Dr Fred Hess Managing Director of PanAust talks: Striking gold, finding things you care about, getting noticed and his passion for collecting stamps.
Dr Fred Hess is the Managing Director of PanAust, a copper and gold producer in Laos with pre-development opportunities in Laos, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Chile. Fred has over 30 years experience in the mining industry across copper, nickel and gold operations and he has worked throughout Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. He has held a range of roles within PanAust over 11 years and was promoted to Managing Director in 2014.
Fred was born in Charleville in Western Queensland where he pent the first five years of his childhood before his parents relocated the family to Brisbane. Fred’s father worked for the Queensland railway and instilled in him to choose a line of work he would always enjoy. During high school Fred’s chemistry teacher inspired him and challenged him to push himself to achieve academically. Excited by the possibilities of chemistry Fred transitioned to university following high school, commencing his undergraduate in engineering with a major in chemistry at the University of Queensland. It marked the beginning of an eight year academic journey for Fred who eventually completed his Phd at UQ’s Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC).
Prior to joining PanAust, Fred managed the Macreas Gold Mine in New Zealand and the Mt Gordon Copper Mine in Australia following a career with WMC Resources and Bougainville Copper Limited in Papua New Guinea.
Quicklinks:
- PanAust
- Strengthened PanAust joins Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton in hunt to buy copper assets – Sydney Morning Herald April 2016
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