Steffen is a Professor for Economic Geology and Director of the Centre for Exploration Targeting at the University of Western Australia. He has 35 years’ experience in economic geology specialising in mineral system analyses of orogenic Au, BIF-hosted Fe ore, porphyry Cu-Au, epithermal Au-Ag, VHMS Cu-Zn mineralization and Li-Cs pegmatite. Most of his present research projects are in the Yilgarn craton of Western Australia and in South America with projects in the eastern Andes of Peru, NW Argentina and the Precambrian shields of Brazil and Guyana. Steffen is also a Technical Director at Latitude Cobalt 66 Ltd and Nero Resource Fund.

Dr Jess Stromberg is a Senior Research Scientist and Team Leader of the Mineral Footprints team. She is a geoscientist with a background in ore deposit geochemistry, spectral techniques, and in the minerals industry. In the spectral sensing space, Jess works largely at the drill core scale with spectral mineralogy data from HyLogger and field-based spectrometers, and in knowledge transfer through delivery of workshops on the applications of hyperspectral mineralogy as a part of the AuScope NVCL.  Jess works across a range of applied research and technology development projects and is broadly interested in improving the workflows in which we collect and integrate spectral datasets from the X-ray to far-infrared.

Dr Heta Lampinen is a Research Scientist with a versatile geology background including economic geology, nuclear waste geological disposal and geotechnical structural geology. Heta works with a wide range of hyperspectral, geological, geochemical and geophysical survey data to facilitate mineral mapping across multiple scales on the surface and subsurface. Heta’s technical skills include operating hyperspectral core and field sensors, hyperspectral data processing and integration with complimentary geoscience data, and use of various microscopy techniques (optical, SEM, XRF, XRD) for linking broader alteration haloes to metal deposits. Heta is also skilled in processing hyperspectral airborne and satellite images (e.g. HyMap and PRISMA) and translating their content to mineral systems footprint targeting tools.

Alan has over 40 years’ experience in the use and development of geoanalytical technologies. His specialism is in the development of workflows that allow geologists to image and analyse minerals, ores and rock textures at variable scales, with different modalities, and in different dimensions (2D, 3D and 4D). This novel approach allows all of the key materials at our disposal (drill cores, drill chips, thick & thin sections, polished blocks) to be evaluated for ore characterisation, mineral liberation and elemental deportment, all of which reduce risk and increase the likelihood of success in exploration & mining.

Leena Rajavuori is a geologist and is currently Manager, Growth and Innovation at Agnico Eagle Finland.  She has 20 years of experience in exploration and mining industry, and has diverse experience in project management, operational excellence, and business development.

Leena holds a MSc in Geology and Mineralogy from University of Turku and an eMBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. She holds EurGeol title and is member of EFG’s Panel of Experts on Minerals and their sustainable use. She is currently a board member in Finnish Association of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers.

Erika is Head of Division, Mineral Information & Mining Industry at SGU since 2015. Her division runs the Mineral information office in Malå, statistics on mining, exploration, raw materials, government commissions, and also runs international capacity building projects. Among other things, Erika is part of the team that negotiated the CRMA during the Swedish EU Presidency, and one of the experts contributing to the Swedish government FIMM inquiry on securing innovation critical raw materials.

Jeanette Stovel (BA Hons [East Asian Studies], McGill University, 1986; Executive MBA, Warsaw School of Economics and University of Calgary, 2001) worked for 15 years in multilateral and non-governmental organizations in Canada and Poland and throughout the former Yugoslavia before joining Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in 2006.

During her time at Headquarters, she has served as deputy director of peace operations policy for the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (2008 to 2009) and deputy director for the Middle East in the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (2016 to 2019).

Her positions overseas have included political counsellor in Poland, where she was concurrently the most senior Canadian diplomat accredited to Belarus; chargé d’affaires en pied in Lithuania, with responsibility for Latvia and Estonia; and, most recently, high commissioner in Brunei (2019 to 2022).

Javier Gonzalez has 20 years´ experience from the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME-CSIC). PhD in geology, mineralogy and geochemistry of seabed ferromanganese deposits. He has been coordinator of the H2020 GeoERA-MINDeSEA project, mapping the metallogeny and critical raw materials potential of seabed minerals in pan-European seas. Since 2004, he collaborates with a number of research institutions on several projects in the Iberian continental margins, Canary Islands, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Baltic Sea, South China Sea, Cocos-Nazca Ridge and South Shetland Islands and Scotia Sea (Antarctica). Oriented to national and international career with responsibility for marine minerals mapping and research in the framework of Europe, Iberoamerican countries and the International Seabed Authority. His main research interests include marine mineral deposits, critical raw materials, sustainability and energy transition.

Quentin is a senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Finland where he has been leading several national and EU research and innovation projects on ore geology, mineral processing, traceability and geometallurgy of battery minerals (Cobalt, Lithium) and critical raw materials (CRMs) such as Rare Earths Elements (REEs). After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Lorraine (Nancy, France), he worked as a postdoc researcher at the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter (UK) working on the geometallurgy of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In 2019, Quentin joined the GTK with the objective of developing innovative integrated approaches to support mine value chain optimisation, responsible sourcing, reducing technical risk, maximising resource efficiency and minimising environmental impacts. Quentin is also the officer for Scandinavia within the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)   Initiative on Forensic Geology (IFG).