Paul De Ponte

General Manager Operations

Greater Perth Area

About

Experience

  • Rio Tinto (Full-time · 6 yrs 2 mos)
    • General Manager - Facilities
      Jan 2026 - Apr 2026 · 4 mos

      Accountable for leading a team of employees and contract partners across the Pilbara iron ore operations delivering camp and town projects and maintenance, warehousing and logistics, flights and bus transport and site non-process infrastructure services and maintenance

    • General Manager Operations - Cape Lambert
      Mar 2022 - Jan 2026 · 3 yrs 11 mos

    • Plant Manager - Tom Price
      Mar 2020 - Mar 2022 · 2 yrs 1 mo

      Safe operations and maintenance of all plant facilities at Tom Price which includes a dry crush and screen facility, a concentrator and a system of primary crushers and overland conveyors feeding the plants from 3 mines. Managed the transition of operations through a $1bn capital life extension project

  • General Manager - Operations Readiness at Sunrise Energy Metals
    Sep 2018 - Mar 2020 · 1 yr 7 mos

    Accountable for operations and business readiness for a Nickel Laterite development in central NSW that will supply Nickel Sulphate, Cobalt Sulphate and Scandium into the Electric Vehicle battery market

  • Rio Tinto (10 yrs 2 mos)
    • Mine Manager - Brockman 4
      Oct 2017 - Sep 2018 · 1 yr

      Sustained safe and highly productive operation of a ~45 Mtpa mine Planning and initial execution of change management to transition site to autonomous operations

    • Manager - Cape Lambert Maintenance
      Nov 2013 - Oct 2017 · 4 yrs

      Integration of 116 Mtpa expansion in asset base with exisiting bulk materials infrastructure handling 80 Mtpa Led significant initiatives delivering improvements in safety, productivity and partnership with key contractors.

    • Manager - Operational Readiness
      Dec 2011 - Nov 2013 · 2 yrs

      Delivery of elements to ensure people, process and asset readiness of port expansions Successful commissioning, start-up and ramp up of a 50Mt port operation

  • Manager - Solution Consulting at Honeywell Process Solutions
    Aug 2007 - Aug 2008 · 1 yr 1 mo

    - Lead a sales consulting team developing consolidated automation strategies for clients to enable people, process and asset performance improvement using automation and related technologies as enablers - Also provided specific consulting services related to operator effectiveness, alarm management, asset management, advanced and regulatory process control

  • Manager - Instrumentation and Control Engineering at Sasol Synfuels International (Pty) Ltd.
    Mar 2001 - Aug 2007 · 6 yrs 6 mos

    Managed a large team (~80) of technical professionals that developed and executed instrumentation, process control and optimisation projects on a large petrochemical site.