Board and Management
A highly experienced board and management team with a proven track record
Board
David Jones AM
Non-Executive Chairman
Mr Jones has more than 30 years’ experience in investment markets, the majority as a general partner in private equity firms, and prior to that in general management and management consulting. David has been a board member of numerous private and public businesses, and has been a member of the Investment Committee of EMR Capital, a resources private equity firm, since 2012. Mr Jones holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Melbourne (First Class Honours) and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
James Champion de Crespigny
Managing Director and CEO
Mr Champion de Crespigny is a qualified Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in capital markets, financing and mergers and acquisitions, primarily in the mining sector. His past experience includes roles as a director of London based mining finance group, Cutfield Freeman & Co and with Sydney based private equity group, EMR Capital.
Robin Scrimgeour
Non-Executive Director
Mr Scrimgeour spent 17 years working for Credit Suisse in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore where he specialised in providing structured hybrid financing to Asian corporates for resource sector projects and acquisitions. Previously Mr Scrimgeour was a senior equity derivatives trader involved in the pricing of complex structured equity derivative instruments for both private and corporate clients focused in Asia. Mr Scrimgeour holds a Bachelor of Economics with Honours from the University of Western Australia.
Bruce Kay
Non-Executive Director
Mr Kay is a qualified geologist and former head of worldwide exploration for Newmont Mining Corporation. He is a highly experienced geologist with a resource industry career spanning more than 30 years in international exploration, mine, geological, project evaluation and corporate operations. Mr Kay retired from Newmont in 2003. Based in Denver, Colorado, USA, he managed worldwide exploration for that company. Prior to this appointment Mr Kay was group executive and managing director of exploration at Normandy Mining Limited where he was responsible for managing its global exploration program.
Ted Coupland
Senior Advisor to the Board
Ted has over 30 years of experience in the mining, exploration and resource finance industry and holds qualifications in geology, geostatistics, mineral economics and finance. Ted has had a comprehensive technical career in the resources sector covering exploration, mine geology, resource estimation, risk analysis, resource consulting and business management.
Management
Donna Thornton
Chief Financial Officer
Ms Thornton is a qualified chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience in the resources and contractor mining sectors, having most recently held the position of Group Financial Controller with ASX-listed gold miner Alkane Resources. During her time with Alkane, Ms Thornton played a pivotal role in assisting the finance team through the development of the underground mining operations at Tomingley, demerger of the now ASX-listed Australian Strategic Minerals Limited, multiple capital raisings and leading the Company’s management and statutory reporting obligations.
David Baumgartel
Plutonic General Manager
David has over 20 years of commercial and operational experience in open pit and underground mines. He has been a General Manager of multiple operations including Darlot UG in Western Australia, Jabal Sayid UG Mine in Saudi Arabia, Lumwana in Zambia, Runruno in Philippines and most recently, Gascoyne Dalgaranga. He was also formerly the Global VP Supply Chain and Maintenance for Barrick.
Valentine Utete
General Manager – Henty Gold Operations
Valentine is a mining engineer with over 25 years’ experience in the mining sector, predominantly in underground metalliferous mining in Australia and Zimbabwe. He was previously Mining Manager at Tritton in NSW and General Manager of the Nifty Copper mine in Western Australia. Val has been the General Manager at Henty since May 2022.
Mick Garbellini
Group Operations Manager
Mick has 32 years of mining experience both within Australia and internationally. He has worked throughout the Western Australian goldfields and more recently, for the past 10 years, has been the Vice President and Senior Mine Manager of Freeport Grasberg Block Cave Mine in Indonesia managing 20,000 employees across multiple underground mines running simultaneously.
Paul Quigley
Geology Manager
Paul is a geologist with over 30 years of experience in exploration, resource development, and mining. Paul has fulfilled roles in and around mines in Queensland, Northern Territory, and in Laos, and additionally in exploration and resource development projects in Central Victoria. Paul has lead the geology team at Catalyst since 2015, including overseeing the Bendigo and Henty Projects.
Cathy Barclay
Group Manager, Mine Planning & Technical Services
Cathy has a career spanning more than 25 years in the mining industry, across a range of operational, technical, consulting, management and corporate roles. Cathy’s has experience in underground and open-pit operations, and greenfield exploration across a number of countries.