Minemax is pleased to welcome John Battista as General Manager. John joins the Perth office and will oversee operations including sales & marketing, services and product development. 
John has a mining engineering background, and close to 30 years experience in the industry. He spent seven years at Golder Associates in both consulting and business development roles.
Previous to that, John collected significant site experience working as a senior mining engineer at Newcrest Mining, Normandy Mining and Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines. Most recently, John was managing the BHP Billiton strategic mine planning and optimization software group.
“I have been looking for a person with John’s experience and qualities for a number of years and I believe that in John, the wait will prove worthwhile,” explained Jim Butler, CEO of Minemax.
“John is well-regarded in the Australian mining industry and he brings with him significant experience and industry knowledge in strategic planning and optimization. I’m confident John will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for our clients.”
We caught up with John before he started at Minemax so we could all get to know him a little better.
Minemax: Welcome, John! We’re glad that you have decided to join us. Was there anything in particular that led you to choose Minemax?
John: I have used Minemax software extensively in the past and I have known Jim for about ten years now. I have always admired Jim’s way of doing business, so when this great opportunity to join the Minemax team arose, I jumped at it without hesitation. Also, after many years working for large corporates, the chance to be part of a much smaller organisation was of interest to me. So, overall it’s great to be joining Minemax, and I want to thank everyone for trusting me to be a part of the team.
Minemax: What is one priority you would like to address in your new position?
John: There’s more than one priority……but the first will be to get to know the Minemax team better and to understand the plans that are in place to take us forward as a business. Also I think it’ll be important to get out and meet with as many existing and potential new clients as possible.
Minemax: We heard some stories of fishing and olives during your recent break. Are we likely to hear more on these topics?
John: Ah, I see the “grapevine” has been effective!! Yes, I have had a wonderful couple of months’ break since finishing my last role with BHP Billiton at the end of April. Having this little “sabbatical” gave me a chance to spend some “quality time” with family and friends, including a very successful salmon fishing expedition and spending some time with my Mum and Dad making some olive oil. Unfortunately, the olive oil is not for sale…..and I have also had a chance to tackle the list of home maintenance tasks that one never seems to get around to.
Minemax: Thanks so much, John. We look forward to having you as a part of the Minemax team. If you’d like to contact John, you can reach him here.