Behind the Scenes with Bryan

Tracie is the Hydrology Manager at Barrick Gold Corporation. She has a unique professional track record and has recently helped spearhead the development of a new publicly available, Excel-based water balance tool for tailings facilities, known as TSFISM (Tailings-Storage Facility Iterative Simulation Model). You can find a paper on this and a link to the spreadsheet at https://halfordhydrology.com/tsfism/

Michel is a long-time friend and client and is the Vice President of Environment and Critical Infrastructure at Agnico Eagle. Michel and I discuss his amazing career. We didn't even talk about the amazing fact that in 2025, he was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) – one of the highest professional honours in the Canadian engineering community.

Henk is the CEO of Wealth Minerals Ltd. Wealth Minerals has structured its Kuska Lithium Project partnership with the Quechua Indigenous Community of Ollagüe to include a 5% free-carried interest and direct board participation for the community. The company has also emphasized Direct Lithium Extraction technologies and minimal environmental footprint as part of its development strategy.We discuss his perspective on how mining companies may need to rethink development models entirely if they want projects to move forward successfully in Chile and elsewhere.

With more than three decades in mining and over $1 billion raised in mining finance transactions, Henk has been directly involved in the evolution of the critical minerals sector long before lithium became a mainstream geopolitical story.

Jean is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer with BGC Consulting in Golden, Colorado. She has consulting experience working on geotechnical, mining, civil, solid waste, and construction projects. Experience includes engineering analyses, design, and project management for multi-disciplinary tailings and mine waste management projects. Strengths in the areas of managing / developing teams. Licensed professional engineer in US (Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and South Dakota) and Canada (Alberta).

In this episode, I once again chat with Theo Gerritson from BGC in Brisbane. This time, we discuss The Global Management Institute (GTMI). As it says on their website, The Global Tailings Management Institute has been established to enhance the safety of mine tailings facilities, by promoting widespread adoption and implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM).

Josh is a mining engineer-turned-RTFE with First Quantum Minerals in Zambia. Josh is a people-person, an avid reader and a life-long learner. Josh and I discuss his career in mining and the things that make him passionate.

Dr Pyke was born and raised in Australia and received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Sydney. He then worked for the Commonwealth Department of Works in Canberra on various projects before attending graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he conducted original research for his Ph.D. under the guidance of the late Professor Harry Seed and formed a close relationship with Professor Seed with whom he subsequently worked on a number of consulting assignments. Since 1977 Dr Pyke has worked principally as an individual consultant on special problems in geotechnical, earthquake and water resource engineering.

Dr Pyke was born and raised in Australia and received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Sydney. He then worked for the Commonwealth Department of Works in Canberra on various projects before attending graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he conducted original research for his Ph.D. under the guidance of the late Professor Harry Seed and formed a close relationship with Professor Seed with whom he subsequently worked on a number of consulting assignments. Since 1977 Dr Pyke has worked principally as an individual consultant on special problems in geotechnical, earthquake and water resource engineering.

Fergal is the founder of Ryerson Networks AG. Ryerson partners with mining and other companies, translating engineering realities into quantifiable models that capital providers and financial leaders can act on. By creating a single, defensible view of risk, they align operational exposure with capital strategy, insurance structures and funding decisions. Fergal and I discuss many topics related to mine closure planning.

Dr. Pyke was born and raised in Australia and received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Sydney. He then worked for the Commonwealth Department of Works in Canberra on various projects before attending graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he conducted original research for his Ph.D. under the guidance of the late Professor Harry Seed and formed a close relationship with Professor Seed with whom he subsequently worked on a number of consulting assignments. Since 1977 Dr Pyke has worked principally as an individual consultant on special problems in geotechnical, earthquake and water resource engineering.

Dr. Pyke was born and raised in Australia and received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Sydney. He then worked for the Commonwealth Department of Works in Canberra on various projects before attending graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he conducted original research for his Ph.D. under the guidance of the late Professor Harry Seed and formed a close relationship with Professor Seed with whom he subsequently worked on a number of consulting assignments. Since 1977 Dr Pyke has worked principally as an individual consultant on special problems in geotechnical, earthquake and water resource engineering.

Alex is the Managing Director of First Principles Consulting in Australia. First Principles Consulting specialises in investment outperformance in mid-tier and aspiring mining operations. Their mission is to empower investors and operators to cut through subjective narratives to reveal their hidden asset, increasing production. Alex is the author of a recently published book titled, "Mining for Value, a Blueprint to Eliminate Chaos, Scale Production and Unlock Latent Capacity". You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Mining-Value-Blueprint-Eliminate-Production/dp/1998528618

Ian is the founder and CEO of Geotheta Consulting Engineers in South Africa. Ian and I discuss many things, including his successes as a tailings engineer in Africa.

Johan has been involved in geotechnical engineering aspects of projects for the past 30 years. His expertise includes detailed design, monitoring and project management of tailings storage facilities, mine residue stockpiles and waste disposal facilities. He has also fulfilled the role of Engineer of Record for major mining clients on key assets.
In his current role as the VP of Global Tailings Management at Gold Fields, he supports the implementation of leading industry practices for effective and sustainable design, construction, operation, and closure of TSFs across all Gold Fields operations. He also supports and advises on ICMM and other standards and guidelines implementation.

According to Kelly, is the Director of Business Development at ConeTec, an advocate for women in engineering and a Cone Head/CPT Enthusiast. With over 20 years' experience in the geotechnical and environmental engineering industry, she discovered a passion for communicating, teaching, and sharing technology. As a co-author of a concise and practical Guide to Cone Penetration Testing, Guide to In Situ Testing and other technical papers, she endeavors to share her knowledge and expertise.

Michael is a Geotechnical Engineer/Consultant and Engineer of Record at Agnico Eagle in Montreal. He practices geotechnical engineering for the life-cycle of mining (planning, design, operations, closure and posterity).
Specializing in liquefaction and the seismic performance of dams and tailings impoundments, numerical analysis, soft, sensitive and strain-softening clays, tailings dam breach studies, peer review and engineer of record services.

Peter works at Hindustan Zinc (Vedanta) as Head of Tailings. He was previously Head of Tailings for Glencore Zinc, Group Tailings Principal at PanAust Minerals, and Head of Tailings Water and Waste at ArcelorMittal Mining. Peter is experienced in Corporate Governance for TSFs including auditing and preparation of Tailings Standards and other governance documents. He also has practical experience in Tailings design and management and has significant experience for both operators and consultants. Peter and I discuss his amazing journey throughout his career.

Andy is a dam safety specialist providing services to the mining and hydropower industries around the world. He is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
For the mining sector, Andy has led dam designs and dam safety reviews for a number of mining clients. In addition, he provides services related to tailings planning, water management, and mine closure.
He has over 35 years of experience and is supported by a team of professionals in North America. He is an experienced project manager, lead designer, and engineer of record. He also facilitates and leads decision analyses and risk assessments for a variety of clients and projects.

Andy and I discuss one of his pet projects: Tailings 2030.

Theo is a Principal Tailings engineer at BGC Engineering Inc. in Brisbane, Australia. He is a registered professional engineer with a focus on Mine Waste and Tailings. He has experience with projects in South America, North America, Asia Pacific, SE-Asia, Southern Africa, Central Asia and Europe.

Will is a Monitoring Technology Solution Architect at Canary Systems, Inc. He and I discuss the many benefits of hosting monitoring data on the Canary Systems platform.