Team

Our Team

Our team provides clients with access to highly experienced personnel who have experience in the Corporate, Operational, Technical, and Sales environment with particular emphasis on: [bulletlist]

  • Education and Training Services
  • Exploration Activities
  • Geophysical Surveys
  • Resource Modelling and Estimation
  • Mine Management and Operations
  • Mining Engineering
  • Short-, Medium- and Long-Term Mine Planning, Design and Scheduling
  • Technical Services
  • Resource and Reserve Competent Person Responsibilities
  • Metallurgy and Mineral Processing
  • Pre-Feasibility and Bankable Feasibility Projects
  • Project Management
  • Contracting/Contractor Management
  • Financial Modelling
  • Mine Closure
  • Business analysis/ Strategic Planning
  • HSEC/Risk
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The team’s experience spans multiple commodities and types of operations, across a number of countries, and managing different cultural groups, often in the same country, with their most recent experiences being  the lead in project analysis for a major multi-national mining investment company.

Dennis Kattowitz 
DennisManaging Director of our Group of Companies, Dennis’ passion has been focused on technology and its application in mining, which he has continued to promote during his 30‐plus years in the industry.  With mining and mineral resource management experience built up from his years in the South African deep level gold mines, Dennis has extended his portfolio to include roles such as Board membership and senior management, including Senior Technical Manager with Mitsubishi Development, General Manager for a Caterpillar dealer Joint Venture company, Chief Surveyor with Anglo American Coal, and Sales and Marketing Manager for a number of companies. Dennis brings a broad range of experience, including project management and implementation skills, beneficial to any company.

Justin Breedt
JustinBJustin is the Managing Director of our African office and his experience and passion includes 15+ years in mining technology, mining engineering, petroleum engineering, business development, general management and management consultancy in both large corporations and privately owned enterprises around the globe with people and companies from diverse backgrounds. With roles in managerial, business development and technical positions for companies such as Leica Geosystems (part of Hexagon Mining), Datamine Software, Schlumberger (Petroleum) and AngloGold Ashanti, Justin brings a broad range of experience including mine technical and production systems, operational improvement, project management, implementation skills for open pit and underground mines alike.

Fred Chitonga
FredFred has been involved in the minerals extractive industry for 12 years in Africa, gaining international experience with major mining companies in optimising workflows and processes to locate, evaluate and exploit economic mineral deposits. As an experienced geologist, certified project manager and change agent, Fred excels at conducting geoscientific exercises to improve technical practices and manage risk in geoscientific simulations. Fred has experience in open pit, underground and consulting environments and is conversant in leading mining software including, Isatis, Datamine Studio, MineSight, MapInfo-Discover, ArcGIS, Leapfrog, acQuire, Fusion and Sirovision.

Fernando Linares Quiroa
Fernando has over 30 years of professional experience and more than 20 years as a resource geologist. With experience in operational and exploration functions working in underground and open pit mining, Fernando’s experience extends to epithermal, mesotérmales, VMS, MVT, copper molybdenum porphyry, copper and gold porphyry deposits.  He has also been extensively involved in exploration of basic metals in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Canada. Fernando is an expert in geological and resource modeling, the implementation of quality assurance and control programs (QA/QC), geologic database administration and in the use of mining software such as GEMS, Leapfrog and Surpac.and South African (SAMREC) requirements for mineral resource reporting.

Michelle Wild

Michelle has more than 30 years of experience in mine geology and resource estimation.  She has worked in both staff and consulting roles throughout her career, covering gold, alluvial gold, base metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni) and lithium projects.  Her broad experience ranges from database design and data quality reviews, through sampling and QAQC protocols to resource modelling and reporting.  Michelle has been involved in numerous technical reviews, fatal flaw analyses, due diligence and pre-feasibility studies.  More recently she has been involved in mentoring junior and senior exploration and mine geologists.  Her last two roles have been as Principal Resource Geologist for Independence Group and Principal Consulting Geologist for Wildfire Resources Pty Ltd.  Michelle has experience reporting under the JORC Code and is well versed in the Ni43-101 and SAMREC codes.  Michelle is a Member of the AusIMM.

Steven Rupprecht

With an education in the US and South Africa, Steven brings a tremendous level of mining experience to the DEKA Group.  Involved in mining since obtaining his BSc Mining Engineering in 1986, Steven has progressed through the mining ranks and commodities of gold and coal, achieving Technical Director level.  He obtained his PhD in 2003.

Steven has also gained experience as a mining consultant and spent four years with CSIR as a Research Area Manager.  Steven now devotes his time and knowledge teaching young mining engineers the intricacies of mining.  His experience in the application of mining engineering on feasibility/pre-feasibility studies in numerous commodities, along with Project Management appointments and appointments as CP for various mining companies, attests to his subject matter knowledge.  Steven is also a serving Council member on the SAIMM.

Marta Sostre

Marta brings a wealth of geotechnical and geology knowledge to our team as well as a strong background in multiple mining software platforms.  Honing her geotechnical skills in the civil engineering field, she converted to mining in 2006. With a wealth of experience in the fields of geological modelling and mineral resource estimation, gained from working with a number of companies, she has recently focused on training and development.

Marta speaks English and Spanish and has assisted mining software companies with the translation of their products from English into Spanish.

Bob Hatherly
Bob has 40 years of experience in mining and exploration geology and has been a consulting geologist for more than half of that time, specialising in coal exploration during the last decade. His key strengths are in the implementation and complete management of exploration projects, and the on-site training of graduate exploration geologists.  He has been involved in exploration projects throughout Africa, as well as Turkey.
Bob originated the compliance related audit service, Sample Trail Audit (STA), now used by Venmyn Deloitte. STA is specifically designed to be implemented on exploration and mining projects in order to monitor the sampling standards and QA/QC procedures of field geologists and technicians.

Kevin Wright
With over 40 years developing and managing mining operations, and 16 years has been in tropical high rainfall environments, Kevin’s background includes exploration programmes, resource estimation, metallurgical analysis, pilot test work, mine and process plant design and construction management.  He has been hands-on in underground and open pit mines applying gravity, heap leach, flotation, CIP/CIL, and bacterial oxidation recovery methods. With exposure across multiple commodities that include lead, zinc, copper, tin, and iron, coal, aluminium and industrial minerals, Kevin has “honed” his experience in regions such as Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast and Central Asia, Russia, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and North America.

Carel De Beer
Carel has 25 plus years of experience in mining (iron ore, coal, diamonds, platinum, base metals, industrial minerals and rare earth minerals) and civil geotechnical environments. He has managed geotechnical site investigations for open pit design, mine infrastructure and major cut slopes and specialises in open-pit mining; specifically mining over and through previously mined underground workings as well establishing open pit mines in mountainous terrains. His experience includes extensive geohydrology, which has benefited many projects through an integrated approach to rock engineering, geotechnical engineering and geohydrology, improving open pit slope design.  Carel’s operational mining career have added to his practical experience of geotechnical input parameters and factors, which includes experience and knowledge of geotechnical audits, numerical modelling for pit slope design and optimisation, geotechnical and rock engineering designs.

Barry McCreadie

Barry is any experienced mining and drill & blast consultant with almost 40 years of invaluable international experience across both mining and explosives environments. He has worked for, and with, major mining houses and established explosives companies. He is a highly focused person with a comprehensive knowledge of different mining operations and drilling & blasting, with specific focus on safety, economy, reliability, quality and sustainability. He has a consistent track record of successfully proving from the concept and detail of blast designs through to implementation, testing and monitoring the outcomes.

Barry is well qualified with a National Diploma, BComm, Certificates of Competency, Blasting Certification for surface and underground, as well as a range of certificates and diplomas relating the Mine operations, covering Safety, Quality and Environmental Controls and Explosives Engineering. Barry’s main areas of focus are on Surface and Quarry Blasting Operations. Apart from English, Barry can communicate in Afrikaans, Dutch, Bahasa Indonesia, French and Zulu.

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