Mr Patrick Walta
Executive Chairman
Mr Walta is a qualified metallurgist and mineral economist with experience across technical and commercial roles in the mining and water treatment industries. In 2017 he founded New Century Resources Ltd and became Managing Director following the acquisition of the Century Zinc Mine in Queensland. Over the following five years he led the company’s growth through feasibility, mine restart, commissioning and steady-state operations, during which the Century Mine became the 13th largest zinc producer in the world. New Century was acquired by the multinational PGM-gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd in 2023.
Mr Walta is a graduate of the University of Melbourne with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Science, and holds postgraduate qualifications including an MBA, a Master of Science (Mineral Economics), a Diploma of Project Management and the AICD’s Company Directors Course. He was awarded the MNN Emerging Leader of the Year Award (2018) and the Young Achiever of the Year award (2015) at the Australian Mining Prospect Awards.
Mr Keith Bowes
Managing Director and CEO
Mr Bowes is a resources executive with more than 30 years of experience in project development, metallurgy and operations across Africa, South America and Australia. A process engineer by training, he spent 20 years with Anglo American and BHP across a range of jurisdictions and commodities, including copper projects in Zambia, zinc projects in Namibia, and nickel operations in Western Australia and South America.
In 2013 Mr Bowes moved into the junior mining sector, leading teams developing projects as diverse as niobium in Tanzania, uranium in South Australia and zinc-copper in Canada. In 2019 he joined the Board of Matador Mining, developing the Cape Ray Gold Project in Canada, and in 2021 joined Lotus Resources Ltd, where he served as both Managing Director and Technical Director, playing a key role in redefining the Kayelekera Uranium Project in Malawi and acquiring the Letlhakane Uranium Project in Botswana.
He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Peninsula Energy Ltd, which recently restarted the Lance Uranium Project in Wyoming, and previously held a Non-Executive Director position at Copper Strike Ltd. Mr Bowes holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr David Hutton
Non-Executive Director
Mr Hutton has over 30 years of industry experience and has been involved in the discovery, delineation and mining of numerous precious and base metal deposits in Australia and overseas.
David has held a range of Managing Director roles of ASX – listed mineral exploration companies over the last 18 years and is currently the Managing Director of Rimfire Pacific Mining. Prior to this he worked a range of senior operational geological roles with the MIM Group, Forrestania Gold, Western Metals, LionOre Australia and Breakaway Resources.
He has worked in the Panton / ADC areas previously in his roles with LionOre Australia and Breakaway Resources.
He has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree majoring in Geology from Monash University, Victoria, is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM) and a JORC Competent Person for a range of mineralisation styles including magmatic copper nickel, iron oxide copper gold, carbonate – hosted base metals, Archean lode gold, and laterite – hosted nickel cobalt scandium.
Mr Sam Rodda
Non-Executive Director
Mr Rodda has broad experience across technical and commercial roles in the mining industry. He was previously Managing Director of the ASX-listed PGM developer Podium Minerals Limited, and has held senior operational roles at a number of large underground and open pit mining operations in Australia and internationally, including at MMG Limited and AngloGold Australia, where he was General Manager Operations. He has also held senior roles at WMC and BHP Billiton. Mr Rodda’s appointment brings additional capacity and competence to the planned development of future operations at Panton.
Key Management
Mr Harry Miller
Company Secretary
Mr Miller is an experienced Company Secretary with 10 years of experience providing company secretarial, governance, corporate advisory and accounting services to Australian companies.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Finance) and a Master of Professional Accounting.
Ms Kelsey Crook
Exploration Manager
Ms Crook is a geologist with over 14 years of experience across exploration, resource development and mining operations in Australia and internationally. Her career spans greenfields and brownfields exploration, resource definition, underground and open pit mining, and project development across multiple base metal projects.
Before joining Future Metals, Ms Crook held technical and leadership roles with IGO Limited, Northern Star Resources and First Quantum Minerals. She holds a Bachelor of Mineral Geoscience (Honours) from The University of Western Australia and a Master of Project and Program Management from The University of Sydney, and combines technical expertise with experience in project delivery, regulatory approvals, heritage and stakeholder engagement.
Mr Steve Hosking
Project Manager
Mr Hosking has over 20 years of experience leading the development, construction and operation of complex resource and critical infrastructure assets in remote and technically demanding environments, including across Western Australia.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (Mining) from the University of Exeter and a Bachelor of Science with Honours (Geography) from the University of Liverpool, and is an Associate of the Camborne School of Mines.