Raleigh Finlayson was awarded WASMA life membership to recognise the remarkable role he played in the success of the Alumni, initially as Vice President and then as President, as well as his enormous contribution he made to WASMA, the WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering (WASM:MECE) and the resources industry.

It was while working with graduates in 2010 at Saracen Mineral Resources that Raleigh saw the importance of having strong student cohorts coming through WASM. He realised that he could contribute to this through WASMA.

“To make sure the school was maintained, there needed to be a focus on students to keep the school strong,” he said.

Raleigh is also particularly proud of the work the Council has done to ensure a robust alignment between Curtin University and the Alumni.

Raleigh is a Mining Engineer with more than 20 years of technical and operational experience in multiple disciplines including both underground and open pit operations.

He was previously the Managing Director of Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX:SAR) and Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST). During his 14-year tenure at Saracen, Raleigh was initially the Chief Operating Officer responsible for the feasibility study and development of Saracen’s first operating gold mine, the Carosue Dam Operations. He was promoted to the role of Managing Director in 2013 and responsible for the acquisition and subsequent feasibility study and development of Saracen’s second operating gold mine, Thunderbox, and subsequently the purchase of 50% of the KCGM Superpit from Barrick Gold. Saracen grew from a market cap of $53m in 2008 to $6.0bn in 2021 before merging with Northern Star.