Our Board is the cornerstone of the company, bringing a wealth of technical and commercial experience across all facets of industrial metals processing and the global graphite market.
Our Board is supported by an experienced executive team and technical partners who provide inhouse engineering, minerals processing and project management expertise.
Phil Hearse MBA, BASc
CHAIRMAN
One of Australia’s leading metallurgists and an authority on graphite project development, Phil founded International Graphite in 2018 and continues to lead the company’s growth and development. An engineer with more than 40 years’ experience in diverse and challenging projects around the world, Phil’s extensive career has taken him from operational and technical roles at Broken Hill, Bougainville Copper, Queensland Nickel (QNI) and Gove Alumina, to senior executive and managerial positions in engineering and operating companies.
Phil is owner and Managing Director of Battery Limits, one of Australia’s leading graphite metallurgy and process engineering firms. The company has assisted many listed public companies to develop bankable feasibility studies for graphite mines and concentrators and generated significant downstream processing intellectual property and end use market knowledge. Phil has a MBA from Hull University UK and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Primary Metallurgy from the University of SA. He is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Andrew Worland BCom, FGIA
MANAGING DIRECTOR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (Effective 1 January 2023)
Andrew is a mining executive and experienced ASX/TSX Director with over two decades in senior finance, corporate, project management and marketing roles in the Western Australian mining sector. He is currently President, CEO and Corporate Secretary of Canadian company LeadFX Inc and retired as Chairman of ASX listed Besra Gold Limited, in January 2023, to take up the CEO’s role with International Graphite. LeadFX owns the Paroo Station Lead Mine in Western Australia and Bongara Zinc Mine in Peru, and has invested heavily in downstream mineral processing technologies in the battery minerals sector.
Andrew’s commodity experience includes exploration, development and operations in lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, gold, iron ore, molybdenum, copper and uranium. He has a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Finance and Marketing from the University of Western Australia and is a qualified chartered company secretary.
David Pass BSc
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER (Effective 31 January 2023)
David has played a key role in the technical development of International Graphite since the company’s inception. A metallurgist with 30 years’ in the mining industry, he brings to the company a mix of operational processing, process design, project, due diligence skills and management experience including mine operations experience with Barrick Gold.
David is Chief Executive Officer of Battery Limits and an acknowledged expert in graphite primary and downstream processing and has led several studies in graphite project development to definitive feasibility level. Previously, he worked with Moly Mines in a senior role where he managed the Spinifex Ridge molybdenum/copper and iron ore projects development. David holds a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgy from Murdoch University and is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Matthew O’Kane BEcon & Fin, MBA, CPA
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Matthew is a senior mineral industry executive and company director with 25 years’ experience in the mining, commodities, and automotive sectors.
He has held senior leadership roles in Australia, the USA and Asia, in both developed and emerging markets, from start-up companies through to MNC’s. He has served on the board of mining companies in Canada, Hong Kong and Australia, and is currently Managing Director of Comet Resources and a non-executive director of Azarga Uranium and Pursuit Minerals.
