IN hindsight, Vanessa Guthrie made some wise decisions at university in the 1970s, combining environment studies with geology well before sustainability and the environment became common parts of the resources industry lexicon.
Forty years later the environmental approvals processes, community relations, native title endorsement and sustainability are major steps in getting resources projects off the ground – and Dr Guthrie is an expert in the field.
She took on the role of general manager of Toro Energy’s Wiluna Project last year, and at the time the company’s chief executive said: “Dr Guthrie’s substantial hands-on mining and development approvals experience will help underpin the scheduled delivery in 2013 of the Wiluna Project as a commercial uranium mine.”
Dr Guthrie said the project had in some ways taken her full circle, as she recalled one of her first roles after graduating.
“One of my first jobs was sitting on an exploration rig in WA looking for uranium back in the early 1980s. So it is almost back to the future,” she said.
At that time, the global push for uranium and nuclear power was a response to the oil crisis of the late 1970s, bolstered by the need to find an alternative fuel source for developed countries.
Dr Guthrie believes the interest in nuclear energy has returned in recent times with renewed environmental agendas, but that it is more understated now than the in 1980s.
“The sentiment today, broadly and globally, has been and continues to be that nuclear power is, can and should continue to be part of the energy mix globally,” she said.
“Even with occurrences like the tsunami that hit Fukushima last year and the consequences of that in terms of the Japanese power sector, I still think the sentiment today is that nuclear is part of that mix. That is in part strengthened by the community’s view and expectation around climate change.”
Dr Guthrie has also observed changes in the importance placed on sustainability over the course of her career.
“When I was first involved, environment and community relationships were always considered an add-on,” she said.
“These days the industry has matured to a point where most operations and projects see environmental approvals, environmental management, indigenous relations and the community at large as fundamental, as important as getting your engineering right and understanding your resource.
“I have always believed environmental management is core to managing a project because if you get it wrong you can stop your project going forward or you can bring a company to its knees.”
Getting the Wiluna Project off the ground is going according to schedule; Dr Guthrie anticipates a decision from the Environmental Protection Authority mid-year, engineering feasibility studies have started, and a final investment decision will be presented to the board by September with the view to commencing construction by end of the year.
Dr Guthrie has come to the role at Toro from private equity firm Wellard Enterprises. She previously held roles at Woodside as vice-president for sustainable development; as Alcoa World Alumina Australia’s sustainability manager; Pasminco’s Hobart Smelter environmental manager; and Huntly’s Dwellingup bauxite mine manager.
“That role [Wellard] was really fundamental for me in understanding the running of a business. Previously I had been in roles where we brought consultants into our company, and suddenly I was on the other side of the table,” Dr Guthrie said.
“It is an aberration in terms of the environmental flavour of my career, but it certainly is an experience that has made a really solid foundation for what I do now.”
