Bruno Pelli (Keynote)

Global Technical Services Director of Mining at Vale S.A.

Bruno is a mining executive with 20+ years of experience in corporate, operations and project roles for several commodities in countries across Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. He is a Mining Engineer (Sao Paulo University), with post-graduation in Risk Management (The Queensland University), Management Excellence (University of Pretoria), and an MBA in Project Management (FGV/UCI). Bruno is also a Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), and has embarked in a Sustainability journey in the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL) for the last 2 years.

As Global Technical Services Director, Bruno technically leads Vale on Brownfield Exploration, Geology, Mine Planning, Mining Excellence, Processing, and Technical Transformation. He has been championing the connection of sustainability with technical agendas by sponsoring Vale Mining Circularity Programme (Waste to Value) and transformational initiatives like Vale’s green cement, where he is a Circlua board member.

Dr. Jai Prasad (Keynote)

Chief Advisor for Next Generation Processing at Rio Tinto

With 25 years’ experience in process engineering, Jai enjoys working with people and data to address significant challenges.  As a technologist, Jai aims to deliver elegant solutions by identifying the unique context behind key problems and leveraging the opportunities inherent in each. 

Jai started his career in Singapore with the Environmental Protection Agency to minimise risks in large chemical facilities. The art and impact of good design was made amply clear to him in that role. Fascinated, Jai spent the next three years on a PhD in Process Development. Jai then worked in a range of Research and Development and operational roles with BHP before joining Rio Tinto in 2011. Since joining Rio he has provided support across commodities, to existing plants and in developing new processes.  

Jai is passionate about developing people and engages with the industry by delivering annual keynote lectures and supporting industry panels on risk management. Within Rio Tinto he is a recognised Senior RioExpert and coaches within the company’s Technical Guardian program.

When Jai is not spending time with his favourite people or processes, he can be found in his shed with his other passion, his motorcycles, which he lovingly maintains and enjoys.

Prof. Antoine Allanore

Heather N. Lechtman Prof. of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT; Prof. of Metallurgy; Director, Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology 

Professor Allanore earned a chemical engineering diploma from the École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques and an MS from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine, France, in 2004. He completed his PhD at the National Polytechnic Institute in 2007, in electrochemical engineering, focusing on iron metal production by electrolysis. He worked as a research engineer at steel production company ArcelorMittal from 2004 to 2009 and joined the DMSE faculty at MIT in 2010.

Dr. Yazeed Alsharedah

Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia

Yazeed Alsharedah is a research driven young leader with a Ph.D in geotechnical engineering on wind turbines foundations and a master’s degree on tailings storage facilities, both from the prestigious Western University in Canada, and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Qassim University in Saudi Arabia.

Standing on over 12 years of experience on projects related to geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, Dr. Yazeed provides knowledge based decisions on day-to-day business issues on tailings and the mining industry in Saudi Arabia as the director of mining closure and rehabilitation at the Saudi Mining Services Company (ESNAD). Here, he oversees geohazards and auditing compliance of over 2,300 licenses, and plays a pivotal role as a highly influential leader within ESNAD and shaping future policies of the mining industry, aiming to build a sustainable mining practices to align with Vision 2030 of the kingdom.

Dr. Yazeed’s aspirations and ambitious endeavors stem from a deep rooted urge for a tangible change on SDG issues in Saudi and aboard and encouraging and educating younger generations to embrace change, change that is best of our planet Earth.

Edianir Bonatti

Technical Director at AECOM

Edianir Bonatti is a Technical Director at AECOM and a MSc. candidate at the University of Alberta Civil Engineering Department – Geoenvironmental Engineering.

He also leads the Technical, Environmental and Social Independent Audit team reporting to the Brazilian Authorities regarding the response and the reparation after the failure of the Fundão dam in Mariana, is an expert to the Judge in the Samarco Case, and an engineer with over 17 years of experience in design of structures and management of multidisciplinary teams on designing and technical auditing.

Prof. Carlos Cacciuttolo

Prof. and Researcher at the School of Engineering, Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering of Universidad Catolica de Temuco

Professor Carlos is a Civil Engineer (P. Eng.), with a master’s in environmental sciences (M.Sc.) – Environmental Planning of the Territory. 

He has been an assistant professor and researcher at the School of Engineering, Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering of Universidad Catolica de Temuco (UCT) in Temuco, Chile since March 2022. 

Prof. Carlos has over 14 years of professional experience in engineering projects developing multidisciplinary tasks linked with mining projects, with a focus on sustainability in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In this sense, he has experience in developing engineering projects at a conceptual, basic, and detailed level. 

Prof. Carlos also has experience teaching, scientific research, and university academic management in undergraduate engineering programs. His main research topics are: responsible and sustainable mining, new technologies of industry for a digital mine, and adaptation and mitigation of climate change. 

Tabatha Chavez Matus

Senior Programme Officer and Tailings Lead at ICMM

Tabatha Chavez Matus joined ICMM in 2022 as a tailings lead. She joined ICMM from BHP, where she led the mineral processing project initiation team of Escondida mine — the world’s largest copper mining project. In her role, she led projects related to comminution, flotation, tailings, and water innovation.  

Tabatha also has a background in research and development around floatation technology and geometallurgy, and through this has had the opportunity to work across multi-commodity assets in a number of different jurisdictions. 

Tabatha has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Federico Santa Maria Technical University in Chile and an MSc in Sustainable Mining and Mineral Resources from the University of Oulu in Finland. She is currently a junior board member of the International Round Table of Materials Criticality. 

Wilber Churata Huarachi

Operation Plant Manager at Minera San Cristóbal

Wilber Churata Huarachi is a highly experienced Minerals Processing Engineer with over 18 years in the industry. Currently serving as Operation Plant Manager at Minera San Cristóbal, Wilber is a specialist in processing polymetallic minerals and possesses a proven track record in commissioning, optimization, and large-scale mine operations. 

Wilber’s commitment to continuous improvement is evident in his extensive academic background. He holds an MBA, and numerous certificates postgraduate from prestigious institutions like Harvard Business School, MIT, and the Project Management Institute. His fluency in Spanish, Quechua, and English allows him to bridge communication gaps and navigate the global mining landscape. 

Wilber’s passion for innovation is reflected in his published works on integrated management and process optimization within the mining industry. 

Bryony Clear Hill

Director of Innovation at ICMM

Bryony joined ICMM in February 2021 and currently leads ICMM’s Innovation portfolio, comprising Climate Change, Circular Economy, Tailings Reduction and Health & Safety, in addition to the Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles (ICSV).

Prior to taking on the director role, Bryony led ICMM’s work on Circular Economy and Mining Standards. She sat on the GRI Expert Working Group developing a new sector standard for mining.

Bryony holds a MA (Oxon) in Geography from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining ICMM, she worked in business ethics, procurement and responsible sourcing at energy services company Centrica and at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.

Prof. Herbert Einstein

Prof. of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT

Herbert Einstein is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT conducting research in rock mechanics, engineering geology, and underground construction, spanning a wide range of studies from field measurements to laboratory experiments to numerical and analytical models. Since 1973, this research work has resulted in 36 Ph.D. dissertations and over 300 authored and co-authored professional publications on the mechanical properties of soils and rocks; analysis, design, and project management of underground structures; risk analysis of landslides; and probabilistic methods in rock engineering and engineering geology. 

Prof. Einstein received the 2014 Outstanding Educator Award of the Underground Construction Association of SME, the 2006 Outstanding Contributions to Rock Mechanics Award from the American Rock Mechanics Association, and the 1999 Müller Lecture Award from the International Society for Rock Mechanics, as well as numerous teaching awards at MIT. He has degrees of Dipl, Bauing. and Sc.D. from ETH-Zurich.  

Prof. Abdellatif Elghali

Assistant Prof. at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)

Dr. Abdellatif Elghali is an Assistant Professor at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P), where he leads the Mines and Mineral Processing team. He holds an engineer’s degree in mining engineering and a Ph.D. in Minerals Engineering. His research focuses on the application of geo-metallurgy to enhance both the profitability and sustainability of mining operations.

Dr. Elghali has published over 40 papers on topics including environmental geochemistry, waste management, mine site rehabilitation, and the stabilization of contaminated tailings.  

Dr. Ana Fernandez-Iglesias

Director of the Sustainable Mining Portfolio at ArcelorMittal Mining R&D and Prof. at University of Oviedo, Spain 

Robert Fetell

PhD Student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT

Robert Fetell is a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT investigating applications of satellite InSAR and finite element methods  to monitor the safety and stability of mine tailings storage facilities. With this research, Robert uses numerical modeling to identify potential failure modes and provide advance warning of disasters.

He currently leads the Mining and Circular Economy Program at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, partnering with ICMM to host the MIT Global Summit on Mine Tailings Innovation. Robert previously studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received both an MS in Engineering Geology and a BA in Geology.

Prof. Linda Figueroa

Prof. of Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering, Head of Tailings Center at the Colorado School of Mines 

Linda Figueroa is a Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and the Director of the Tailings Center, an industry-university collaborative hub for tailings and mine waste research and education. She is a registered Civil Engineer with over 40 years of experience in civil, environmental, and mining engineering.

Her research focuses on the environmental stewardship of mining and mineral processing. Her projects cover a wide range, including the physical, chemical, biological, and electrochemical treatment of mining and mineral processing waters. Her expertise also includes the reclamation and remediation of granular materials (soil and tailings) contaminated with metals, radionuclides, and processing chemicals. Additionally, she is the environmental sustainability member of a research team focused on the reuse of tailings and slag in construction materials.

Prof. Daniel Franks

Director of the Global Centre for Mineral Security and Prof. at the The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute

Daniel Franks is known internationally for his work on the interconnections between minerals, materials and sustainable development. Originally trained as a geologist, he has conducted research and practice on the sustainability of mine waste for more than 25 years. Franks has worked with a wide range of industry partners, including Vale and Newmont, to pioneer breakthrough innovations to drastically reduce mine waste by creating OreSand by-products for the construction industry. His collaborative work with Vale and colleagues from the University of Geneva and Federal University of Minas Gerais was profiled in the United Nations Environment Programme’s 2022 report “Sand and Sustainability: 10 Strategic Recommendations to Avert a Crisis.” With Newmont, his team has demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of co-producing fit-for-purpose OreSand construction by-products from copper sulphide ores and they are currently leading an Australian Economic Accelerator Grant to advance the research to market.

Franks is the author of more than 160 publications and has field experience at more than 100 mining and energy sites and 40 countries.

Prof. Jeffrey Grossman

Morton and Claire Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems and Prof. of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT 

Professor Grossman earned a BA in physics at Johns Hopkins University in 1991 and did graduate work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, earning a PhD in theoretical physics in 1996. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Berkeley and then a Lawrence Fellow at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 2009 he joined MIT, where he developed a research program known for its contributions to energy conversion, energy storage, membranes, and clean-water technologies. He has published more than 200 scientific papers, holds 17 current or pending patents, and recently co-founded two Massachusetts companies to commercialize novel membranes materials for efficient industrial separations. One is ViaSeparations, which commercializes graphene-oxide membranes to separate chemicals for manufacturing. The other is SiTration, a company that commercializes silicon membranes for chemical-free, energy-efficient extraction and recycling of critical materials.

Rachel Jansen

Tailings Manager at Paterson & Cooke, North America

Rachel joined Paterson & Cooke in 2012 and is now a senior process engineer and tailings manager for our North American practice, focusing on tailings dewatering and alternative tailings technologies. She is based in our Denver, Colorado office.

Rachel has gained extensive experience in mineral processing within various roles, including metallurgical engineering, consulting, and laboratory management. She has field experience in South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia.

Rachel led Paterson & Cooke’s feasibility study design, detailed engineering support, and equipment bid evaluations for Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde tailings filter plant in Canada. The LaRonde filter plant was commissioned in 2022 and is now operating at its full capacity of 10,000 t/d.

Rachel’s recent experience includes providing process consultation to BHP’s Global Tailings Task Force for the development of asset-specific tailings strategy roadmaps. She was a technical lead for BHP’s Spence non-conventional tailings studies and is providing technical support to BHP and Rio Tinto’s partnership to accelerate the development of technology that could significantly increase water recovery from mine tailings.

Kaci Jenkins

Principal Advisor of Research and Development at Rio Tinto

Kaci Jenkins works for Rio Tinto as a Principal Advisor of Research and Development where she manages all the R&D tailing’s projects for the Copper group. She is a chemical engineer who has 19 years of experience in the mining industry focusing on process optimization, process development, and tailings management.

Dr. Angela Küpper

Director and Principal Geotechnical Engineer at BGC Engineering Inc.

Dr. Angela Küpper, Ph.D., P.Eng. (BC, AB, NU, NWT), F.E.I.C. has more than forty years of experience in design, construction, rehabilitation and independent reviews of earthfill dams, including tailings dams and water retention dams for power generation and water supply. She has worked throughout the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Angela’s doctoral thesis was on the topic of the design and construction of tailings dams. She has been responsible for numerous dam and waste dump projects as a designer, engineer-of-record, expert consultant, and independent reviewer. In the mining industry, her experience includes gold, copper, magnetite, bauxite, nickel, mixed metals, iron, coal, and oil sands.

Over the last 20 years, Angela has been retained as an independent reviewer for large water retention dams and tailings facilities and she serves on independent review boards for some of the largest global mining companies. She has been a member of the committee that updated the Canadian Dam Safety Guidelines, and more recently she was a member of the Expert Panel that authored the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). She was selected as the 2011 Distinguished Lecturer of the ASCE/University of California, Berkeley where she spoke on the topic of design and performance of earth fill dams and the 2019 Distinguished Lecturer of the University of British Columbia, Geological Engineering where she spoke on risk management of tailings facilities. She was inducted in 2021 as a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada Fellow for “exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada.”

Jan Kwak

Managing Director of Hatch in Australia-Asia

A 30 year veteran at Hatch, Jan is a positive and proactive business leader who focuses on technology as a key enabler for positive change. Jan is a process engineer who specializes in commercialization of new technology,  from lab scale to full industrial operations, spanning the complete technical, financial, social, and environmental spectrum. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jan is Managing Director of Hatch in Australia-Asia and travels widely helping clients, partners and stakeholders achieve goals.

In addition to his duties at Hatch, he is chair of the Australian Green Hydrogen consortium which seeks to investigate mining sector decarbonization; a Director of EnviroMets, a Queensland government initiative to find new value for post mining land; and an active contributor to the Development Partner Institute, St Vincent de Paul CEO sleep out, and many other community focused organizations. 

Francisco Carlos Manesco

Manager of Strategic Mining Projects at Vale S.A.

Francisco is the Manager of Strategic Mining Projects at Vale, with over 10 years of experience in mining, strategic planning, and innovation practices focused on mineral commodities.

He is an industrial engineer (Campinas University) with specializations in innovation (VC Institute) and mining projects valuation (Imperial College). In his role, Francisco leads the core management team of Vale’s circular mining program (waste to value), and he is in charge of the technical program for designing the mine of the future.

Louise McNab

Group Principal Engineer: Tailings, Hydrology and Closure, at Gold Fields

Vicente Mello

Senior Vice President at AECOM, Brazil Country Manager, and Leader of the Technical Independent Expert Team Reporting to the Brazil National Mining Agency

Vicente Mello currently holds several titles, including the Senior Vice President with AECOM, Chief Executive of AECOM do Brasil, Specialist in Risk Management, Expert to the Judge in the Samarco Case, Leader of the Technical and Environmental Independent Auditor team responding to the Public Prosecutors and the Public Defense Offices in the Brumadinho Case, Leader of the Technical and Environmental Independent Auditor team responding to the Public Prosecutors regarding the closure of 17 upstream raised tailings dams in Minas Gerais, Leader of the Technical Independent Expert team reporting to the Brazil National Mining Agency, Member of the Mining2030 Investors Commission, and Member of the Review Panel of the United Nations on Sustainable Mining.

Prof. Priscilla Nelson

Prof. of Mining Engineering at Colorado School of Mines

Dr. Priscilla Nelson came to the Colorado School of Mines in 2014 as Professor and Department Head of Mining Engineering. She formerly served as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, Division Director at the U.S. NSF, and Provost and Professor at NJIT. She has an international reputation in geological, geotechnical, mining, and tailings engineering. Dr. Nelson has more than 200 technical publications. She is a Distinguished Member of ASCE, former president of the Geo-Institute of ASCE, and a lifetime member, former President and Fellow of ARMA (American Rock Mechanics Association). Dr. Nelson was elected as a Mole and Tau Beta Pi Eminent Engineer. She also received the Roe Award from AAES and the Michel Award from ASCE. In 2016 she was identified as a Global Inspirational Woman in Mining, and in 2018 she received the Outstanding Educator award from UCA of SME. In 2020, she founded the Tailings Center in collaboration with Colorado State University and the University of Aruzona. Her PhD is from Cornell University.

Phil Newman

Lead Tailings Innovation at Anglo American

Phil Newman is Lead Tailings Innovation at Anglo American and has over 30 years experience in mining.  Phil was a founding member of Golder PasteTec in 1996 and built paste backfill plants around the world for 10 years in addition to other tailings dewatering solutions.  After 8 years running CRU consulting, Phil joined Anglo American in 2015 and was Head of Innovation until 2023, when he refocused on the roll out and commercialization of the successful Hydraulic Dewatered Stacking technology, developed by Anglo American.

Prof. Elsa Olivetti

Associate Dean of MIT School of Engineering, Co-Director of MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, Prof. of Materials Science and Engineering 

Professor Olivetti received a BS in engineering science from the University of Virginia in 2000, and a PhD in materials science and engineering from MIT in 2007. She spent her PhD program studying the electrochemistry of polymer and inorganic materials for electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. In 2014, she joined DMSE as an assistant professor. As an educator, Olivetti overhauled DMSE’s undergraduate curriculum and developed new courses, including one for the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium Climate Scholars. She’s a member of the MIT Climate Nucleus and co-director of the MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium.

Prof. Desirée Plata

Associate Prof. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Co-Director of MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium 

Desirée Plata’s research seeks to maximize technology’s benefit to society while minimizing environmental impacts in industrially important practices through the use of geochemical tools and chemical mechanistic insights. Plata earned her doctoral degree in Chemical Oceanography and Environmental Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Joint Program in Oceanography (2009) and her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Union College in Schenectady, NY (2003).

Plata is an NSF CAREER Awardee (2016), an Odebrecht-Braskem Sustainable Innovation Awardee (2015), a two-time National Academy of Engineers Frontiers of Engineering Fellow (2012, 2020), a two-time National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow (2011, 2013), a Caltech Resnick Sustainability Fellow (2017), and winner of MIT’s Junior Bose Teaching Award (2019), Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award (2021), and Perkins Graduate Advising Award (2021).

Having previously served as John J. Lee Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University and Associate Director for Research at the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale, Plata is now Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, co-director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, and Faculty Lead of Belonging, Achievement, and Composition in the MIT School of Engineering. Plata directs MIT’s Methane Network, serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Spark Climate, and served on the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine’s Atmospheric Methane Removal study (recused). Plata is co-founder of N^th Cycle (nthcycle.com), co-founder and President of Sustainable Chemical Resource Advisors LLC, and co-founder and President of Moxair Inc. 

Antonio Pucci

Chief Operating Officer of Nuton (Rio Tinto Venture) and Chief Advisor of Innovation, Science and Technology at Rio Tinto 

Antonio Pucci is an experienced mining and metals professional with 35 years of experience with Rio Tinto in the field of equipment design, processing, project delivery, and technology transfer.

He has managed global technology delivery teams with projects, business development activities, and contract management in more than 48 countries. He also has industry experience in aluminium, iron and steel, copper and precious metals, cement, thermal power plants, rolling mills, foundries, and large scale machining facilities in both the automotive and aerospace industry.

Satish Rao

Managing Director at Clareo 

Satish Rao is a Managing Director at Clareo, where he serves as an expert advisor to some of the world’s leading resources companies, focusing on technology and innovation, the energy transition, and critical minerals. He helps clients identify new approaches and capabilities to tackle intractable sustainability and operational challenges across the value chain from exploration, production, processing, and downstream use. Mr. Rao is also the founding Executive Director and board member of a mining industry consortium looking to accelerate the adoption of open systems and standards for automation.  

He has advised some of the world’s leading energy and resources companies and technology providers such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Teck Resources, Barrick Gold, Metso, Weir Group, BP, Woodside Energy, Chevron, Baker Hughes, Castrol, GE, and Exelon. In the mining sector, Mr. Rao has helped them clients across the value chain from exploration, production, and waste/tailings management through helping define aspirational futures, develop vision and strategies, innovation capability, and apply new technologies to tackle strategic sustainability and growth challenges. 

Laís Resende

Principal Engineer at Vale S.A.

Laís Resende is a Principal Engineer at Vale, specializing in the development of sustainable business solutions and products derived from mining waste. Since 2015, she has led multiple initiatives, which allowed Vale to reuse around 2.1 million tons of tailings so far. Her significant achievements include establishing the Vale ore-sand business; planning, launching and operating the first industrial tailings brick factory; developing sustainable high-purity quartz, proppant, and countryside pavement from tailings; building the first experimental road made from tailings; and helping the creation of two Vale Circular Economy Startups.

Laís holds a degree in Mining Engineering and a master’s degree in Mining, Material, and Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Additionally, she completed a specialization in green transition at Cambridge University. Last year, Amira recognized her as one of the top innovators in the mining industry. She also is inventor of two patents. For Laís, the circular economy is not just a sustainable business strategy; it is a pathway to a better future and the ongoing viability of mining. 

Dennis Rugg

Manager of Tailings Projects and Technologies at Freeport McMoran 

Dennis Rugg is a Manager-Tailings Technology and Projects at Freeport-McMoRan and works in the corporate Tailings, Crushed Leach and Water group. Dennis joined Freeport in 2020 and has focused his efforts on tailings storage facility expansion projects, including siting, alternative technology assessments, multiple accounts analyses, and engineering/design of preferred alternatives. Dennis leads Freeport’s newly established (2023) Tailings Innovation Group, which is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and specialists focused on evaluating alternative tailings technologies for new TSF projects and supporting Freeport’s operations teams to review existing TSF technologies. The group’s goal is to identify commercially viable technologies that may result in water savings, improved social and environmental aspects, and/or enhanced geotechnical characteristics for our TSFs. Dennis and his colleagues also represent Freeport on the GeoStable Tailings Consortium. 

Prior to Freeport, Dennis was a Senior Geotechnical Engineer and Associate with Golder Associates Inc. (now WSP) where he focused on project delivery and team management for multi-disciplinary tailings, waste rock, and coal combustion residual design and construction projects. While at Golder, his projects included the application of thickened paste and filtered tailings technologies to evaluate the preferred, most cost-effective, and environmentally friendly waste management solutions for clients around the world.  

Dr. Paris Smalls

CEO of Eden

Paris earned his PhD in Geophysics from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program and his BS from the University of South Carolina. At MIT, he researched high-voltage electricity effects on rock strength. He co-founded Eden in 2017, leading their technology and market strategy. His honors include NSF GRFP, NSF I-CORPS, Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Young Millionaires” 2020, EY Entrepreneur Access Network 2021, and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy 2021. He has lectured at Babson and Brandeis Universities and Boston high schools on renewable geothermal energy and UN 2050 goals.

Dr. Brendan Smith

Co-Founder & CEO of SiTration, Inc.

Brendan Smith is the Co-Founder & CEO of SiTration, Inc., an advanced materials startup that aims to drastically reduce cost and resource consumption of important industrial separations on a global scale. Spun out of MIT in 2020, the company is developing their core technology, an ultra-durable electrified filtration membrane, to impact the extraction and recovery of critical materials from end-of-life electric vehicle batteries and various mining streams.

Brendan earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from MIT and a B.S. in nanotechnology engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is passionate about developing new materials to address big societal challenges.

Christian Spano

Director of Circularity at Vale Base Metals

Christian drives sustainability and financial growth while fostering circular business models. He is responsible for developing and implementing Vale Base Metals’ circularity strategy, including setting policies, defining performance goals, and integrating the strategy across the whole business.

Christian has over 20 years of experience and expertise, having started his career in Peru and Latin America in the forestry and energy sectors, before moving first into renewables and power and then to the mining and metals industry. Previously, he was director of innovation at ICMM, where he was responsible for all aspects related to the future of mining, including climate change, tailings innovation and the circular economy.

Christian has also held sustainability and clean energy-related roles at organizations such as Systemiq, the World Economic Forum, Anglo American, KPMG, the United Nations, Globeleq, Bozovich Timber Group, and Citibank.

Prof. Yassine Taha

Assistant Prof. at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P)

Yassine Taha has been an Assistant Professor at UM6P since September 2017, bringing over 10 years of experience in mine waste management and repurposing for various mining industries. He currently leads the sustainability division within the Geology and Sustainable Mining Institute (GSMI). Dr. Taha has published over 75 scientific papers in highly peer-reviewed journals and has participated in numerous international conferences. His research interests encompass sustainability, circular economy, mine waste management and valorization, reuse, recycling and recovery, beneficiation of low-grade ores, life cycle assessment, and construction materials. 

Tem Tumurbat

Co-founder and Managing Partner of Nomadic Venture Partners (NVP)

Tem Tumurbat is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Nomadic Venture Partners (NVP), a climate tech firm accelerating decarbonization by investing in innovation across the mining value chain, as well as manufacturing, and transportation. Currently, NVP invests in pre-seed, seed, and Series A companies. Tem focuses on fund strategy, fundraising, and portfolio construction.

Before co-founding NVP, Tem was an investment professional at Resource Capital Funds, a mining-focused PE/VC investment firm, managing early to late-stage investments. As a mining engineer, Tem worked for Newmont Mining Corporation and AngloGold Ashanti. He served as a board member and treasurer of the Colorado Chapter for the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME). Tem received his B.S. in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

Dr. Tomás Villalón Jr.

Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Phoenix Tailings 

 Dr. Thomas Villalón Jr. is a materials scientist and engineer, currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Phoenix Tailings, where he has played a pivotal role in developing innovative technologies for extracting value from mining tailings in an economically sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. Previously, at Digital Alloys, Dr. Villalón contributed to research in additive manufacturing, leading projects on novel microstructures and thermophysical properties. Holding a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from Boston University and a BSc from MIT, his academic journey includes research on electrochemical refinement of reactive metal oxides into pure metals. Dr. Villalón’s multifaceted expertise, coupled with his leadership roles and academic achievements, underscores his desire to impact the realms of materials engineering and metals processing. 

Luke Vollert

Principal Engineer at Newmont Corporation

Luke Vollert is an experienced Metallurgist with 14 years of expertise in the processing of gold and base metals. Currently based in Brisbane, Australia, he serves as a Principal Engineer for Newmont Corporation. Luke holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from the University of Queensland, having dual majored in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. 

Throughout his career, Luke has demonstrated a unique knack for unconventional problem solving and a passion for embracing new technology. His diverse range of operational and project-based roles has taken him to various mine sites around the world, providing him with broad exposure to the development and improvement of processes and technologies. 

Luke has been at the forefront of applying coarse flotation technology in base metals, notably serving as lead process engineer on the industry’s first installation at Cadia Valley Operations. He is dedicated to leveraging this and other emerging technologies to address some of the most pressing tailings and water challenges faced by the industry. His forward-thinking approach and commitment to technological advancement have established him as a trusted professional in the field of mineral processing. 

Oliver Whatnall

Vice President of Jord in the Americas

Oliver Whatnall is a chemical engineer with a passion for delivering practical innovations to minerals processing which can solve real industry challenges. Oliver has led teams through various stages of commercialization including ideas, invention, implementation, troubleshooting, and optimization.

Prof. G. Ward Wilson

Prof. of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering at the University of Alberta

Dr. G. Ward Wilson, Professor of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, brings 40 years of industrial experience to his practice in advanced mine waste management. Having extensive work experience as a consulting engineer, he has maintained an exceptionally strong industrial focus through his research programs both at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia. Dr. Wilson is involved in mine waste management systems at numerous mine sites worldwide. He has also served as a specialist review consultant for many large international mining projects. Most recently, he was a member of the “Expert Panel” that provided an assessment of the technical causes of the rupture of Dam I in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, which is the subject matter expert for the GeoStable Tailings Consortium. 

Prof. Andrew Whittle

Edmund K. Turner Prof. of Civil Engineering at MIT 

Andrew Whittle is the Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. He is an expert in geotechnical engineering, whose research deals principally with formulation of models for representing the complex mechanical properties of soils and their application in predicting the performance of foundations and underground excavation and tunneling projects. He is actively involved in research to mitigate potential liquefaction and to develop methods for long-term monitoring and stabilization of tailings storage facilities.

Mollie Wilkinson

Investor at Orion Industrial Ventures

Mollie Wilkinson is an investor at Orion Industrial Ventures, the venture strategy of Orion Resource Partners, an ~$8B global alternative investment firm dedicated to metals and materials. Mollie has a background in materials R&D, engineering, and technical consulting, working with both early-stage startups (Syzygy Plasmonics, AeroShield Materials) and larger corporations (SpaceX). Mollie previously worked on the investment team at Anzu Partners, where she evaluated frontier tech venture deals in materials, manufacturing, and sustainability, and was involved in the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) outreach. Mollie is a member of the Orion Sustainability Committee, contributing to Orion Resource Partner’s yearly Responsible Investment Report and related initiatives, and is a Board Observer at SiTration.

She has a master’s degree in Climate, Environment, and Sustainability and bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, both from MIT.