Management Profiles
Dr Allan Trench
B.Sc (Hons. Geology), Ph.D (Geophysics), M.Sc (Mineral Economics), MBA (Oxon)
MAusIMM, 45
Non-Executive Chairman
Dr Trench is a geologist/geophysicist and business management consultant with over 17 years experience within the Australian resources sector across a number of commodity groups including gold, nickel, oil and gas and LNG. He joined the Navigator team in late 2005 as Non-Executive Director.
Dr Trench commenced his career at Oxford University before moving to Australia on a Royal Society Research Fellowship. After a period at the University of Western Australia, he joined WMC at their Kambalda nickel and gold operations applying geophysical methods to both exploration and underground mining opportunities. After 5 years with WMC, including a period as Exploration Manager in the Leinster-Mt Keith region, he then managed a number of exploration companies associated with Joseph Gutnick before joining McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. In his role at McKinsey, Dr Trench advised a number of large international resources companies on strategy, organisation and operations issues. He has hands-on experence in managing gold assets, including spending 18 months at Australia's largest gold mine, the Golden Mile of Kalgoorlie.
Thomas Sanders
B.Sc (Geology) M.Sc (Mineral Economics)
MAusIMM, FAICD, 50
Managing Director
Mr Sanders is a geologist with 30 years experience in mining and exploration throughout Australia. He has mine experience at several underground and open pit mines, and has overseen operational start-ups at six of these mines.
Mr Sanders is a founding director of Navigator Resources Limited. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1977 and obtained an MSc in Mineral Economics in 1996. He has several published works relating to nickel and gold in WA, and mineralisation in the East Kimberley.
Formative years were spent in the nickel mining and exploration sector with Metals Exploration Limited in WA, following base metal exploration experience in North Queensland, Tasmania and New South Wales. Mr Sanders established a Kalgoorlie-based exploration and mining consultancy in 1983, and worked for a large number of listed resource companies, with an emphasis on gold and nickel in Western Australia.
Gordon Galt
G.Eng (Mining, Hons), B.Com, Grad Diploma Finance (FINSIA)
MAusIMM, MAICD, 57
Non-Executive Director
Mr Galt is a senior mineral resources executive and an experienced director with international mineral industry experience. During his career Mr Galt has worked in senior management, technical and operational roles across a wide range of commodities and is by training a mining engineer with post-graduate qualifications in finance.
In the past ten years Mr Galt has worked mainly as the Managing Director of companies engaged in the development and operation of large resources projects, but he has also spent a period of time in banking and is currently engaged in funds management and corporate advisory work. In previous roles Mr Galt has demonstrated a track record of creating shareholder value through analysis of a company's strategic position, followed by implementation of appropriate corporate strategies, fundraising and motivating teams of senior resource professionals.
Ian Macpherson
B.Comm, CA, 50
Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary
Mr Macpherson graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1977. He commenced his career in commerce in 1978 prior to entering the Chartered Accounting profession.
Mr Macpherson was admitted as a partner of the firm that became known as KMG Hungerfords in 1986, having built up a specialist practice in the provision of corporate and financial advice to the mining and mineral exploration industry. In 1987 the firm merged with Arthur Andersen & Co.
In 1990 Mr Macpherson resigned from the partnership of Arthur Andersen & Co to establish Ord Partners. Mr Macpherson has specialised in the area of corporate advice with a particular emphasis on capital structuring, equity and debt raising, corporate affairs and ASX compliance procedures for public companies, both mining and industrial. He has acted in the role of director and company secretary for a number of his clients and has been involved in numerous asset acquisition and disposal engagements involving the preparation of detailed Information Memorandum, pre-acquisition reviews and Independent Reports.
John Shipp
ACSM (Mining)
FAusIMM, MAICD, 60
Non-Executive Director
Mr Shipp has 40 years of international experience in Australia, Africa, Fiji and Europe involving open cut and underground mining for gold and base metals.
Prior to joining the Navigator board, Mr Shipp was President of Barrick Gold Corporation's Australia Africa Business Unit and was involved in the corporate acquisition of Placer Dome to form what is now the largest gold mining company in the world. Before this he was General Manager of Australia's biggest gold mine, KCGM, in Kalgoorlie. This followed a period as General Manager of the Boddington joint venture, then Australia's second largest gold mine.
During his career Mr Shipp has worked in a variety of different operational environments and has experience in both underground and open pit mining at small and large scale. In addition he has been involved in plant design, construction and commissioning. In recent years his direction has been towards business development and the determination of strategic direction at corporate level.