General Managers
Kerry Payne
B.Eng Hons (Mining)
General Manager Leonora Operations
Kerry has been appointed General Manager - Leonora Operations in 2011 and is responsible for operations at Leonora. He is instrumental in leading the site based team in meeting safety, environment and production objectives and maximising the return on assets.
Prior to taking up his current role, Kerry was the Company's General Manager - Southern Cross Operations. Before joining St Barbara in 2006 Kerry held operational management roles with Newmont-Jundee in both underground and open cut operations. Kerry also has extensive mining engineering experience having worked for WMC, Sons of Gwalia, Western Metals and Aberfoyle Resources.
Kous Kirsten
B.Eng (Mining)
General Manager Southern Cross Operations
Kous was appointed General Manager - Southern Cross Operations in 2011 and is responsible for operations at Southern Cross. Kous leads the Southern Cross team in meeting safety, environment and production objectives and maximising the return on the assets.
Kous joined the company in 2007 to build internal capability in respect of technical systems and processes across Operations. Kous's prior roles have included Manager Mining Open Pits, Acting Manager Mining Gwalia and Principal Mining Engineer Operations.
Before joining St Barbara, Kous held technical and operational management roles with Anglogold-Ashanti. He has over 20 years of mining experience encompassing ultra deep underground mining in South Africa and open cut operations in varous countries in Africa, with responsibilities ranging from strong operational contexts to pure technical roles.
Rowan Cole
B.Comm, CA, CIA, MBA, Dip Inv Rel
General Manager Corporate Services
Rowan joined St Barbara in 2010 and is responsible for internal reporting, the timely delivery of market information and overall corporate compliance.
Rowan has 25 years experience across chartered accounting, IT audit, retail banking, private companies and for the five years prior to joining St Barbara was the chief financial and risk officer of a diverse ASX top 300 company, where he was employed to create an effective internal audit and risk management function in a complex, acquisitive environment. Rowan's reponsibilities have varied between external and internal audit, risk management, customer service delivery, marketing, strategy formulation, execution and measurement process and business improvement, financial and business reporting in senior roles including general manager, chief audit executive and chief financial officer.
John de Vries
B.Eng (Mining), MSc (Min Econ), Grad Dip (Econ Geo), Grad Dip Fin Markets
MAusIMM, MAIME, FFINSIA
General Manager Technical Services
John joined St Barbara in 2011. He is responsible for strategic mine planning, technical support of operations including life extension and productivity improvements, and delivery of major project studies including support of our growth projects.
John is a Mining Engineer with 30 years experience, including the last 15 years in significant technical leadership roles. He has valuable operational and project experience in Australia, Fiji, the former Soviet Union, Africa and the USA. His background includes underground and open pit mines across a range of base metals and bulk commodities, including gold.
John has previously worked with BHP Billiton, Orica Mining Services, AMC Consulting and WMC Resources.
Rob Henderson
Bachelor of Applied Science, MAusIMM, AIG
General Manager Project Execution
Rob joined St Barbara in 2011 and is responsible for the safe and efficient exploration of St Barbara's project areas.
Rob is a geologist with over 25 years experience in mineral exploration and mining. Rob commenced as a mud-logger in the onshore oil industry before moving into diamond exploration in the Northern Territory with CRA Exploration.
Rob has been involved in gold mining and exploration since 1985, in a variety of mining and exploration roles, including Senior Geologist and Geology Manager. Rob's experience includes working for Metana Minerals, MMC Management, Kilkenny Gold, Goldfields Ltd, Exploration and Mining Consultants, Delta Gold, Auriongold, Placer Dome, Barrick, Consolidated Minerals and Tanami Gold. Rob also holds a WA in Quarry Manager's Certificate of Competency.
Richard Posa
BMS (Management Studies) Grad Dip (Treasury & Financial Management) CA
General Manager Procurement
Richard joined St Barbara in 2009 to establish the procurement function. Richard leads a team accountable for strategic sourcing, supply category management, and purchasing activities.
With a background in accounting, finance management and procurement, Richard has 25 years experience including CFO and procurement leadership roles both in Australia and internationally.
With his roles prior to St Barbara, Richard brings leadership experience from a number of industries including mining, airline, and gambling & entertainment, with extensive experience including change management and business integrations following M&A.
Maurice Re
B.Sc Hons (Geology), MBA
General Manager Project Identification
Maurice joined St Barbara in 2011 and is accountable for generating and recommending gold prospects for acquisition. He is instrumental in delivering a pipeline of growth opportunities to the company through a full range of activities from conceptual targeting to purchase of companies.
Maurice has 25 years experience in the resource industry having worked technical, commercial, planning and business development roles for BHP Billiton, WMC Resources and Renison Goldfields Consolidated. Such organisations provided exposure to a range of commodities such as gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, manganese, uranium, coal, potash and diamonds in Australia and Internationally with his last role in Singapore.
Katie-Jeyn Romeyn
B.Mgt (Human Resource Management)
General Manager Human Resources
Katie-Jeyn was appointed General Manager Human Resources in April 2010. Katie-Jeyn is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and leads the Human Resources function for the Company.
With over ten years experience in the mining industry, prior to joining St Barbara in October 2007 Katie-Jeyn has worked in a number of roles in HR with WMC Resources, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
Peter Simko
B.AppSci, Grad Dip (Computer Science), MBA, AIMM, MACS
General Manager IT & Business Systems
Peter joined St Barbara in December 2007 and is responsible for the delivery of IT services, and to lead continuous improvement in business systems capability across St Barbara.
Peter has 25 years experience in the mining, defence and engineering industries with 17 years experience working for mining companies including WMC and Wiluna Mines Limited, in addition to IT management roles with Tenix.
Peter has extensive operational experience working in Australia and overseas across a number of industries.
