Rio Tinto Coal Australia, (previously as Pacific Coal), managed Rio Tinto’s Queensland coal assets and now additionally manages the assets of Coal and Allied in New South Wales.
The total portfolio includes the Blair Athol, Hail Creek and Kestrel mines in Central Queensland; Tarong mine in the South Burnett; and the Hunter Valley, Bengalla and Mount Thorley Warkworth mines in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. The mines produce some 58 million tonnes of coal annually for steaming and metallurgical use.
Thorne, who is an alumni of the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, has held a wide variety of senior operational and executive roles with Rio Tinto and its Australian predecessor, CRA Limited. His experience has covered a diversity of mineral commodity groups in Australian and international postings. He undertook his tertiary education at the University of Queensland, where he attained both Bachelor and Doctoral degrees in Metallurgy.
He is a Fellow and Chartered Professional (Management) of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, president of the Queensland Resources Council, managing director of Coal and Allied, an Australian Representative of the Coal Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Association and a director of Australian Coal Research Limited.
