Professor Alan Bye - Chief Executive Officer

Professor Alan Bye is the CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction. This high profile, multi-million dollar programme aims to address some of the mining industries significant challenges in the areas of energy use and improved exploitation methods for mineral resources.

In his prior post, Alan was director of the W H Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre at the Sustainable Minerals Institute (University of Queensland). The BRC’s research excellence is recognized in the fields of Mass Mining, blasting engineering and Geology-Mine-Plant integration.

Alan was previously involved with Anglo American for over 10 years and has held a range of cross-discipline positions in the areas of geology, geotechnical engineering, mine to mill, blasting engineering and mining manager.

Dr Mark Neville - Chief Operating Officer

Mark joined CRC ORE as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in July 2010.

Mark has extensive experience in Business and R&D management, technology transfer, product commercialisation, intellectual property management, business development and contract negotiation.

He has a strong network of technical and commercial contacts within the mineral processing and metals industries, particularly relating to sustainable resource processing. Mark's previous experience includes several years as Business Alliances Leader and Manager of Technology Transfer for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

He has extensive International business development and commercialisation experience in Europe, North America and the Far East. Prior to joining ANSTO, Mark was the International Business Development Manager for Environmental Systems & Services for AEA Technology plc., formerly the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Mark has published more than 30 technical papers in international journals and holds 9 international patents.

Nick Beaton - Commercialisation Officer

Nick Beaton was previously CEO of Datamine, and has extensive entrepreneurial experience around mining software development.

Jana Baranovic - Finance Manager (CPA)

Jana Baranovic is the Finance Manager at CRC ORE. In this role she is responsible for the financial management, tax and other compliance processes and management, government  and statutory reporting.

Jana is a CPA qualified accountant (Flinders University of South Australia), she also holds a Law degree from Czechoslovakia and is currently completing her  Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance.

She has extensive experience in financial management in a number of industries in both the public and private sectors, including the Business Manager role with ACID CRC .

Lauren Stafford - Manager Research and Utilisation

Lauren Stafford is the Manager of Research and Utilisation at CRC ORE. In this role she is responsible for the research project management, communication and education and training activities of the Centre. Lauren was previously the Business Manager of the WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre at Sustainable Minerals Institute where she played a key role in the establishment of CRC ORE. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons) and a Bachelor of Education from The University of Queensland.

Tim Howard - Communications Officer

Tim Howard is the Communications Officer for CRC ORE, and is responsible for communications activities including marketing strategy, public relations, events management and production of creative. Tim brings with him expertise in brand management, advertising and creative industries, and previously worked as a digital marketer for electronics manufacturer Canon's Australian Ambassador for Photography, Chris Bray.

Rosemary Swanborough - Project Management Officer

Rosemary Swanborough joins CRC ORE from the Queensland Government Department of Main Roads and Transport, where she held a number of project management roles.

Steve Walters - Program Leader - Resource Characterisation

Dr Steve Walters is Program Leader for Resource Characterization in CRC ORE. Steve has over thirty years of experience in the global minerals industry in the areas of exploration geology, mining geology, corporate research and geometallurgy. He previously played a key role in establishment and subsequent management of the AMIRA P843 GeMIII project - the largest university based research project in the emerging field of geometallurgy. During this time he was a joint appointment between CODES - the ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits at the University of Tasmania and the JKMRC at The University of Queensland. In addition to his current CRC ORE role, Steve is also a Research Consultant to JKMRC mainly involving support for technology transfer and validation case studies related to the ongoing AMIRA P843A project.

Malcolm Powell - Program Leader - Resource Extraction

Professor Malcolm Powell is the program leader for Program 2 – Resource Extraction at CRC ORE. Trained in Physics then mineral processing at Mintek (South Africa), Malcolm completed a PhD in grinding media motion and linear wear. After forming the comminution group at the University of Cape Town he joined the JK Research Centre at the University of Queensland to take up the Chair in Sustainable Comminution in 2007. He continues to lead comminution research at JKMRC while overseeing CRC ORE’s resource extraction program.

Malcolm specialises in linear design, charge motion and DEM modelling, as well as SAG mill modelling and control. He aims to link fundamental research with applied outputs through the development of practical and robust process models, enabled by cooperation with industry and researchers around the world. Malcolm’s current research areas include the Unified Comminution Model (UCM) and Flexible Circuits, utilising today’s equipment while enabling the uptake of tomorrows technology for energy efficient, lower impact minerals recovery.

Rodney Wolff - Program Leader - Resource Evaluation

Professor Rodney Wolff is the Program Leader for Program 3: Resource Evaluation with CRC ORE.

His research interests cover topics including applied statistics, data analysis, econometrics, experiment design, gambling, mathematics, probability, risk, surveys and time series. He received his PhD from the University of Oxford in 1990. Prior to joining Queensland University of Technology he was a Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College in Oxford.