Appointments December 16, 2022

Chris Sutherland has been named as the new Fremantle Ports Authority chair, effective on January 1. Mr Sutherland was the managing director and chief executive of ASX-listed services firm Programmed for more than 10 years. He has also been a Southern Ports Authority director for the past two years. Mr Sutherland is set to take over from Ross Love, who was the Fremantle Ports Authority chair for three years.

Tim Richards will start as Leo Lithium’s new chief operating officer in late January. Mr Richards has more than 20 years of mining experience and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford. He was recently the chief executive at Geopacific Resources. Mr Richards will focus on the operations team and producing direct shipped ore.

Alcoa Vice President of Transformation Rob Bear has started as Vice President of Operations Australia and President Alcoa Australia on an interim basis, based in Perth. The company confirmed the recruitment process to fill the role on a permanent basis was ongoing. Mr Bear has been with the US-based mining giant for more than 22 years and has managed Alcoa’s Transformation Group since 2014.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCIWA) vice-president Nicki Ivory will step up to lead the board, replacing president Nicolle Jenkins, while Volunteering Australia director Esme Bowen will be the organisation's deputy president. Ms Ivory has been CCIWA deputy president for a year and has been on the board for almost four years. Ms Bowen joined the CCIWA board earlier this year.

Former federal Member for Hasluck Ken Wyatt will replace Stephen Smith as the chair of International Advisory Board of the University of Western Australia’s Public Policy Institute. Mr Wyatt was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, being a federal MP from 2010 to 2022. He was also the Minister for Indigenous Australians between 2019 and 2022.

Kingwest Resources has appointed mining executive Dean Vallve as its chief operating officer. Mr Vallve joins Kingwest after serving senior roles at ASX-listed companies, including as project engineer at Hot Chili and as mining manager at WA gold company Calidus Resources. He is an experienced mining engineer and geologist, holding an MBA and WA First Class Mine Managers Certificate.

Stephen 'Steve' Targett will be Pioneer Credit’s next chairman, replacing Michael Smith who will retire from the board on December 31. Mr Targett is a non-executive director at Pioneer Credit and chair of P&N Bank. Fellow non-executive director Peter Hall will be the chair of Pioneer’s Audit and Risk Management Committee, replacing Andrea Hall. Mr Hall is scheduled to start in February.