Invited Speakers
Invited speakers will present visionary papers that reflect the broader environmental, social, and governance considerations affecting society and that will advance the responsible utilization of the planet's resources in the 21st century. Please be sure to look for them during technical sessions and special events.
Anna Bidgood
KoBold Metals
Anna is an exploration geologist with KoBold Metals working on their copper discovery team. Anna was previously a Fulbright scholar at Carnegie Institution for Science and a postdoctoral researcher at the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience. Her research explores metamorphism, mineral growth, and mineralization in the Central African Copperbelt, a large sedimentary basin which contains economic concentrations of critical elements required in the transition from hydrocarbon- to renewable energy-based technology. Anna finished her Ph.D. in metamorphic geology and Himalayan tectonics at the University of Oxford in 2020, laying the foundation for an understanding of natural processes related to mineral growth.
Deng Ngang Deng
Target Mining Resources
Deng is a South Sudanese-Canadian geologist based in Australia and the founder of Target Mining Resources, a mining services and training provider. He specializes in the mining and exploration of gold and base metals, with expertise in geochemical mapping. Deng is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and a coauthor of The Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), contributing to the development of resource reporting standards across Africa. His academic background includes a diploma of project management from Western Sydney Institute, an M.S. in geology from Laurentian University, and an Honours B.S. geology specialist from the University of Toronto. His work has established him as a key figure in the mining industry.
Hartwig Frimmel
University of Würzburg, Germany
Hartwig, who obtained his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Vienna, is a professor and Chair of Geodynamics and Geomaterials Research at the University of Würzburg, Germany. He is also associated with the University of Cape Town, where he previously climbed the academic ladder from lecturer to associate professor. He was leader of the Earth Science subprogram within the South African National Antarctic Program, former president of The Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA), and director of Lithoscope consultancy. He has served on several editorial boards (including Mineralium Deposita for the past 25 years) and as a consultant to numerous national research funding agencies, mining/exploration companies, and government bodies. His research interests developed from metamorphic geology to metallogeny and economic geology, especially sediment-hosted base metal and gold deposits. His research output includes more than 230 articles and book chapters as well as three books.
Lynnette Greyling
Independent Consultant
Lynnette has an M.Sc. for a study on MVT-type Pb-Zn deposits in South Africa and a Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand characterizing the hydrothermal fluids of the Zambian Copperbelt. As an exploration geologist at Randgold Resources, she worked on Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic orogenic gold deposits in Tanzania and West Africa. She is interested in how structures create pathways and traps for hydrothermal fluids, leading to precious and base metal mineralization. This was the focus of her postdoctoral research on Birimian-hosted orogenic gold deposits in northern Cote d’Ivoire at the University of Cape Town, where she became a lecturer in economic geology. She has been a vice president of exploration for Goldrange Resources, with projects in Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania. She is currently based in the United Kingdom and works as an independent consultant.
Matthew Grimshaw
Independent Consultant
Matthew holds a Ph.D. and is a chartered geologist with nearly a decade of experience in the natural resources sector, spanning both academia and industry. As an exploration geologist, he specializes in the earliest stages of resource projects, working across Africa, the Middle East, North America, and Australia. Matthew is dedicated to integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into resource development, advocating for sustainable practices that respect both the environment and local communities. He believes in the interconnectedness of the Earth's history, its landscapes, and the people who depend on them, and he is committed to ensuring that resource projects contribute positively to all stakeholders.
Murray Hitzman
University College Dublin / iCRAG / KoBold Metals
Murray is a professor in the School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, and director of the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG). He previously served as associate director for energy and minerals at the U.S. Geological Survey, Charles Fogarty Professor of Economic Geology at Colorado School of Mines, a policy analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Senate, and an exploration geologist conducting mineral exploration worldwide. Hitzman has B.A. degrees in anthropology and geology from Dartmouth College, an M.S. in geology from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in geology from Stanford University. He currently serves as a technical advisor for KoBold Metals.
Kurt House
KoBold Metals
Kurt is the cofounder and CEO of KoBold Metals, an AI-driven mineral exploration company that integrates the expertise of top-tier mineral explorers with a world-class team of data scientists and software engineers from Silicon Valley giants such as Apple and Google. KoBold's mission is to accelerate the discovery of essential materials for the energy transition, and over the last six years, KoBold has established a diverse portfolio of over 60 projects across four continents, some of which are in partnership with industry leaders like BHP and Rio Tinto.
Throughout his career, Kurt has been an entrepreneur at the interface between technology and natural resources. He previously founded a carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery business, as well as a direct investment platform focused on acquiring North American natural gas assets. Kurt has also contributed to academia as an adjunct professor and visiting scholar at Stanford University, where he helped found the Mineral-X program and currently serves as the chair of Mineral-X's scientific advisory board. Kurt was a KAUST Research Fellow at MIT, and he earned his Ph.D. degree in applied math and earth science from Harvard University and holds a B.A. degree in physics from the Claremont Colleges.
Judith Kinnaird
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Judith, a former president of SEG, is internationally known for her work on ore deposits in Africa. She and a team of researchers have worked on copper mineralization in the Central African Copperbelt of Zambia and the DRC; pegmatite-hosted tin, lithium, and uranium deposits in the Damara belt of Namibia; tin, niobium, and tantalum in the Younger Granites of Nigeria; lithium and gem-bearing pegmatites in Zimbabwe and Somaliland; chromitite and platinum group metals in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa and Malopo Farms Complex in Botswana; lead-zinc deposits in Ireland; and Archaean gold mineralization in South Africa and Mozambique. Currently, she is focusing on vanadium, platinum group elements, uranium, lithium, and rare earth elements needed for the green economy.
Judith is codirector of a National Centre of Excellence (CIMERA) for Minerals and Energy Research Analysis, cohosted at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and funded by the NRF/DST of the South African government. She has received several national and international awards in recognition of her research.
Mfikeyi Makayi
KoBold Metals
Mfikeyi is an engineer and seasoned mining professional with over 15 years' experience in industry. She worked on one of Zambia and Africa's largest copper mines, First Quantum's Kansanshi copper-gold mine, in mining operations and in the global internal audit division covering Australia, Finland, Mauritania, and Panama’s operations. She was also the Country Manager and Director of one of Zambia's largest mining and construction equipment supply and services companies, Barloworld Equipment, supplying Caterpillar products to various industries. Her portfolio covered First Quantum's Kansanshi and Sentinel mines, Barrick's Lumwana mine, Mopani copper mines, and Gemfield's Kagem mine, the world's largest emerald mine.
Mfikeyi has a B.Sc. in civil engineering and an M.Eng. in environmental engineering, both from Old Dominion University, and an M.Sc. in mining engineering from Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter. She is an Executive MBA candidate at the Lagos Business School at Pan-Atlantic University.
Musa Manzi
Wits Seismic Research Centre / Eramin FuTuRe Project
Musa completed his Ph.D. degree in geophysics in 2013 at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is an associate professor, founding director of the Wits Seismic Research Centre, and a scientific coordinator of the Eramin FuTuRe Project, an international consortium project funded through a pan-European network of research funding organizations. Manzi’s innovative and outstanding contributions to geosciences are concerned with the development of novel seismic exploration methods to gain a deeper understanding of Earth processes, particularly in exploring for mineral, oil, and gas reservoirs in African basins and beyond. His work benefits the mining industry in various ways, from application of fiber optic and wireless sensing methods to facilitate exploration for deep-seated precious and base metal deposits, to curiosity-driven studies of phenomena such as methane gas origin, migration, and explosions to assist mining companies and governments to develop mitigation strategies. He has a prolific publication record in high-profile, peer-reviewed journals.
Benjamin Mapani
Namibia University of Science and Technology
Benjamin completed his honors degree in mineral sciences in 1986, his masters degree in 1989, and his Ph.D. in 1994. He has made significant contributions to academia, including helping to build an international masters program in exploration geology at the University of Zimbabwe and building a geology program at the University of Namibia. In 2020, he was offered a professorial position in mining and sustainable development at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Benjamin's research has focused on geodynamics, economic geology, groundwater, climate change, and environmental management of producing and abandoned mines. He has a combined experience of 35 years in geology—from mapping to structural geology, geochemistry, and applied geostatistics—and believes field work is the anchor for improving emerging AI technologies He has consulted for a number of mines and organizations and has published extensively in the field.
Kombada Mhopjeni
Natural Sciences, UNESCO Windhoek
Kombada is the national programme officer for Natural Sciences at the UNESCO Windhoek office. She leads the delivery of UNESCO's science programs in Namibia and coordination of the geoscience program in Southern Africa, drawing on over 18 years of scientific experience in the government, including various roles in geosciences and management. She served as the national representative for the International Union of Geological Sciences and the co-secretary general of the IUGS Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information. Kombada is an executive member of the Geological Society of Namibia and founding national representative of the Young Earth Scientists Network Namibia chapter. She holds an M.Sc. in geology from the University of Western Australia.
Yann Waku Mpaka
Barrick
Yann is an exploration geologist for Barrick, with over eight years of experience in greenfield and brownfield exploration at the Kibali gold mine and the Congo craton. He is dedicated to mineral systems approaches, target generation, and due diligence project reviews to drive Barrick's growth. Yann is also a Ph.D. candidate at Stellenbosch University, specializing in economic geology, with his research focused on gold deposit systems in the Kibali region, exploring fluid-flow models, structural controls, and mineralization processes in orogenic gold deposits. Additionally, he is affiliated with the University of Kinshasa, where he assists in economic geology research and assessment of ESG practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo's mining sector.
Godfrey Ngaisiue
Debmarine Namibia
Godfrey is a distinguished member of the Debmarine Namibia executive management team, overseeing the mineral resource management portfolio. With a remarkable tenure of 21 years at Debmarine Namibia, he has ascended through the ranks from exploration geoscientist to senior project geoscientist, evaluation manager, and mineral resources strategic projects manager.
Godfrey holds an advanced postgraduate specialisation diploma (M.Eng.) in geostatistics from the National Superior School of Mines of Paris, a graduate diploma in engineering (mining; University of the Witwatersrand), a master's in exploration geophysics (University of Leeds), and a B.S. honours in exploration geophysics (University of Pretoria). Additionally, he holds a B.S. in physics and geography (University of Namibia).
Godfrey has pursued various leadership development courses, including the Senior Executive Programme and Corporate Finance Programme from the London Business School, the Programme for Management Excellence from the Gordon Institute for Business Science (GIBS), and the Senior Management Development Programme from the Stellenbosch Business School. In recognition of his expertise and experience, he has recently been appointed as a non-executive director on the NAMCOR Board.
Thabisile Phumo
Sibanye-Stillwater
Thabisile is an accredited public relations and communication specialist and Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) fellow with 28 years' experience in the public and corporate sector. She is a past president of PRISA and executive committee member of the World Communication Forum Association.
She is currently the executive vice president and head of stakeholder relations at Sibanye-Stillwater and has worked in various capacities in the corporate affairs environment at the University of South Africa, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Commission for Gender Equality, and Anglo American Platinum Ltd.
She is co-editor of Strategic Communication: South African Perspectives, a member of the Academic Advisory Board for Strategic Communication at the University of Johannesburg, and chairperson of Group Technical Security Management (Pty) Ltd. Thabisile was recognized as the 7th leader in Mining Elites in Africa 2022 and received the Alumni Dignitas Award 2023 from the University of Johannesburg.
Mike Robertson
MSA Group
Mike is a principal consultant with The MSA Group based in Johannesburg, South Africa. With an M.Sc. in the structural controls of gold mineralisation at the Sheba mine, Barberton greenstone belt, he has a particular interest in the application of applied structural geology to understanding controls on ore genesis and exploration targeting. This has led to work on orogenic gold deposits through southern, east, west, and northeast Africa; Saudi Arabia; Yemen; Western Australia; Russia; and Kazakhstan.
He has been involved in mineral exploration, both in industry and in a consulting role, for 34 years. He has also worked on a wide spectrum of mineral systems including sediment-hosted, stratabound copper (Zambia; Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC]; Namibia; Botswana; Kazakhstan); carbonate-hosted zinc-lead (Namibia; DRC); non-sulfide zinc (Turkey; Mexico); nickel-copper-platinum group elements (Canada); iron oxide-copper-gold–type deposits (Zambia); volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits (Yemen; Saudi Arabia; Eritrea); phosphate and bauxite (Saudi Arabia); and heavy mineral sands (Russia).
John Roos
B2Gold Namibia
John is the country manager and director of B2Gold Namibia, the nation's largest gold mining company, which is 90% owned by B2Gold Corporation and 10% by EVI Mining Namibia. In his role, John oversees the company's long-term strategy and corporate development. Before his appointment as country manager in November 2022, John led the corporate finance function and managed various green energy projects within the company. John is also actively involved in the company's corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives, spearheading various projects. He is a registered chartered accountant (SA) and a member of the executive committee of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia. Additionally, John serves on the boards of the Save The Rhino Trust and Nakayale Private Academy.
David Selley
Explorer and Researcher
David is an explorer and researcher with expertise in structural geology and basin analysis. His first visit to Africa was in 1999, a regional targeting of the Birimian in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali as a very green exploration geologist for North Ltd. The continent is now his second home, having worked throughout most of the African countries and geologic provinces. But the highlight has been a near 25-year involvement with the Central African Copperbelt, where he has had the privilege to study and explore for the most wonderful ores, all the time working with and being mentored by stellar research, exploration, and production geologists. The province boasts superb data sets, generated over 100 years of systematic exploration and mining—these underpin the concepts that will be presented. The scale and complexity of the mineralizing system means that each new discovery generates new challenges and a need to continually develop and refine our deposit models.
Adam C. Simon
University of Michigan
Adam is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan, USA. He earned degrees in geology and geochemistry from the University of Maryland and Stony Brook University and was a postdoctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University. His scholarly work focuses on the global flow of energy and mineral resources with an emphasis on the geologic availability of energy critical metals. Adam has coauthored two textbooks—Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, and Earth Materials: Components of a Diverse Planet—and published 100 papers in the field of energy and mineral resources. Adam has done research and given invited lectures on all seven continents, including a TEDX talk in 2022, and was awarded the University of Michigan Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize for his transdisciplinary pedagogy.
Richard Stewart
Sibanye Group
Richard has 25 years' experience in South Africa’s geologic and mining industries, is a fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa and a Registered Natural Scientist. Richard joined the Sibanye Group in 2014 and has held the position of chief regional officer: southern Africa since 2022, subsequent to being the Group chief operating officer (COO) from 2020. Prior to being COO, Richard was the executive vice president: business development at Sibanye-Stillwater, where he contributed significantly to the groups growth and acquisition strategy. Prior to joining Sibanye-Stillwater, he served in executive and management roles at CSIR Mining Technology division, Shango Solutions, Uranium One, and Gold One International. He was the also CEO of Goliath Gold Limited and an investment consultant for the private equity firm African Global Capital Proprietary Ltd.
Elizabeth Turner
Laurentian University
Elizabeth has published extensively on sedimentary rock-hosted ore systems in northern Canada and the Central African Copperbelt. Her expertise in ore-hosting sedimentary systems, ore-forming fluids and events, carbonate and siliciclastic lithofacies and diagenesis, stratigraphy, basin analysis, paleobiology, early Earth-surface environments, fossil reefs, early animal and eukaryote evolution, and hydrothermal systems is founded in >30 years of remote field research in Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary basins in northern Canada and central Africa, together with extensive microanalytical studies on the nature and evolution of ore-forming fluids and ore-hosting rocks. Elizabeth's Ph.D. in in geology is from Queen’s University (Kingston), and her B.Sc. in geology and B.A. in languages are from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the faculty at Laurentian University, she worked for Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office. She was the 2020 recipient of the Geological Association of Canada's Robinson Medal for career achievement in Precambrian geology.
Franck Twite
Kamoa Copper Project
Franck was born in Lubumbashi, DRC Copperbelt, where he developed an interest in geology and mining. He pursued a bachelor of science in geology at the University of Lubumbashi, DRC, and a master's degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Franck has been a key member of the Kamoa Copper Project geology team since 2011. The work of this geology team led, among other things, to the discovery of the Kakula deposit (625 Mt at 2.73% Cu). Franck is currently accountable for the onsite geology functions including exploration, resource definition, and grade control. Franck was the leading author in two papers published in the Journal of African Earth Sciences and Ore Geology Reviews. In pursuit of further economic geology education, Franck recently enrolled as a Ph.D. student at the KU Leuven University in Belgium.
Kirsten Youlton
SGS South Africa
Kirsten is currently a senior mineralogist at SGS South Africa, where she specializes in automated scanning electron microscopy (autoSEM) of a range of commodities across various stages in the resource pipeline from exploration to optimization and even remediation. She routinely conducts mineralogical investigations into Bushveld ores in collaboration the metallurgical team in order to understand, optimize, and improve processes. Prior to this, she was a senior scientist in the mineralogy division at Mintek. She completed her B.Sc. in geology and chemistry, followed by a B.Sc. Honours in geochemistry at the University of the Witwatersrand. She was awarded her Ph.D. in 2020 based on her research into alternative gold leaching techniques (non-cyanide) on a variety of South African ores, a research project of her own design.
Marina A. Yudovskaya
University of the Witwatersrand
Marina is a graduate of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, where she completed her Ph.D. research on volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of her native Rudny Altai. Upon completion of the Ph.D. degree, she went to work at IGEM in Moscow, with research focused on orogenic gold deposits in black shales, metal transport in fluids of active volcanoes, and unconventional platinum group element (PGE) mineralization. Since 2007, Marina has been involved in various projects on the Bushveld layered complex with affiliation at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). Her current projects also include studies on the intrusions and associated Cu-Ni-PGE deposits of the Norilsk region in the Russian Arctic.
Ingenesia "Inge" Zaamwani
Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Inge is an accomplished legal expert and executive with an extensive professional history in the mining and energy industries. She has held several government advisory positions, and she was CEO of NamDeb Diamond Corporation from 1999 to 2015, during which time she helped elevate the company to national significance and played an instrumental role in navigating the global financial crisis of 2008. Currently, Inge holds the position of Senior Presidential Advisor, Constitutional Affairs and Private Sector Interface, as well as five directorships and an honorary membership on the board of directors for the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Munshya Zimba
First Quantum Minerals (FQM)
Munshya is a principal geologist at First Quantum Minerals (FQM) in Zambia. His role focuses on regional generative exploration and support to the global exploration group. He has been working for over 16 years in the mining and mineral exploration industry with a focus on the Zambian Copperbelt. During this period, he has been involved in various phases of mining and exploration from generative to resource definition to production. He holds an M.S. in geochemistry from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, and a B.S. in geology from the University of Zambia. He has a passion for the acquisition, integration, and interpretation of relevant regional geochemical, geophysical, and geologic data sets to improve understanding of the Katanga basin and subsequent mineral exploration targeting.