Bahay Ozcakmak is the Managing Director of Parkway Minerals (ASX:PWN). Under Bahay’s leadership, Parkway Minerals is emerging as a disruptive water TechCo, focused on leveraging a world-class technology portfolio to provide long-term sustainable solutions for processing complex brines, in the energy, mining and wastewater industries. The company has generated significant interest, as the technology has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency, performance and sustainability of a range of industrial operations, particularly in conventional brine and minerals processing related applications, globally.

What’s your journey in becoming an MD?
I studied science and commerce at The University of Melbourne, whilst working in a number of R&D and technology commercialisation related roles, both in the public and private sector. Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have been a part of a number successful teams in the biotech, energy, renewables and mining sectors. When I look back at what attracted me to each of these roles, it was always the prospect of utilising technology to do things better, more efficiently, more sustainably. These diverse roles provided me with a really broad range of practical technology commercialisation related experiences, and most importantly “lessons learned”. What could we have done better? As a young kid, I had an entrepreneurial streak, so I always knew I wanted to lead something technology focused, sustainable, that could make a real difference.

As I gained more professional and corporate experience, in early 2010, I founded an energy technology company with the support of a listed company. We invested ~$10m over 3 years to build a successful power cycle TechCo, we owned half an operating geothermal power plant, with TechCo being acquired by the listed company. Around the same time, I recognised that water was going to become a major global challenge, so I started laying the foundations for a water TechCo which I incubated privately for a number of years. As the private company, Activated Water Technologies secured funding, grew and continued to achieve key technical and commercial milestones, it got to a point where we recognised it would make sense to get AWT public. Through a series of corporate transactions, AWT was eventually acquired by Parkway Minerals.

In late 2019, following the Parkway Minerals AGM, I was appointed Managing Director and in the subsequent 6 or 7 months we have been transitioning the company from an exploration focus, to a more technology focus, as this is where we have the opportunity to create the most value. Along the way, I’ve held directorships in various public and private companies, including in Australia, Canada and the U.K in mostly technology and mining focused entities

Tell us a bit about your business and how you are commercializing?
At Parkway Minerals, we are commercialising a world-class technology portfolio to provide long-term sustainable solutions for processing complex brines, in the energy, mining and wastewater industries. Through a strategic partnership with Victoria University, our own inhouse R&D and a number of acquisitions, we have assembled a highly valuable and strategic technology portfolio. As the technology has matured, we are now partnering with leading industry participants to provide, BPaaS – Brine Processing as a Solution™. In order to assist us commercialise our technology, we recently announced a partnership with Worley, a leading global engineering company.

How are you managing with the current COVID-19 pandemic on both business and personal front?
In terms of Parkway, we established an Engineering & Technology Office at Victoria University at the beginning of the year, and recruited a high-calibre engineering team. In March and into April when we started observing COVID-19 related disruptions, we pivoted to focusing on our own internal capability development, to build the foundations of the business, ready for when the world returns to some form of normality. On the personal front, in recent years I’ve spent a large proportion of my time on the road. The last few months have provided me with an opportunity to focus and develop some medium and longer term plans.

What’s the most exciting thing about running your business?
Building (and working with) a team of intelligent and experienced individuals focused on developing innovative technology, to solve growing challenges facing the global energy, mining and wastewater sectors. As a team, we genuinely believe in our mission to provide long-term sustainable solutions for processing complex brines, in the energy, mining and wastewater industries. This is what drives us. The passion of the team is really quite contagious and a real strength in enabling us attract high calibre partners.

How do you measure success?
Ultimately by making a difference. We want to be recognised as a leading technology solution provider for high value challenges that have previously been deemed too difficult. More specifically, by having our BPaaS – Brine Processing as a Solution™ offering, being adopted by major global companies, to improve the sustainability and performance of their operations, profitably.

What do you think is the most important quality of being an MD of a listed company?
There are so many; energy, experience, alignment, but in a rapidly changing world, I’d like to propose, independent/critical thinker. In many listed companies, particularly at the junior end of the market, there is often a case of groupthink, jumping on the bandwagon for whatever happens to be the flavour of the day. Mining investment guru Rick Rule often talks about, either being a contrarian, or a victim. Whilst Rick is describing investors in markets, the same is often also true for listed companies, hence the need for a CEO to be able to filter out the noise and focus on creating sources of sustained competitive advantage. This requires independent/critical thinking. In the case of Parkway Minerals, we are charting our own course. We are endeavouring to provide high value solutions, to difficult problems. We are not too fussed with what else the competition is or isn’t doing.

What is your favourite book?
I love Principles by Ray Dalio and also reading about entrepreneurial journeys, particularly over the summer break. But if I had to narrow it down to my favourite, it would have to be Zero to One, by Peter Thiel. This is a great read for leaders looking beyond incremental improvement, towards transformational disruption — the best of Silicon Valley in one book.

What message do you want to send to our readership in Asia?
Real economic opportunity can only truly be created through sustainable growth, and technology has a very important role to play. COVID-19 appears to be accelerating a number of macro trends that were already in motion, including in relation to societal expectations of demanding increased adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related considerations. Whilst adoption of ESG friendly policies at first can appear somewhat ambitious, early adopters have the opportunity to establish a competitive advantage, underpinning long term economic growth, whilst late adopters risk being left behind.

Parkway Minerals is positioning itself to not only be a passenger during these inevitable macroeconomic changes, but we are actively seeking to be part of the longterm solution, as we see these changes through the lense of opportunity.

How can people connect with you?
Email:
Company Website: https://www.parkwayminerals.com.au/

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Neil Young is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX:EXR), an oil and gas exploration and development company.  It is focused on exploring in Mongolia for natural gas in the form of coal-bed methane (CBM). In Australia, CBM is also known as coal seam gas (CSG).

What’s your journey in becoming a CEO?
I’ve worked for about 25 years in the energy sector in various business development, commercial and financial roles – both upstream (for oil and gas companies large and small) and also downstream (in areas such as electricity generation and gas trading).  I became the CEO of Elixir in 2018 following a back-door listing of a Mongolian focused gas exploration company I founded nearly a decade ago. 

There are many different journeys one can take in becoming a CEO – mine was one of an entrepreneur rather than a professional manager.

Tell us a bit about your business and how you are commercializing?
We are exploring for gas (in the form of coal bed methane – CBM) in Southern Mongolia – i.e. just North of the Chinese border.  We are the first company to do so in the country and earlier this year announced Mongolia’s first gas discovery.  If we discover a suitably large resource then of course it could be pipelined South – as well as supply diverse local markets. 

Australia is the global leader in CBM.  It ships gas to China and other Asian countries by boat and faces a much higher delivered cost structure than gas discovered in Mongolia would.

How are you managing with the current COVID-19 pandemic on both business and personal front?
I was last in Mongolia in late January and even at that stage the country was becoming very active in controlling its borders to keep the virus out.  It has been remarkably successful in doing so to date.  We are getting on with our exploration & delineation program – with a new drilling and seismic campaign starting in July.  Our local staff and sub-contractors have the experience and capabilities to manage the program, notwithstanding international travel restrictions.

What’s the most exciting thing about running your business?
Seeing the company progress from what was just a vision of replicating Australia’s CBM experience in Mongolia into one of conducting real work on the ground – and now making our first discovery.  That would not have been possible without developing very close business relationships inside Mongolia – with people I am now very pleased to call good friends.

How do you measure success?
As CEO of a listed company the share price is constantly in your face – as you manage investors’ monies which they are naturally very keen to see grow.  However, the longer-term measure of success I would most like to see is validation of our endeavours by delivering the outcomes of a successful exploration program to a much larger company with the balance sheet and capabilities to undertake a major gas development.

What do you think is the most important quality of being a CEO of a listed company?
The key challenge for a CEO is dealing with the fact that the proverbial buck stops with you and you have a wide range of stakeholders with different aims who need to be juggled – whilst still focusing on the good of the company as a whole.  That needs resilience and empathy – but ultimately you have to lead, which means making decisions that cannot please everyone.

What is your favourite book?
I’ve been reading the successive volumes of Robert A Caro’s Years of Lyndon Johnson for more than 30 years – a masterpiece of not only political biography but also the history of America – and a study in the eternal moral conflict between means and ends.

What message do you want to send to our readership in Asia?
I think our company’s asset and strategy will particularly resonate with an Asian readership that is intimately familiar with the ever-growing economic interactions between China and the Eastern Asian region.  If readers think China would like to satisfy more of its rapidly growing gas demand from the likes of Mongolia rather than e.g. America – then there is no lower priced way of playing that theme than buying EXR shares.

How can people connect with you?
Email:
Company Website: https://www.elixirenergy.net.au/

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Matthew Gill is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at White Rock Minerals (ASX:WRM), a minerals resources exploration and development company based in the historic mining centre of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. White Rock owns the Red Mountain project in central Alaska – a high-grade zinc-silver-lead-gold project – and the advanced Mt Carrington gold-silver project in New South Wales.

What’s your journey in becoming a CEO?
I am a mining engineer by qualification and have worked right across that career spectrum – from an underground labourer, supervisor, department head, site general manager and then into the corporate world. I started as COO of White Rock Minerals in 2015 and was given the opportunity to the lead the company as MD & CEO in 2016. I was tasked at that time with taking our advanced Mt Carrington gold and silver project in New South Wales through the necessary studies and permitting, construction and commissioning and operation. This also included the attendant shareholder, stakeholder, corporate governance and capital markets activities. My prior experiences were well suited to that task having been an MD & CEO for 2 previous gold companies looking to variously build and commission gold mines – one in Western Australia and one in Victoria.

Tell us a bit about your business and how you are commercializing?
White Rock Minerals is a Junior resources company listed on the ASX. Since I joined, we have completed the Pre-Feasibility Study for our advanced Mt Carrington gold and silver project in New South Wales, and are looking at how to progress the next step – the Approvals required to then build and operate the mine. We are open to discussions with interested parties on this opportunity.

During my time at the helm, we also acquired and have grown a very exciting high-grade zinc and precious metals VMS Project in central Alaska, conducting two field seasons on-ground there in 2018 and 2019. The VMS deposits contain high-grade zinc and silver, with significant quantities of gold and lead also, with multiple further exploration targets yet to be tested. Excitingly, earlier this year, we announced the discovery of a large and robust gold anomaly called Last Chance, in geology akin to the likes of Pogo, Fort Knox and Donlin. This gold anomaly is the current focus of our activities.

How are you managing with the current COVID-19 pandemic on both business and personal front?
White Rock’s base is essentially my study at home and that of my exploration manager – Rohan Worland – at his home; we closed our small office over a year ago. So we were already practicing social distancing! Given the nature of field exploration and the relative remoteness of Alaska, COVID safe practices come more naturally to manage. So aside from a restriction on face to face meetings and travel (which are important when engaging with shareholders, investors and the invest relations and financial markets), we have been able to conduct our business as usual. A great example was our ability to raise over A$7M from the capital markets to progress our exploration in Alaska, without one road show!

What’s the most exciting thing about running your business?
All Junior companies believe in the quality of their projects, that they are under-valued and under-appreciated by the Market, and that they have a great Board and Team. Well – I am no exception. Getting the White Rock story out there, and seeing when others latch on to this and the compelling investment proposition that White Rock offers, is very gratifying.

How do you measure success?
Success is measured differently for different stakeholders. Exploration success is a key driver for a small Junior company like White Rock. Being able to attract the quality of investor we have been able to do just recently to fund our upcoming 2020 exploration program at Last Chance in Alaska is a great endorsement by others on what we see – a large, robust, un-tested and highly prospective gold anomaly. Success for our shareholders is a key of course – exploration success and an appreciating share price are good metrics here.

What do you think is the most important quality of being a CEO of a listed company?
I believe a CEO needs to have broad and deep business experiences in the field they work in – this then brings the collection of life experiences, good and bad, necessary to apply perspective, business understanding, and the leadership qualities of listening, learning, encouraging and strategic direction and communication.

What is your favourite book?
To be honest, I have not read a book in a while – I did deliver a course on Leadership, Culture, Risk, Media and Crisis Management to under-graduate mining engineers and did enjoy reading about the many varied opinions about what makes good leadership and organizational culture.

What message do you want to send to our readership in Asia?
White Rock offers the astute investor a great exposure to a near-term gold and silver producing asset in a safe jurisdiction like Australia, and to a zinc, silver and gold exploration success opportunity in another safe justification Alaska. We have a broad shareholder register, that includes investors from not just Australia, but Singapore, China, the USA and Canada, and we would welcome more interest from our nearest neighbours in Asia.

How can people connect with you?
Email:
Company Website: http://www.whiterockminerals.com.au/

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