About Gippsland Critical Minerals
Gippsland Critical Minerals has been established to develop a high-grade rare earths and critical minerals ore body in East Gippsland.
GCM is jointly-owned by Australian-owned REZir Ltd and Appian Capital Advisory, a leading investor in critical minerals projects around the world. Appian is bringing its expertise, funding, and experience to the Fingerboards Project with a staged equity investment of over $150 million.
Appian has a track record of investing in high-quality projects around the world, including rare earths, potash, gold, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc and mineral sands. Appian’s strategic investments have consistently supported projects from inception to successful production and rehabilitation, underscoring their commitment to responsible development of minerals projects.
GCM Team
Chief Executive Officer
Michelle Wood
Michelle is CEO of Gippsland Critical Minerals and is leading a significant re-scoping of the Fingerboards Project. This includes leading the business and technical work streams to develop a new project scope recognising its strategic importance to Australia and the need to build a better project for the community including benefit sharing for people in East Gippsland.
Michelle has 25 years’ experience in leadership roles in business and public policy. Previously she was Australian head of consulting for business advisory consultancy Bondi Partners and was a member of the executive leadership group at AGL, Uber ANZ, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Michelle holds a Master of Business.
Project Director, Technical
Stefan Wolmarans
Stefan is Project Director, Technical with responsibility for the development and design of mining and processing operations for the Fingerboards Project from the technical rescoping and approvals of the project to its execution.
Stefan has worked in the mining and infrastructure industries for over 25 years. He has extensive experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams delivering resource feasibility studies, mine infrastructure, project management and controls and project implementation for projects in Australia and Africa. Previously he was the GM Advisory for Wave International, with specific experience in multiple mineral sands and rare earths projects.
Project Director
(Community Engagement)
Ryan Leslie
Ryan is Project Director, Community and Stakeholder Engagement at Gippsland Critical Minerals. His focus is on building trusted relationships with the community through transparency and partnering with local stakeholders. Ryan’s role aims to build community understanding about the Fingerboards Project and facilitate engagement that helps inform a project design that mitigates and minimises environmental and cultural impacts and builds shared benefits for East Gippsland.
Ryan and has over 25 years’ experience in business development, project management, regional development, and stakeholder engagement in mining, power, infrastructure, manufacturing and small business.
Regional Asset Manager
Janet Robertson
Janet is Regional Asset Manager with responsibility for overseeing and managing the upkeep and maintenance of GCM's property assets across East Gippsland.
She also works with local community stakeholders to develop plans for the co-use and rehabilitation of the land in line with our community benefit sharing objectives and manages a range of community engagement initiatives such as GCM's Community Grants Program.
Nursery Manager
Murray Holland
Murray is Nursery Manager at Gippsland Critical Minerals where he is leading the identification and production of a diverse range of native grassland seed stocks for GCM’s mine rehabilitation program. He has a wide range of experience, initially in the Australian Army and subsequently in mineral exploration, landholder liaison, community engagement, environmental monitoring and field archaeology.
Murray is committed to the East Gippsland community and is a life member of the RSPCA, a local school board member, and involved in a variety of local clubs and associations.
Senior Advisor
Geoffrey Shepherd
Geoffrey Shepherd is Senior Advisor at Gippsland Critical Minerals with responsibility for project governance, management and delivery and the provision of project advice.
Geoff has 40 years of experience in engineering and construction in the infrastructure and resources sectors and was formerly executive director at WSP Australia.
Geoff’s experience includes a range of notable projects in Australia and around the world. These include mineral sands, lithium and iron ore mines and major infrastructure projects such as Southern Cross Station, West Gate Tunnel and Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Consultant
Paul Gibson-Roy
Paul Gibson-Roy is a restoration ecologist specialized in conserving, restoring and managing species-rich native grasslands and grassy woodlands.
In 2019 he joined Gippsland Critical Minerals to oversee rehabilitation strategies for the Fingerboards project which included the ambitious goal to restore ~200 ha of nationally listed grassy woodland to parts of the post-mined landscape. This work also involved developing significant seed production capacity to supply restoration.
Advisor
Paul Quirk
Paul is a partner at Lionhead Resources where he is responsible for originating new investment opportunities and building and maintaining investor relations.
Paul has more than 15 years of private equity and operational experience in mining and other industries including with Canada’s first rare earths producer Vital Metals where he is a Director.
GCM Board
Chair
Brad Pettersson
Brad is also the Chairman of Australian-owned REZir Ltd and brings to GCM over 25 years of experience as an senior advisor to the mining industry in financial strategy, mergers and acquisitions. Brad has been based out of Singapore for the past 20 years working on projects across various global jurisdictions.
Brad commenced his career with Andersen in Sydney and then EY working within their corporate and international tax practice specialising in tax law and commercial transactions cross border. He then relocated to Jakarta with Andersen and was heavily involved with MNC’s in the mining and energy space.
Director
Tim O'Donnell
Tim is Vice-President at Appian Capital Advisory, based in Perth. He has extensive corporate advisory and project finance and was formerly Director, Mining and Metals Investment Banking for UBS Australia.
Tim holds a Bachelor of Commerce (University of WA) and Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting (CA ANZ).
Director
Benjamin Muston
Ben is Senior Vice President of Appian Capital Advisory LLP based in London. He has over a decade of experience in portfolio management in the resources industry including Peak Rare Earths and Appian Clean Energy Solutions.
Ben holds a dual Masters degree in Metals and Energy Finance from the Royal School of Mines and Imperial College Business School, London, and a Masters in Physics from the University of Bristol.
Director
Neil O'Loughlin
Neil is a highly experienced geologist and resources executive having worked in the minerals industry for over 35 years, including as a consultant on emerging mineral sands and rare earth projects. He is a Director of REZir Pty Ltd and Minhub Operations Pty Ltd.
Neil has been involved with the Fingerboards Project since 2013, advancing it from exploration through to feasibility.
