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Yves Potvin Project Leader Professor of Mining Geomechanics Australian Centre for Geomechanics Yves joined the Australian Centre for Geomechanics at The University of Western Australia in 1998 and was centre director, 2000-2019. He has published more than 100 articles and is the editor/co-editor of 14 conference proceedings and books. Yves has more than 40 years’ experience in rock mechanics and mine design and has previously held managerial positions at Mount Isa Mines, the Noranda Technology Centre and worked as a mining engineer at Noranda Mines, Gaspe Division. He undertakes numerous collaborative industry-focussed research projects and is presently involved with the ACG’s Ground Support Systems Optimisation Project, and the Stope Reconciliation and Optimisation Project. He currently participates in several geotechnical review boards. |
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Dr Daniel Cumming-Potvin Research Associate and Project Lead – mXrap Australian Centre for Geomechanics Daniel completed his Bachelor of Mining Engineering and PhD at The University of Western Australia in 2012 and 2018, respectively. He has worked at a number of underground metal mines in Australia, specialising in the areas of ground support, monitoring and mine seismicity. He is project lead for mXrap. |
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Audrey Goulet Research Fellow Australian Centre for Geomechanics Audrey joined the ACG in 2023 as a research fellow while finishing her PhD degree in mining engineering at Université Laval (Quebec, Canada). The objective of her thesis was to improve understanding of the behaviour of rock mass, such as the seismic responses to development blasts, through an innovative approach to characterise the geotechnical properties of the rock mass. She also completed her master’s degree at Université Laval in mining engineering. This was in partnership with the ACG and involved the development of a borehole application. Audrey’s bachelor’s degree in geological engineering was also through Université Laval. Audrey is a part of the mXrap team and works on the application of probabilistic ground support design tools which is a subproject of phase 3 of Ground Support Systems Optimisation (GSSO3). She focuses on improving automation in the data input (in the Rock Mass Data Analyser application) and DFN calibration processes. |
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Joseph Justin Muaka Mbenza Research Associate Australian Centre for Geomechanics Joseph joined the ACG in early 2019 as a research fellow. His areas of interest include advanced numerical modelling and statistical, probability and data analysis. Previously, Joseph was a senior mining geotechnical engineer for SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. He has 15 years of experience in mining and rock mechanics. Joseph has a BSc Mining Engineering from University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a Master’s degree in Rock Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He was the recipient of the Rauji Foundation award in 2004 for best student, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lubumbashi, and the Chairman award for employee of the year at SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd in 2016. |
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Denisha Sewnun Master’s Student and and Research Fellow Australian Centre for Geomechanics Denisha has more than 13 years of experience in the geomechanics aspects of open pit and underground mining projects. She has a BSc (honours) degree in Engineering Geology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Master of Engineering degree in Geomechanics from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2020, Denisha joined the ACG as a research fellow after having spent eight years providing consulting services for mining projects across Africa. Denisha is currently a Master of Philosophy student involved in the in situ testing of ground support using blasting, which forms part of the Ground Support System Optimisation research project (GSSO3). She also assists with the Discrete Fracture Network/Block Model Limit Equilibrium Ground Support Design Tools research project and is a part of the mXrap team, where she works on the development of the Rock Mass Data Analyser application. |
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Associate Professor Johan Wesseloo Director Australian Centre for Geomechanics Since obtaining a BEng (Civil) and MEng (Geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria, Johan has been involved in geotechnical engineering in open pit and underground environments throughout 14 countries. He commenced his career in 1998 as a geotechnical engineer at SRK Consulting, Johannesburg where he was involved in open pit and underground projects in varying geotechnical conditions. In 2005 he was awarded a PhD (Geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria. Johan joined the Australian Centre for Geomechanics (ACG) in 2007 as a research fellow. During his time at the ACG, Johan has been involved in research, the supervision of postgraduate students and geotechnical training. He also performs geotechnical and mining-induced seismicity reviews providing him with the valuable opportunity to visit numerous operations worldwide. Johan was instrumental in the development of the mXrap software and many of the software routines and apps available in that platform. Johan is a Fellow of The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). He was awarded the SAIMM Gold Medal in 2006 and 2016, and the SAIMM Silver Medal in 2014. In 2019, Johan was appointed director of the ACG. |