Finding the Front

For all those who love property and seek some insight into the property development sector and current property market - look no further. Our special guest for this brand new episode is Nathan Blackburne, the Managing Director of one of Australia’s leading property developers Cedar Woods Properties that was established way back in 1987. Nathan is a leader in his field. He comes from a family upbringing steeped in property history and his national journey to his current role, including 17 years in Melbourne and some 23 years with Cedar Woods provides some very valuable insights. Nathan shares his perspective on the opportunities but also the challenges of Australia’s property market. There are some such excellent takeaways.

In this fantastic new episode of Euroz Hartleys Finding the Front we have a very special guest, Dr Nina Webster, the CEO & MD of clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Dimerix (ASX:DXB). Nina has more than 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry and has a wonderful story of starting out as a trainee lab technician to working hard, building her knowledge base through some serious education (including a PhD) and extending herself in her career roles, to becoming a leader of a company, Dimerix, that is working to improve the lives of patients globally with inflammatory diseases such as the fast growing and well known kidney disease. This is a fascinating insight into the nature of biotech companies, their growth path and their challenges. Nina speaks so well and reflects on her journey so far with many insights and takeaways on her experiences and the biotech industry as a whole.

In this episode we are very lucky to have a Managing Director and a leader in mining giant Rio Tinto, and a Non-Executive Director gold miner Northern Star, join the show. Marnie Finlayson is truly a leader in the field she loves – mining - and what a story this is!

Her journey, from being just out of school doing the hard yards shovelling 12 hours a day under the crusher on the Sons of Gwalia mine to being the Managing Director of Rio’s Battery Materials business really is something.

Moving around Australia as a metallurgist gaining experience across a range of commodities including iron ore, base metals, diamonds and coal is just the start. Overlay this with being General Manager for Port Maintenance for Rio Tinto Iron Ore, General Manager Operations for Dampier Salt and Serbia Country Head for Rio Tinto responsible for their Jadar deposit in Western Serbia provides some hugely valuable insights into building a career in mining, leadership, being part of a team, her challenges and the difficult decisions, and her deep insights across the mining sector including her global lithium views and understanding.

Marnie speaks so well and provides an inspiring showcase for women in mining and makes for seriously compelling listening.

Our special guest for this Episode is Simon Lawson the MD of Spartan Resources. “Walking the path of opportunity”, “drilling like you are going to go out of business tomorrow, drill like you absolutely NEED to make that discovery” or “challenge the accepted” are narratives that apply to this fantastic story. Simon was born on the South Island of NZ, eventually achieved a Masters in Science majoring in Geology then carved out a career in the Mining industry of WA. His journey includes household names like Jubilee Mines, Silver Lake and Northern Star forming the fabric of why he is highly regarded as a hunter of gold and the way he approaches his leadership role today. This is a story that is driven by a passion and love of what he does for a living. Lots of takeaways for those who also love the Mining industry and being a part of it.

Our special guest on this episode is Brandon Munro, the Executive Chair and MD of listed Uranium development company, Bannerman Energy. Brandon is a corporate lawyer by profession who has built an entrepreneurial career that developed into a passion and leadership in the field of mining, in the country of Namibia in southern Africa, in the commodity of Uranium.

Brandon was born in South Africa but moved to Australia when he was very young, his family background is fascinating when you see where he has ended up (eg. amongst other things Brandon co-authored the Namibian Mining Charter). Brandon has deep insights into the world of Uranium and Nuclear Power. We talk about the impacts of the Fukushima earthquake on the nuclear industry and the long journey back to the current standing and the future possibilities for Uranium.

As a side note, Brandon was also the Captain of the Prague Cricket Club, leading them to a trifecta of trophies in the Czech/Eastern European League!

A great conversation with many takeaways.

What an opportunity we have in this episode to have a captivating chat with veteran exploration and mining legend Dr Mark Bennett, the founding MD and CEO of huge success story Sirius Resources which was acquired by IGO for $1.8 billion dollars in 2015. Mark is now the Executive Chair of the follow on company from Sirius, S2 Resources. Mark has an enviable exploration track record of finding mineral deposits and building mines but what a background story he has. He grew up in Birmingham in the West Midlands region of England eventually arriving in Australia on the slight chance of a job in geology with Western Mining Corporation. Well the rest is history with Mark, amongst other things, making massive company making discoveries like the Thunderbox gold discovery and the Nova-Bollinger nickel copper deposit. In recognition of his amazing achievements Mark was twice awarded the prestigious AMEC Prospector of the Year in 2002 and then again over 10 years later in 2013 which says it all.

Our very special guest for this episode is a Lycopodium legend, an original founding member and Chair since inception until last year – 40 year mineral processing industry veteran - Mr Michael (Mick) Caratti.

An electrical engineer that grew up in Wollongong in NSW who through a couple of sliding door decisions ended up in WA and became a key founding member of the team that has grown Lycopodium into the leading global integrated engineering, construction and asset management solutions provider success story it has become. This is truly a wonderful story told by an understated, highly regarded, absolute leader in his field.

For our last episode for 2023 our very special guest is Mr Robert Scott, the MD and CEO of one of Australia’s most well known and highly respected companies, the iconic Wesfarmers. Rob is a high achiever. An dual Olympian in rowing winning the silver medal in 1996 in the Atlanta games, a dedicated family man and only the eighth CEO in Wesfarmers 100 plus year history – need more be said.  This is a captivating broad ranging conversation with Rob offering so many detailed insights and takeaways.

What an absolute cracker of an episode we have today – Mr Anthony Kiernan AM, Non-Exec Chair of lithium powerhouse Pilbara Minerals and growing Leonora gold company Genesis Minerals.

Tony is a highly respected and highly regarded, 35 year veteran in the management and operation of listed public companies and has many highlights from a wonderfully impressive career. These include over the years being Non-Exec Chair of BC Iron, Non-Exec Chair of Chalice Mining and Non-Exec Chair of Saracen Minerals.

Tony provides some seriously fantastic insights into his career and his observations including the deal making with Saracen such as buying 50% of the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, the mighty lithium growth story - and the challenges - since he commenced as Chair of Pilbara Minerals in 2016, his views on the role of a Board and the Chair and the challenges of cost inflation and labour in the mining sector. 

Tony’s firm belief in the importance of cash flow, dividends and his love of the mining sector and the people involved shines through.

He was awarded a member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to business and the community which says it all.

This episode of Finding the Front is simply quite special. It is like a feature length movie and will no doubt provide you another person’s perspective. The takeaways are something else.

Our guest is Malaysian born Mr Simon Lee AO, the recent former Chair and current Non-Exec. Dir. of ASX listed Emerald Resources. This is a story that covers humble beginnings, global business, leadership, immense WA gold mining success and extreme generosity.

After embracing a fortunate opportunity to study in Perth and a globally diversified business career that followed, then starts a strong and treasured relationship with WA, the WA Gold Mining Industry and the people involved. The story just gets better and better. It includes his formative insights into gold company success stories Samantha, Equigold and Emerald Resources, and the people who have been close to him and played an integral part along the way.

Simon’s largely unknown, enormously impactful philanthropic contributions have been wide ranging. Add to this his role in assisting politicians at both a federal and state level and establishing the WA Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s you can understand why Simon was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the development of Australian-Asia trade relations and to the Chinese community.

Journeys like this do not come along often.