Holly Morris is a geologist with 15 years’ operational experience working in the Australian mining industry, including a year working as a People & Capability Specialist. Holly Joined Central Alliance in 2024 as an Associate Director, she is accountable for delivering key aspects of our five year Business Strategy, including our People and Culture plan, and some of our business improvement and project plans.

Holly holds a BSc. (Hons) in Geology & Physical Geography and a MSc. in Water Resources, Technology & Management. Whilst working, she has undertaken further study in Frontline Management, Change Management and Project Management. She is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), a Fellow of the British Geological Society (FGS), and a Member of mining community networks in Western Australia (WIMWA) and the UK (WIMUK). She enjoys dedicating time to mentoring young professionals.

“I commenced my career in 2009, starting out as a Graduate Geologist, chasing drilling rigs around the outback, logging drill spoils. I loved it! Over time, I moved up into leadership roles, with my last operational role being that of Exploration Manager at the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, Western Australia. My team and I were accountable for growing the Resource base, by extending known orebodies and finding new ones, safely executing and delivering a $46M three year growth plan. This was achieved largely by diamond drilling from surface and underground platforms. I worked very closely with drilling contractors to ensure drill times were optimised, to achieve maximum drill meters per shift, in a safe manner. In our busiest year, we had 13 drill rigs producing approximately 220,000m of drill core / RC chips; that’s an awful lot of new data!

I have experience collaborating with various technical disciplines in the mining and geotechnical industries. I am well versed in working across various timescales, from long term planning and development of business strategies, to real time delivery of plans, including troubleshooting and problem solving using LEAN methods, to provide immediate solutions to everyday challenges. I have been very fortunate to work alongside and learn from some extremely talented business leaders, analysists, and improvement specialists, thus, have been exposed to a range of ways of working – all focusing on maximising returns for the business, of which people are at the core. I am passionate about developing and leading high performing teams, grounded in a positive work culture.

Much of my work at Central Alliance draws on my prior experience and my passion for people! I am extremely proud of the People and Culture strategy that we have at Central Alliance, and am thrilled to be driving the implementation of it throughout the business, supported by a wonderful team.”