Directors
John Richards
Appointed as Chair 30 April 2022
Qualifications
B.Econ (Hons)
Experience
John Richards is an economist with more than 35 years’ experience in the resources industry. He has held strategy and business development positions across several mining companies and has worked extensively in the investment banking and private equity industries. He has been involved in a wide range of significant mining M&A transactions on a global scale.
Mr Richards is also a Non-Executive Director of leading gold producer Northern Star Resources Ltd and Lead Independent Director of mineral sands company Sheffield Resources Ltd. His previous positions include Group Executive – Strategy & Business Development at Normandy Mining Ltd; Head of Mining & Metals Advisory (Australia) at Standard Bank; Managing Director at Buka Minerals Ltd and Operating Partner at Global Natural Resources Investments (GNRI).
He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Queensland.
Special responsibilities
- Chair of the Board of Directors
- Chair of the Nominations Committee
- Member of the People and Performance Committee
Brendan Harris
Qualifications
BSc, CPA
Experience
Mr Harris is an experienced mining executive that has a broad range of leadership, commercial and technical skills, particularly in the management and operations of a diversified international mining business.
Before joining Sandfire, Brendan was a member of South 32’s senior executive management team since its demerger from BHP in 2015 and played a key role in the company’s establishment as its inaugural Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, he held the role of Chief Human Resources and Commercial Officer at South32, with responsibility for global commodity marketing, procurement, and human resources.
He has also previously served as BHP’s Global Head of Investor Relations and, prior to joining BHP in 2010, held various roles in investment banking including as Executive Director at Macquarie Securities, where he led the Metals & Mining Research team.
Brendan holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Geophysics from Flinders University.
Jenn Morris
Qualifications
B.Arts, AICD, INSEAD
Experience
Ms Morris is a former partner of global professional services firm Deloitte where her career spanned more than 10 years working across the mining, government and transport sectors. She was also previously a Non-Executive Director of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, a Senior Marketing Analyst for Rio Tinto Iron Ore and the CEO of Walk Free, the Minderoo Foundation’s global initiative against slavery. She is currently a Commissioner on the Board of the Australian Sports Commission.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Journalism) from Curtin University, received with Distinction and has completed Finance for Executives at INSEAD. Her experience includes advising government entities and corporations on strategy development, governance controls, business transformation, the embedding of environment, social and governance related policies, the development of leadership and understanding of high-performance environments.
Ms Morris is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of Leadership WA and a member of the Vice Chancellor’s List, Curtin University. Prior to her business career, she was a member of the highly successful Australian Women’s Hockey Team which won Olympic gold medals at both Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. In 1997, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Special responsibilities
- Chair of the People and Performance Committee
- Member of the Risk and Sustainability Committee
- Member of the Nominations Committee
Robert Edwards
Qualifications
Honours Mining Engineering, Mine Managers Cert, Mine Overseers Cert. Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Experience
Rob Edwards brings 30 years of experience in the natural resource sector from production mining, new business development, equity research, investment banking and board level experience. After graduating from the Camborne School of Mines, he started his career in South Africa working in production mining and new business roles before joining HSBC as a precious metals equities analyst as part of the award winning HSBC Global Mining team. Thereafter he moved to Russia and was instrumental in transforming Renaissance Capital (RenCap) from a niche single country investment bank into a successful boutique resource focused investment bank operating across the CIS, Africa and Asia. His final role at RenCap was serving as Chairman, Mining and Metals providing oversight over investment banking and principal investment activity in the mining, metals and fertiliser sectors. After leaving Renaissance he has worked as a Senior Advisor to the Royal Bank of Canada (Europe) Investment Banking Division working on mergers and acquisitions and senior client coverage.
Mr Edwards also served as an Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Sierra Rutile until its sale to Iluka Resources in 2016 as well as an Independent Non-Executive Director of GB Minerals until its sale in 2017 to Itafos. Until early 2022 he served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of MMC Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest producer of nickel and palladium as well as major producer of copper and platinum. He currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Chaarat Gold Limited with producing and exploration assets in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Special responsibilities
- Chair of the Risk and Sustainability Committee
- Member of the Audit and Finance Committee
- Member of the Nominations Committee
- Board member of Sandfire’s UK-based subsidiaries
Sally Martin
Qualifications
Bachelor of Engineering (Elec), AICD
Experience
Ms Martin is a former senior executive who has held various roles at Shell over the last 34 years. She has extensive operational and business team leadership experience in complex industrial environments including refining and trading. She also has deep working knowledge of stimulating and leading transformational change – most recently as General Manager, Trading and Supply Operations, Europe & Africa. Ms Martin has strong ESG credentials, including in energy transition strategy development as Vice President Health, Safety, Security, Environment & Social Performance at Shell.
Ms Martin is a Non-Executive Director of Porvair Plc. (LON: PRV), a specialist filtration and environmental technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. She has particular focus on safety management, project delivery and managing large and dispersed teams. She leads Porvair’s employee engagement processes and chairs the Group’s Remuneration Committee.
She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University College Cork in Ireland and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Special responsibilities
- Member of the Risk and Sustainability Committee
- Member of the People and Performance Committee
- Member of the Nominations Committee
Sally Langer
Qualifications
B.Com, CA, AICD
Experience
Ms Langer has more than 25 years’ experience in Professional Services including as founder and Managing Partner of the management consulting and executive recruitment firm Derwent Executive, where she set up and led the growth of the Perth office servicing a wide range of clients both local and national and led the Mining and Industrial Practice.
Prior to that, she was a Director at international recruitment firm Michael Page and a Chartered Accountant at accounting and consulting firm Arthur Andersen. During her career, Ms Langer has been responsible for strategy development and execution with a strong focus on profitable business growth, supervising and coordinating large teams and other management functions including strategy, business development, budgeting and human resources.
Special responsibilities
- Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee
- Member of the People and Performance Committee
- Member of the Nominations Committee
Paul Harvey
Qualifications
B. Eng (Mining), AICD
Experience
Mr Harvey is an experienced resources executive, with operational and projects leadership built from over 35 years’ global experience in the resources sector. His recent past roles include being a senior leader at BHP (2005-2015) and South32 (2015-2020), with four years as the latter’s Chief Operating Officer with accountability for global manganese, base metals and coal for steel operations, as well as supporting technical and project functions.
Mr Harvey is a Non-Executive Director of De Grey Mining Limited (where he is the chair of the Sustainability Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee), an Advisory Committee member at Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd, and Senior Operating Partner at Appian Capital Advisory.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) from the Western Australian School of Mines, is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Special responsibilities
- Member of the Audit and Finance Committee
- Member of the Risk and Sustainability Committee
- Member of the Nominations Committee