This week, Professor Richard (Rick) Valenta takes on the position of Program Leader - Geology for Mining within the WH Bryan Research Centre at the Sustainable Minerals Institute.
Professor Valenta brings to the position a global reputation in the geoscience field where his achievements span both industry and academia. He is currently Executive Director of Mantle Mining Corporation Ltd and sole Director of Proton Geoscience Pty Ltd. His many achievements in industry include the discovery, advancement and sale of Chesser Resources Ltd Kestanelik project (Turkey). Rick has also held Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer level corporate positions in the mining industry.
Professor Valenta’s corporate success is underpinned by a strong academic background. He holds a PhD qualification in geology and his previous roles in academia have been funded by industry. In these roles Rick was successful in individually securing, or as part of teams that have secured a number of collaborative research grants including ARC and CRC research grants. Rick has a significant track record of publications including a number of papers in the journal Economic Geology which is recognised as the premier journal for mining and exploration geoscientists.
In taking on the role Rick has indicated a strong desire to return to academia and focus on building capacity for UQ in industry applied geoscience research.
