mining projects and related infrastructure to add value and to reduce risk.

Ian Taylor

• BSc Hons (Geology), MAIG
• Since graduating in 1992 Ian has predominately worked in the epithermal and mesothermal gold deposits of the Eastern Gold Fields of Western Australia. He has also worked in Narrow Vein gold, Massive Nickel Sulphide and Epithermal Silver Deposits in both underground and open pit mines. He has predominantly Senior Mining Geology experience with a focus on resource estimation. He has been responsible for resource estimation of several company resources at individual mines. Ian is up-to-date with current estimation techniques and responsibilities of the JORC Code, is an advanced Surpac user and has previous Datamine experience.

Greg MacDonald

• BSc (Honours Geology) Carleton Uni 1977, Master Mineral & Energy Economics, Macquarie Uni 1986.
• MAusIMM
• 20+ years experience from exploration field work, through to financial analysis of mining/acquisition projects and corporate/administration activities. Employers ranged from government mines departments, international consultancy firm, stockbroker and listed explorers and miners.

David Jones

• BSc University of Adelaide 1964, MSc 1974
• FAusIMM, FIMM, MSME, MGSA, JP
• David is a Senior Consultant and has 40 years experience in minerals with a focus on exploration and evaluation, former lecturer and Acting Head of the University of South Australia, School of Applied Geology, 21 years with Newmont Australia and Newcrest, including positions of Chief Geologist and Manager Strategic Planning.

Rob Sowerby

• B.App.Sci, M.Env.Eng., Griffith University, 2002.
• MAIG
• Rob is a Senior Consultant and has over 20 years experience in the minerals industry. He has diverse experience in Australian and International mineral exploration, detailed project generation, evaluations and assessments, in ore reserve compilation, and in stakeholder negotiations. He has specialist experience in uranium, precious and base metals, heavy and industrial minerals in the complete spectrum of geological environments. He has worked for a number of major minerals companies, including Mine Geologist at the Ranger mine in the NT and Senior Exploration geologist for North Limited in the NT, WA, SA, NSW and Qld. Major Projects included Yakabindie Nickel and Lake Cowal Gold.

Martin Recklies

• BAppSc (Geoscience) Queensland University of Technology 2006.
• MAusIMM
• Martin has several years’ experience in resource estimation and geological modeling of Epithermal Gold, Lateritic Bauxite and Proterozoic Sandstone hosted Uranium deposits. This work was done predominantly with Surpac, although he has used Isatis, Datamine, and Supervisor software programs. Martin has worked on several resource reports and is familiar with the requirements of NI-43101 and JORC reporting. He has experience logging RC and diamond drilling, magnetic surveying and QA QC audits. He completed his degree Bachelor of Applied Science (Geoscience) in June 2006.

Lindsay Smith

• BAppSc (Geoscience) Queensland University of Technology 2006.
• BInfoTech (Soft.Eng./DataComms) Queensland University of Technology 2006.
• Lindsay completed his degrees (Bachelor of Applied Science; Bachelor of Information Technology) in December 2006. During the final 2 years of his degree, he worked part-time for Mining Associates and is now employed on a full-time basis in the position of Geologist/Systems Administrator.

Roger Wills

• B.Sc.(App. Geol).Hons, Curtin University 1992.
• Since completing his Honours (1992) specialising in regolith geochemistry as applied to gold exploration, Roger has worked as an exploration geologist in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia for several companies including Aberfoyle Resources and Great Central Mines and in North West Queensland for Mt Isa Mines; as a groundwater modeller for Aquaterra (WA); and more recently, with Mining Associates on bauxite exploration in Fiji and Cape York, and on researching and drafting resource reports (JORC and NI43-101) for projects that include uranium, gold and bauxite.

Celeste Grobler (Van Wyngaard)

• BSc Hons; University of Johannesburg, 2003.
• Mem AusIMM
• Celeste has a BSc Honours Geology degree. Celeste has 5 years experience in exploration and mining including most recently work as a Mine Geologist in open pit and underground environments. She is experienced with Gemcom software though training courses and work experience in operating mines in Africa. She is a member of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA) and a Member of the South African Council of Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP).

Jan Argarin

• B.Bus (ip); Swinburne University.
• Jan is the Business Manager at Mining Associates. She has been active in the Mining industry for the past 17 years. Jan worked with Chevron Petroluem for 10 years including 3 years in Papua New Guinea as Field Aviation Supervisor and also as Travel Coordinator and Human Resources Administrator in Brisbane and Cairns. She spent 3 years in the USA with Marriott Hotels in various Management roles before joining Mining Associates in 2003