Mining bosses head to glitter strip

Investors will be digging for gold and other commodities on the glitter strip this week when they gather for one of the biggest industry events of the year.

Mining investors head for the Gold Coast this week

Investors will be digging for gold and other commodities on the glitter strip this week when they gather for one of the biggest industry events of the year - the 2023 Gold Coast Investment Showcase. The event will feature more than 50 of Australia’s most promising resource companies addressing in excess of 500 attendees, including industry thought leaders, company representatives and investors.

Hosted by Vertical Events and sponsored by Wilsons Advisory, the conference on Wednesday and Thursday will include updates from Noble Helium founder Justyn Wood, who will outline the company’s burgeoning helium projects in Tanzania and the role the gas is playing in the production of advanced semiconductors and fibre optic cables.

Renegade Exploration director Robert Kirtlan meanwhile will provide an update on the company’s Mongoose copper-gold project near Cloncurry.

Mining investors head for the Gold Coast this week.

Vertical Events managing director Stewart McDonald says the resources sector is seeing continued growth, with resource and energy exports expected to earn more than $2 trillion for Australia over the next six years. “The opportunities are enormous for Australia’s resources. Now is the time for investors to capitalise on the next wave of emerging leaders and we’re delighted to be bringing so many to the Gold Coast,” says McDonald.

A record turnout is expected with national stockbroking firm Wilsons getting behind the event for the first time. Wilson’s Craig Brown says the firm has a proud history of supporting emerging natural resources companies. “Wilsons has recently expanded its natural resources team with four new hires and we have a team of 15 people at what we believe can be the premier event for Queensland’s investment community.”

New Qld partners for KPMG

Accounting giant KPMG is topping up its talent pool in Queensland with the appointment of eight new partners, seven in Brisbane and one in Townsville. The new partners in Brisbane are Phillip Beswick (tax and legal), Shari Frew (consulting), Ramon Gavranic (consulting), Deborah Henderson (consulting), Shalvin Ram (audit and assurance), Deepak Sambhi (deal advisory and infrastructure) and Rachel Witte (enterprise). David Minuzzo has been promoted to enterprise partner in Townsville.

KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates says the firm had a focus on building its regional footprint, and this year opened two new offices – in Townsville and Geelong – and moved into larger premises in Parramatta. Yates says 43 per cent of the new partners are female and 18 per cent identified as culturally diverse. He adds these appointments support KPMG Australia’s target of 40 per cent women in partnership by 2025 and 20 per cent culturally diverse partners by that time.

KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates

Wilmar loco chuffs off to sugar harvest

The newest locomotive in the Australian sugar industry is about to start its maiden season. Wilmar Sugar’s new 26 tonne locomotive Brisbane is the first new model introduced to the company’s fleet since 1991. Significantly, it’s the first new cane rail loco designed and built from the ground up by a milling company for cane haulage in more than 140 years. Wilmar Sugar senior project engineer Calvin Smith says Brisbane has been designed to meet all of the company’s requirements for a mid-sized loco.

“This has been a really important project for the company and for the team,” Smith says “We started the conceptual development by looking at what we wanted in a mid-sized loco, in terms of operational performance, fatigue life, cabin design and driver comfort.” Brisbane will be based at Wilmar’s Victoria Mill in the Herbert region.

Calvin Smith and the new loco