FEM 2025 speakers

Scott Halley worked as an exploration geologist for 20 years in Archean gold, VMS, porphyry Cu and epithermal systems.  Scott is a research collaborator with CODES, University of Tasmania, and regularly teaches geochemistry short courses at CODES.  Since 2005 he has run a geochemistry consulting business. He specializes in characterization of rock types, hydrothermal alteration and pathfinder patterns using ICP geochemistry. He has consulted to over 200 companies in more than 25 countries.

Natasha is a Director of Project Finance at the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) since 2020, focusing on financing projects in the metals & mining sector as well as renewable in power generation, where all projects have strong ESG focus. She has +15 years’ experience in international commercial banking, holding various relationship- and structuring roles assisting the Nordic industries in their worldwide reach with financing solutions. Natasha holds an MSc in Business & Economics.

Simon is a geoscientist specialising in regolith, geochemistry and remote sensing with over 35 years’ experience in the gold industry, working in 30 countries across 5 continents. He has worked for several major mining companies, including Normandy, Anglo American and Newmont, where he held the roles of Consulting Geochemist and Global Manager Remote Sensing. Simon also does case studies in Finland with Oulu Mining School.

He has been Head of Exploration for a successful explorer in West Africa, managing teams that resulted in new economic gold discoveries at a number of projects. Simon is a co-founder and Managing Director of Perth based Portable PPB which has completed the R&D and commercialisation of the game changing patented detectORETM low level gold by pXRF technique, that enables gold explorers to discover, define and mine gold faster and smarter.

Karen Rees holds a B.Sc. Honours Geology degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1984) and is a member of Professional Geoscientists Ontario (2002). She has enjoyed a 37-year career in mineral exploration, starting as a field and project geologist in northwestern Ontario, northern Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. She later managed teams on multi-commodity projects across Ontario and contributed to governance and corporate functions.

Karen serves on the boards of three junior exploration companies with projects in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. A passionate advocate for the minerals sector, she began volunteering with PDAC in 2011 and was elected to the board in 2018. She continues to serve on PDAC committees including Executive, Awards, Human Resource Development, and the Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop (S-IMEW), a flagship program that celebrated its 16th anniversary in 2025.

Iain Stewart currently serves as Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth, where he holds the UNESCO Chair in Geoscience and Society. Since 2021, he has also been the El Hassan bin Talal Research Chair in Sustainability at the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan. With a research background in earthquake geology and geohazards, his academic interests are in geoscience applications for sustainable development, being founder and inaugural Director of the University of Plymouth’ s Sustainable Earth Institute. Beyond academia, he is widely recognized for his science broadcasting work with BBC television, presenting acclaimed series such as “Earth: The Power of the Planet” and “How Earth Made Us.” His contributions to public engagement in geoscience have earned him numerous accolades, including an MBE in 2013 and the Geological Society of London’s Coke Medal in 2024.

Dr Florian Anderhuber has been working on EU energy and industry policy for the past 10 years in companies, associations and the European Parliament. Currently holding the position as Deputy Director General at Euromines responsible for energy, climate and sustainability, Dr Anderhuber has a keen interest to forward the business and investment case for responsible mining operations and link the mining industry to the geopolitical and sustainability challenges the European Union currently faces.

Dr Hannu Takkula is the regional governor of Lapland, Finland since 1 November 2024. In 2017 Dr Takkula was appointed by the Finnish government to be the Finnish Member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in Luxembourg from 01.03.2018 to 31.05.2024. Prior to joining ECA, Dr Takkula was a longstanding politician, serving as one of the 13 elected Finnish Members of the European Parliament in Brussels, and Strasbourg, from 2004-2018; and as an elected member, representing Lapland, in the national Parliament of Finland (the Eduskunta) from 1995-2004.

In the European Parliament Dr Takkula worked in the fields of international trade, education and culture, agriculture and rural development. During his time in the Eduskunta, Dr Takkula’s attention focussed on foreign affairs, EU related issues, environment and culture. Dr Takkula holds a Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Lapland.

Lia is a sustainability lawyer and expert with an extensive background of 10 years in sustainability and human rights. Her skill set centres around the ability to identify material ESG risks and opportunities, and further develop and implement appropriate management responses. Moreover, Lia has solid experience in crafting and identifying strategic value creation opportunities and developing compelling ESG narratives for stakeholders. Additionally, she has developed a number of comprehensive ESG strategies, led effective sustainability reporting engagements, and conducted ESG supply-chain risk assessments. Lia is a Doctor of Laws and is a respected expert in business and human rights.

Nick Oliver (PhD, FSEG, FAIG, MSGA) is a consultant specialising in the assessment and fusion of geochemical, structural, and geophysical datasets and application of these to solving field-, drill core- and mine-based geological problems. He has used ioGAS on over 90 projects in the last 15 years, including consulting jobs in northern Finland and Sweden since 2013. He was previously Professor of Economic Geology and Director of the Economic Geology Research Unit at James Cook University in northern Australia. He has delivered short courses and field workshops to over 8000 geologists, including several public and in-house courses in Finland and Sweden.

James Cleverley (PhD, FSEG). James earned his PhD in Hydrothermal Geochemistry from the University of Leeds in 2002 before moving to Australia, where he worked in economic geology, materials characterization, geo-sensing, and computational modelling. He joined IMDEX in 2014 as a Product Manager, leading geoscience technology development. In 2019, he returned to the UK for a customer-facing role spanning sales and education. Now, as Operations Manager for IMDEX Europe, he focuses on delivering technology solutions for the minerals industry, from discovery to production, with a passion for improving data collection and decision-making in exploration and mining.

Marcello completed his BSc in Geological Engineering in Peru in 1993 and spent nearly a decade working during the mineral exploration boom in Latin America. He then moved to Europe to pursue MSc and PhD studies focused on economic geology, exploration geochemistry, and applied geophysics in active Cu-Zn mines—first at Turku University in Finland and later at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. Over the following 15 years, he held senior roles with major copper and gold companies, leading international exploration programs. In 2020, he joined Viscaria (then Copperstone Resources) to head the technical team and redefine copper exploration in the Kiruna mining district. Marcello is passionate about challenging traditional exploration models and brings a unique Andean perspective and strong global network that help position Viscaria at the forefront of Nordic copper exploration.

Allan Rodel is an executive with in-depth expertise in many aspects within the mining industry including the leadership of large operational and project organisations. Allan is currently the Senior Vice President for Anglo American accountable for project execution in all their operating countries.  He plays a central role in how Anglo American grows and helps turn strategic intent into real-world outcomes by shaping opportunities, designing solutions, and delivering capital projects that create long-term value.

A registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng) in both Canada and South Africa, with an honours degree in B.Sc. Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce in Financial and Risk Management. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Fellow of both the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE) and the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Ina Storch is an expert in software development and mineral predictive mapping using artificial intelligence. She holds a Master’s degree in Geophysics from Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg in Germany and did her Ph.D. at the same institution in 2022, focusing on controlled source deep seismic imaging at the North Chilean subduction zone. Since 2021, Ina has been employed as a Geophysicist and software developer at Beak Consultants GmbH in Germany. Her work involves diverse research projects since 2021 like Europe Horizon 2020 project “EIS” (“Exploration Information System”), the EIT Raw Malerials project “DroneSOM”, and CriticalMAAS project in the United States, co-funded by DARPA. In those projects she developed software and workflows for 2D and 3D mineral predictive mapping. As of 2023, she leads the team behind Beak’s in-house developed advangeo® prediction software for 2D and 3D geospatial data.

Markku Pirttijärvi (PhD) has academic background in numerical modelling and inversion of geophysical data. He is specialized in potential field (gravity and magnetics) and electromagnetic (EM) methods. In Radai, he has made software for drone flight path generation and magnetic data processing with equivalent layer modelling (ELM). Presently, he is involved with the development of a drone-based EM survey system (Louhi) and related 3D EM inversion software. He’s main motivation is to create pragmatic and easy-to-use tools for geophysical data interpretation.

Andreas Davidsen is CCO at Nordic Mining ASA. He previously worked at Norfund as Head of Agribusiness and Manufacturing, managing investments in more than 20 companies across Africa. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at Yara International, where he worked on strategy and mergers & acquisitions, including projects connected to the mining and mineral processing industries in Europe and Africa. His background combines international business development with hands-on experience from investments and partnerships in resource-based sectors.

Eduardo Mansur earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Universidade de Brasília, Brazil, and Ph.D. degree from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada. His most recent studies have focused on better understanding the formation and distribution of different elements in magmatic sulphide deposits worldwide. Eduardo currently works as a researcher at Norges geologiske undersøkelse (NGU), Norway. His main research interests are focused on using geochemistry to trace ore-forming processes at different scales, concentrating especially on the use of in-situ trace element and isotope chemistry in ore minerals.

Øystein Rushfeld is mining engineer with 37 years of experience from Norwegian and international mining companies. Former employers include Rana Gruber AS, Sydvaranger AS, Hustadmarmor AS, Titania AS and Eramet Norge AS.

Mr Beckton graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from Melbourne University and also a Masters of Economic Geology from the University of Tasmania. He is a professional geologist with over 30 years’ experience in exploration, project development, production and management in Australia and internationally.

Pasi Heino serves as the Project Director for the Sokli project, bringing twenty years of experience in geology and leadership roles across both industry and government. His expertise spans precious metals, base metals, and industrial minerals, with a specialization in large-scale open pit mining developed as Chief Mine Geologist at the Siilinjärvi mine. He also held a senior leadership position as Head of Unit and Management Team member at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), contributing to national geoscientific strategy and development. In the Sokli project, Heino leads a multidisciplinary team focused on advancing responsible and innovative mining development in Northern Finland. He holds an M.Sc. in Geology and Mineralogy from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and is a member of AusIMM.

Emma is Director Communications at Svemin, the Association for mines, mineral-, and metals producers in Sweden. She has 20+ years of experience from communications and media, with a background as a journalist. But just like the green transition, she started in the mine; Emma has a MSc in bedrock geology from Uppsala University. She is chair of Women in Mining Sweden.

Hanna Junttila is one of the founders and Chair of the Board of WiM Finland. Hanna is a geologist (MSc) by training and she has over 10 years of experience on sales and business development in high tech and startup scene of mining industry. Currently she works as business development manager at Lumo Analytics ltd, a start-up providing drill core scanning and analysis services.

Andreas studied Geology at Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 1998 to 2004. He joined Beak Consultants GmbH in Freiberg/Germany in 2005 and has been a project manager in various mineral exploration projects, among others in Kosovo, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, DR Congo and Nigeria. Since 2007, his research is focusing on application of artificial intelligence for mineral predictive mapping. Currently, he is leading related work packages in the Horizon Europe projects “EIS – Exploration Information System” (https://eis-he.eu/news-DigitalTools) and „DeepBEAT – Deep exploration BoostEd by Advanced exploration Technologies“. Besides this, he has been involved in „CriticalMAAS – Critical Mineral Assessments with AI Support“ project by U.S.G.S. under DARPA. Since January 2023, he is Managing Director of Beak Consultants GmbH.

Kjell Magne Gronnli, employed at Kingsrose since autumn 2024 as a Coountry and Community Manager with the goal of establishing and maintaining contact with the local population, reindeer grazing districts, public authorities, landowners, and the political environment in Karasjok, Kautokeino, and Porsanger. Previously worked for two years in the Reindeer Husbandry Department at the County Governor of Troms and Finnmark and before that for nearly 20 years in the Police in various roles, including leadership positions. Studied nature and cultural heritage supervision and reindeer husbandry, in addition to leadership training.

Current main responsibilities are to establish cooperation agreements with the reindeer herding industry, which holds a strong position in Norway both culturally and legally, as well as to communicate information and gather feedback from other user groups and rights holders in the areas in which we operate. Additionally, I serve as a key point of contact for all Kingsrose operations in Finnmark, whether conducted independently or with the assistance of contracted companies.

Dr Florian Anderhuber has been working on EU energy and industry policy for the past 10 years in companies, associations and the European Parliament. Currently holding the position as Deputy Director General at Euromines responsible for energy, climate and sustainability, Dr Anderhuber has a keen interest to forward the business and investment case for responsible mining operations and link the mining industry to the geopolitical and sustainability challenges the European Union currently faces.

Economist with a commitment to the social aspects of projects and the management of mineral resources, former Secretary General of Norsk Bergindustri/Norwegian Mineral Industry. Ms Gammelsaeter will present Norwegian examples of unpopular but necessary development projects, with local public resistance.  How can we resolve the NIMBY cases, and are they necessary? She presents advice and intends to inspire for those involved in projects with NIMBY aspects and has been deemed relevant for NIMBY cases everywhere.

Mr. Bradford is a metallurgist and seasoned mining executive with over 35 years of project management and operational experience. Mr. Bradford has experience at an executive level in both operations and project development for several tier-1 mining companies, including Anglo American plc, BCL Limited, and LionOre Mining International Ltd. Most recently, Mr. Bradford served as Managing Director of Aston Minerals Ltd., where he led the advancement of the Edleston Nickel Sulphide Project and played a pivotal role in the merger with Torque Metals Ltd. in 2025. Mr. Bradford was also Senior Vice President at Asanko Gold Inc. and was General Manager at LionOre and Mantra Resources Limited. Russell holds a Higher National Diploma in Extraction Metallurgy from the University of Johannesburg and is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr. Bradford joined First Nordic Metals in 2025.

Elsi Malkki has been working at Agnico Eagle Finland as the Communications and Community Relations Manager since 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Lapland. Prior to her current position, Elsi served as Vice President at the Lapland Chamber of Commerce. Her background includes extensive experience in business services, regional development, and the development of the business environment.

Eric Roth is an Economic Geologist with over 35 years’ experience in global mineral exploration, project management, the evaluation of business opportunities, and Corporate management. Eric has worked for a number of junior and major mining companies during his career and has been involved in a number of significant greenfields discoveries, many of which are now either in production or in the mine development stage. Key discoveries from the past two decades include: Hod Maden gold-copper, Türkiye; Cerro Moro gold-silver, Argentina; Tropicana gold, Australia; La Colosa gold, Colombia.

Hannu Lahtinen is Director of Availability of Raw Materials at the Geological Survey of Finland GTK. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Lahtinen has worked in the mining industry and in the field of geological research. Lahtinen received his M.Sc. in geology and mineralogy from the University of Oulu in 2006. He has broad expertise from exploration, mineral resource estimation, and engineering geology in various development and managerial positions. Previously Lahtinen worked at a major mining company in Finland as Geologist and Chief Geologist. Since 2013 he has worked at GTK in several managerial roles. Currently he manages GTK’s operations in Geophysical, Circular Economy, and Mineral Economy solutions, including GTK Mintec Pilot Plant and Laboratories.

Kaj Lax is Head of the Mineral Resources Department at the Geological Survey of Sweden, SGU, Uppsala. He has a background in geochemistry, and as Head of the Mineral Information Office in Malå.

Mr. Jani Lösönen is the Vice President, Europe, Agnico Eagle Mines LTD, and Managing Director of Agnico Eagle Finland Oy since 2017. As a board professional Mr. Lösönen holds several board member positions in various companies and organizations. Mr. Lösönen is the current Chair of the board of the Finnish Mining Association (FinnMin) and he has also been a member of Euromines Executive Committee since 2018. Prior joining Agnico Eagle, Mr. Lösönen was CEO at environmental management company Ekokem. He holds Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Lappeenranta University of Technology.

Maria Sunér is the CEO of Svemin, the Swedish Association for Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers. Ms Sunér has a profound background from the business sector and has held several positions at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, as well as for the Swedish Association of Energy producers, the Worldbank and Eon. Maria is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering, member of the Euromines Executive Committee and chairperson for the innovation program Swedish Metals and Minerals.

Dr. Åsa Allan is a geologist and executive within the mining and exploration industry. She holds a MSc in geology from Åbo Academy in Finland and a PhD in ore geology from Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. Allan has extensive experience from companies such as consultancy Hifab and Northland Resources and has also served as the municipal chief executive in Pajala. In 2017 she joined Kaunis Iron and has held leading positions as site manager and deputy CEO, responsible for exploration, sustainability, and strategic development. In 2025, she was appointed Director of Exploration at Boliden and shortly afterwards Chief of Staff, a role that she currently holds.