Dr Andrew Firek holds a MSc and a PhD, and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Energy.
He has been involved in the minerals exploration, mining and processing industry at operational and executive levels for over 25 years. He was a founding director of three ASX-listed companies and managed coal, iron ore, base and precious metals exploration, feasibility studies and financial negotiations for projects in Australia, South America and China (Inner Mongolia).
Dr Firek worked in Europe and Africa as a United Nations expert in fossil fuels, mineral processing and energy generation. He was group leader at the CSIRO Division of Fossil Fuels in Sydney and was engaged in developing technologies to produce liquid fuels from coal.
Dr Firek was also project director at Memte, following which he joined Pancontinental Mining as a research and development manager involved in substantial mineral resources projects including base and precious metals, uranium and the technology development and commissioning of a $220 million magnesia production facility near Rockhampton in Queensland. Dr Firek was chief executive and director of Coalworks which was taken over by Whitehaven in 2012, and was executive director of Allegiance Mining NL and Zelos Resources NL.
