QLD | Critical Minerals: the new battery supply chain

Tony Knight is Queensland’s Chief Government Geologist. He leads the Geological Survey of Queensland whose mission is to help drive economic development from discovery and development of Queensland’s mineral and energy resources.

Tony brings extensive breadth and depth of industry experience to the role. His focus is to the future, working to help the Queensland resources sector navigate and find opportunity in the global shifts underway across key pillars of the economy and society in energy, industry, sustainability and security of supply.

He is a keen advocate for development of new supply chains based on Queensland’s rich resource endowment, and to couple that with rapidly growing interest from investment and customer markets for ethical and responsible supply credentials.

His interests span resources scarcity and security, sustainable supply, ethical and responsible sourcing, circular economy, traceability and provenance of minerals, and changing expectations of investor and customer markets.

Mr Chris Shaw is Deputy Director-General for Hydrogen within the Department of Energy and Public Works. He leads a newly created Division within the Department that has responsibility for leading strategic planning and coordination for the hydrogen industry across Queensland Government. He works closely with industry, counterpart agencies and the Queensland Government’s Hydrogen Taskforce to ensure policy, planning and regulatory activities are effectively integrated and enable value for the Queensland public from the rapidly emerging hydrogen industry. Chris has a successful track record of industry development and facilitation, most recently as Executive Director – Resources Policy within the Queensland Government, as well as relevant experience leading regulatory reform for the onshore gas industry in the Northern Territory and as a strategy and approvals consultant to the resources and infrastructure sectors across Australia.

With a strong mining and business background in stakeholder engagement, strategy and advocacy, Kate brings a wealth of experience and energy to the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC). As the Director for Queensland, Kate works with stakeholders to deliver the best outcomes for AMEC members and the resources industry in Queensland.

One of Kate’s most recent wins was successfully advocating for the funding of a “Common User Minerals Demonstration Plant” in Townsville. Prior to Joining AMEC Kate worked for State Government and ASX listed resource companies across a number of different projects. Kate has proven record of achievement working in both the public and private sectors.

Bjorn is a German born and Wharton MBA educated entrepreneur and commercialization agent living in Brisbane, Australia. He has worked across all five continents as an Investor and Senior Investment Banker and helped build a successful and global commodity trading business.

Bjorn is leading the team at Pure Battery Technologies, (PBT), powering the Clean Energy Revolution. PBT focuses on reducing CO2 emissions in nickel and cobalt battery material processing and recycling for a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly product than currently available. With an operating refinery for pCAM material in Germany, project plans for Queensland and Western Australia, industry engagement from mining to automotive and battery cell making OEMs, and to recycling of battery material Bjorn brings great insight into the fast developments of this quickly expanding sector.

Gabriel Bensimon is from New Caledonia and holds a MSc in Strategic Management from HEC Paris as well as two master’s in Chemical and Process Engineering. He recently completed a professional thesis on the New Caledonian raw material supply strategy applied to lithium-ion batteries for EV manufacturing.
Gabriel possesses strong expertise in the nickel and cobalt supply chain, strategic and commercial positioning of those rare metals as well as their sourcing and financing strategies. In addition, Gabriel holds significant experience in metallurgy from his previous roles in operations.
Prior to this appointment, Gabriel held several key positions within Prony Resources, formerly Vale New Caledonia, including 15 years at the plant where he started as process engineer, followed by commissioning lead engineer, then several operations management positions during which he led large multi-cultural teams in the refinery until 2019.
As part of his current role, Gabriel oversees the relationship with relevant economical institutions and is an active board member of several bodies.

As Dassault Systèmes’ Customer Solutions Experience Director, Jerome Wahl is responsible for driving performance and growth across Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. He advises businesses and governments on implementing successful business transformation programs designed to achieve long-term strategic advantage and growth opportunities.

Jerome brings with him more than 20 years of experience in technology and management across multiple industries and geographies including Asia, Europe and North Africa. His in-depth knowledge of asset-heavy industries and international operations is indispensable in enabling customers to embrace sustainable business practices.

Prior to joining Dassault Systemes, Jerome was driving productivity and profitability improvements in various director and senior leadership roles in software and services organisations.

Jerome holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from CQUniversity Australia and a Masters in Managerial Sciences and Business Economics from Paris-Sud University (Paris XI). Outside of work, Jerome is a Judo 2nd Dan teaches children and adult classes.