Members of the New Zealand Mining Board of Examiners are appointed by WorkSafe New Zealand.

Paul Hunt - Chair

Paul was appointed as Chief Inspector Extractives at WorkSafe in 2018. Prior to that, he worked in senior operational roles, including being the North Island General Manager for a large coal mining operator, Mine Manager and Site Senior Executive of an underground coal mine and Site Senior Executive of an opencast operation.

He has a 30 year history in the mining sector and holds first class coal mine manager, coal mine deputy, coal mine underviewer and site senior executive certificates of competence, along with qualifications in incident management, incident analysis, mineral industry risk management and occupational health management.

Paul is based in Hamilton.

Fiona Bartier

Fiona Bartier has more than 20 years’ experience in the mining sector and has a special interest in health and safety, training and development. She holds a site senior executive certificate of competence and is also a member of the MinEx Board.

Fiona has worked in management roles for research organisations, industry groups, and mining companies.

Fiona’s interest in training and development and her extensive networks in mining are of great benefit to the Board.

Stephen Bell

Stephen is an experienced mining operator, mine manager and mining engineer. He has more than 40 years’ experience working in underground and surface coal mines and tunnels in New Zealand.

He was a founding member of the Mines Rescue Trust Board, serving 3 years as Chair and a Brigadesman for more than 15 years. He helped to establish the Extractive Industries Training Organisation (EXITO), and scope unit standards for extractives qualifications.

Following roles as Chief Mining Engineer then South Island Operations Manager for Solid Energy, and General Manager Safety, Environmental and Wellbeing Manager at North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR), Stephen has been self-employed and assists in tunnel safety as an advisor or a site senior executive.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Mineral Technology (Hons), first class coal mine manager, site senior executive, and various risk and project postgraduate qualifications.

Brian Bouzaid

Brian is currently the Aggregates Manager for Holcim NZ. He is a highly experienced quarry business leader with more than 35 years’ experience in the extractives sector, both in New Zealand and overseas. Brian has also held several board positions including inaugural Chair of MinEx and Chair of the Extractive Industry Training Organisation (EXITO) through to its merger with MITO, where Brian is the current Industry Council Chair.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying (IoQ) and has been a member of its Executive Board, including serving as President. In 2018 he was presented with the Quarry Industry Leadership award for his services to the quarry industry.

Brian holds an A-grade quarry manager certificate of competence.

Michelle Crompton

Michelle works at Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, whose vision is Whakairohia he toki, tāraia te anamata | Learning with purpose, creating our futures. Te Pūkenga provides excellent and quality education opportunities that support learners, employers and communities to gain the skills, knowledge, and capabilities Aotearoa needs now and for the future.

Michelle brings knowledge and understanding of work-based learning, the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and of quality assurance in the education sector. She has been involved with industry training solutions for the extractives sector, and qualification and unit standard development and reviews since 2012.

Garth Elliott 

Garth is E Tū union’s Area Organiser (National Mining Advocate). He has more than 30 years' experience working in the coal and gold mining industries in both underground and opencast mines and has been a full-time union official since 2006.

He is a member of the Mines Rescue Trust, Secretary of the Pike River Miners’ Families Education Trust and of E Tū’s Mining and Energy Industry Council.

Timothy Kennedy

Tim is currently Fulton Hogan’s Quarries Operation Manager in Gisborne. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the quarrying industry in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

Tim brings a knowledge and understanding of, and involvement in, learning and development in the extractives sector. He was a member of MITO’s sector advisory group on its review of extractives national qualifications. He is a workplace tutor and has been a registered assessor.

Tim holds a New South Wales Diploma in Extractives Industries Management and a number of Australian and New Zealand quarrying certificate of competence (CoC), including a New Zealand A-grade quarry manager certificate of competence. 

Matt Mules

Matt has more than 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, much of which was gained across significant global tunnelling projects both in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Matt was recently the Site Senior Executive on the Central Interceptor Project, where he was also responsible for training and development.

Matt has moved into general management roles and is currently the General Manager of Oxcon CLL and was previously the General Manager of Abergeldie. He is the current President of the New Zealand Tunnelling Society and is also a member of the New Zealand Temporary Works Forum Committee.

Matt holds a site senior executive certificate of competence and has a BEng (Hons) and a BCom (Finance) from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from Manchester University (UK).

Bernie O’Leary

Bernie has more than 35 years of industry experience in New Zealand, Australia, North America and South America working in underground, open pit and tunnelling operations. He has more than 25 years’ experience in managing such operations.

Bernie holds a Bachelor of Mining Technology (Hons) degree in mining and certificates of competence from New Zealand and Australia. Bernie has been a member of the Board since its formation in 2015 and is also a member of the Extractives Industry Advisory Group to WorkSafe.

Since 2021, Bernie has used his experience and knowledge to provide consulting services to the industry in the areas of operations management, and reviews and audits of safety management plans.

Kevin (Dinghy) Pattinson

Kevin was the Chief Operating Officer of the Pike River Recovery Agency. He managed operational elements of the Pike River re-entry work programme and was responsible for compliance with statutory health and safety requirements.

Dinghy has more than 4 decades of underground mining experience, most recently in underground metalliferous mining. He has been active with the New Zealand Mines Rescue Service for more than 30 years, with roles including Brigadesman, Site Manager and Board member. He holds several certificates of competence, including site senior executive and first class mine manager.

Mark Pizey

Mark has more than 40 years' work experience in New Zealand and overseas in both coal and metalliferous mining operations and surface and underground environments. His career culminated with his appointment as WorkSafe’s Chief Inspector (Extractives) from 2016 to 2018. Following his role as Chief Executive of Central Plains Water Limited, a multimillion-dollar irrigation scheme in Canterbury, Mark is now retired. 

Mark was also the General Manager for Solid Energy’s Pike River re-entry project from 2012 to 2016, responsible for overall management of the project to recover forensic evidence and assist with ongoing investigations.