Our Managers

Andrew Knuckey has a powerful portfolio of technical, operational and financial skills with over thirty years in the mining industry including Mine Management and corporate secondment to the London headquarters of global mining house Anglo American.

Andrew’s extensive operational and management experience is complemented by twelve years in financial advisory and equity markets as a top-ranked resource sector analyst. Andrew leads Xeniths Advisory service providing clients with industry-leading technical, due diligence, valuation and Expert Witness services.

Luis has more than 20 years of ESG, sustainability and climate change high-end services in blue chip global organisations.

He is highly-experienced in leading engineering teams and projects in many countries and industries within oil and gas, steel, EPCs, shipyards, finance, renewables (wind, hydro, cogeneration, waste to energy, fuel switch from coal to biomass), maritime, manufacturing, agricultural technology and mining supply chains.

Since his early career Luis has had extensive exposure to C-suite executives and governmental agencies. He has participated in several congresses on the development of regulatory frameworks becoming a thought leader among chambers, embassies, governments and industry through international speaking engagements.

Jacob is a mining professional with a background in mining engineering and senior leadership. He has extensive knowledge and experience across coal & metals mines, development projects and energy markets. Jacob has a strong background in contract development and management, project management and prudent environmental management. He is also experienced in technical mine design, scheduling and studies. Adding to this, Jacob has an eye for detail with a focus on risk management. Previously he was the General Manager Mining for Stanwell Corporation. Jacob is well placed to meet the challenges of providing strategic and technical leadership and support to resource companies at all levels.

Sarah was appointed Chief Financial Officer in June 2023 and brings extensive industry experience, having held senior financial positions within the base and precious metals, coal, oil & gas and mining services sectors during a career spanning more than 20 years. 

During her career, Sarah has held senior financial positions with Aurelia Metals (ASX: AMI), Armour Energy (AJQ), PanAust (previously ASX: PNA) and RPMGlobal (ASX: RUL).  The positions held have enabled Sarah to gain a broad and diverse mix of skills and experience.  She has been involved with projects and operations in Australia, Europe, Asia and South America.

Andrew has 20 years experience in the resource sector in both the private sector (principally in Oil & Gas sector) and Government, managing all aspects of access and approvals for large resource industry projects. This experience has included successfully delivering a wide range of regulatory applications and permits; negotiating native title and cultural heritage agreements; undertaking stakeholder engagement and community consultation; undertaking impact assessments; and the leadership and management of professional multi-disciplinary teams.

Previously Andrew managed Regulatory Approvals for Arrow Energy. Andrew has a proven ability to build strong relationships, reduce project risks, develop streamlined approvals and negotiation strategies and deliver outcomes with a focus on legal frameworks, cost, schedule and compliance.

With over 2 decades of experience in the mining industry, Ben has worked with many of the world’s largest coal mines and has provided high end consulting services globally.

Ben has worked in Gold, Coal, Oil Shale, Porphyry Copper, Bauxite, Phosphate, Nickel Laterites, Mineral sands and Explosives sectors. This includes PT Kaltim Prima Coal in Indonesia, PT Bukit Asam, PT Arutmin and Vale Moatize. His specialist expertise lies in geological modelling, mine planning, pit optimisation and scheduling. A proven problem solver, during his career he has led the design and implementation of mine planning systems and customised specific software solutions.

James Bailey has over 40 years’ experience in the mining industry.  His experience covers the entire spectrum of mine related activities including planning and design, approvals, construction, operation and mine closure. 

James is a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner and has directed numerous major mining (and other related industries) State Significant Development (SSD) Applications primarily in sensitive environmental settings on the eastern seaboard of Australia. 

James regularly advises his clients on compliance management and mine closure planning and he has considerable expertise in government and community stakeholder consultation in relation to SSD Projects.

With a career in mining since 1999 including open cut coal pit operations since 2002, James has extensive experience in mine design, scheduling and planning, contract management, project forecasting and project management.

Due to his leadership ability and professional engineering skills, James is well placed to meet the challenges of providing strategic and technical support and leadership to resource companies at an operational, senior management or executive level.

John Cawte is a professional mining engineer with significant experience in the delivery of exceptional business outcomes for the open cut coal mining sector in Australia since 1992.

With specialised knowledge of multi seam operations in the Bowen Basin and Hunter Valley, John draws on extensive dragline and truck shovel stripping knowledge to develop concept studies, life of mine plans, technical evaluations and optimisation studies. John’s strong project management skills display excellent communication, stakeholder engagement and technical skills, which combined with his ownership of his client’s issues, produce practical solutions that are of high value to the client, satisfying their objectives and requirements.

Marcus Trost is an experienced multi-commodity exploration and resource geologist, having held key managerial roles in owner teams and consulting companies in Australia and Russia.

Marcus specialises in exploration planning, approvals and delivery. He is also competent in resource geology functions in coal and minerals and has extensive experience in the full chain of services from project inception through operations. Marcus’ career history demonstrates a strong emphasis on project and operations delivery and the ability to deliver to client expectations.

Mark Perquin is a highly experienced mining engineer and has been part of the Xenith team for over 9 years.

Through his previous years of mine site operational experience and consulting experience, Mark has demonstrated an ability to work as an effective leader and team member to achieve targets through clear communication and guidance. Mark’s greatest strengths are his attention to detail and ability to problem solve and think outside the box. Mark specialises in mine planning, mine design and coal quality blending scenarios.

Rohan has more than 20 years of CEO and Board level experience as a mining executive with significant experience in all facets of public company management, including company establishment, marketing, stakeholder relations, project development, operations, equity market and debt market financing; strategic growth, leadership, executive recruitment, takeovers, mergers and governance at board level.

He has successfully built two mid-tier mining companies from exploration start-up IPO companies, Avoca Resources Ltd and Dacian Gold Ltd and has in excess of $350 million in equity capital market raisings on the ASX and over $280 million from Tier 1 debt financiers. Rohan has undertaken asset and strategic transactions, including “hostile” takeovers and “friendly” mergers to a value in excess of $1 billion. He is also the sole Director of Neap Consulting Pty Ltd and is a Non-executive Director for the Telethon Kids Institute (8 years).

With more than 25 years of industry experience, Shane has worked in mining operations in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Colombia. He has experience in mine development from concept to execution and mine closure, including mine plan optimisation, economic and environmental assessment and approvals. He has established, led, mentored and maintained teams of mining professionals across multiple disciplines.

Shane has a focus on resource recovery, including measurement and reconciliation, assessment of the impacts of equipment selection and assessment of ROM factors. He has experience managing mining tenements and coal tailings, including emplacement, capping and rehabilitation, and reporting.

Shane has analytical skills relating to the evaluation and optimisation of mining projects, including assessment of social impacts on neighbouring communities and liaison with the government regulator. His technical skills are demonstrated through the development of technical standards, support and expertise in risk assessment and management.