About

Established in 2020, we are a consultancy of engineers and geologists delivering technical expertise and practical solutions based on global best practice.

Our clients include government bodies, private organisations, asset owners and contractors.

As a boutique consultancy, we offer personalised service, direct access to senior professionals, and responsive, outcome-focused support.

Leonie Bradfield

BE Hons (Mining) MEngSc PhD

Dr Leonie Bradfield is a mining and geotechnical engineer with experience across a range of commodities and ground conditions in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America. She specialises in open pit slope design and geomechanics, mine waste dump design, and the management of unstable slopes, with expertise in fieldwork, laboratory testing, and computer modelling. Leonie has led technical baseline studies for geotechnically complex projects in coal, copper, gold, silver, iron ore, nickel, and crude bitumen (oil sands).

An advocate for research and technology, Leonie is committed to sustaining the future competitiveness of a mining industry now faced with the challenges of extracting resources that are deeper and more geologically complex than ever before. Leonie’s appreciation for research was shaped during her PhD studies. For ACARP Project C20019, she designed and commissioned the world’s largest direct shear machine (in terms of both specimen size and stress capacity) to provide reliable design information for very-high spoil dumps. The machine, affectionately named “Big John” after her father, remains in operation at the University of Newcastle and is widely used by the mining industry in Australia and internationally, with all proceeds from testing supporting research funding at the university.

Leonie maintains active authorship of technical papers and is a Chartered Professional Engineer (MAusIMM CP) and Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ).

Ian Kelso

BAppSc (Hons) MEngSc

Ian Kelso is a geotechnical engineer and geologist with extensive experience in the metals and coal mining sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geology (UTS) and a Master of Engineering Science in Mining Geotechnical Engineering (UNSW).

Ian specialises in open cut mining, including geotechnical design for pits and waste dumps, operational risk management, and corporate governance. He has led mine site geotechnical teams, managed drilling programs, overseen geotechnical-hydrogeological studies, and conducted due diligence reviews for acquisitions.

His experience spans hard rock and coal operations across Australia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, and Chile. Ian also brings complementary expertise in underground mining, open-pit geology, and mineral exploration.

People We Work With

Our trusted relationships with like-minded professionals enables us to provide a diverse range of skills and collective experience, as well as share and collaborate on global best practices.

Paul Maconochie BSc MEngSc

Paul Maconochie, owner of GeoTek Solutions, is an expert geotechnical engineer and engineering geologist with extensive experience across the civil and mining sectors. Paul has degrees in geology (BSc) and civil-geotechnical engineering (MEngSc) from UNSW. He specialises in open cut mining geomechanics and geotechnical design, slope stability, and risk assessment, for a wide range of clients including mine owners, mine contractors, research organisations and other consultants and professionals. Paul has led technical studies for many geotechnically complex projects and has expertise in auger mining, site investigation, geotechnical logging, laboratory testing and analysis, geological structure mapping using the latest technologies, and geotechnical risk management. His experience spans hard rock and soft rock mines throughout Australia, Brazil, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.

John Simmons BE (Hons) MSc PhD

Dr John Simmons, owner of Sherwood Geotechnical and Research Services, and Conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle, is a specialist geotechnical and civil engineer with wide experience in applied geology, materials testing, analysis, and design. He has dealt with soft clays and coastal sediments, stiff fissured clays, sands and tailings, mine waste dumps, residual soils, and rocks, and has fieldwork, laboratory testing, and computer modelling expertise. His investigation and design experience includes spread footing, raft and pile foundations; slope stability of cuts and fills; tailings and water storage dams; pavements; mining and materials handling facilities; and construction material studies. He has worked in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Vietnam, Algeria, and India.

Ian Clark BSc MSc(Applied Science) PhD

Dr Ian Clark, owner of GEONET Consulting Group, provides specialist services in geotechnical modelling for construction projects, open-cut and underground mining. Simulation of geotechnical stability conditions in various and complex geological environments have included assessments of deformation and failure mechanisms, evaluation of stabilisation strategies, surface subsidence, groundwater flow studies, backfill design, validation of instrumentation and monitoring programs. Resolving such problems is made in timeous and efficient manner using state-of-the-art 2D and 3D stress/deformation software. His clients have included mining and construction companies, consulting engineering firms, insurance companies and research institutions in Australia, United States of America, France, Brazil, South Africa, Mongolia, Laos, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. He has published in journals and conference proceedings.