Stewart Coates: MD & Principal Geologist
BSc (Geology) James Cook University 1987

With over 35 years in mineral exploration and mining across Australia and internationally, Stew has worked on some of the industry’s most significant discoveries and operations.

Early career in Australia

  • Extensive work in the goldfields of Charters Towers, Croydon, the Hodgkinson and the Northern Territory

  • Resource definition drilling and exploration at the extraordinary Tick Hill gold mine (705,000 t @ 22.6 g/t Au) for Mount Isa Mines

  • Leading the 100,000m sterilisation and pathfinder program on the Ernest Henry IOCG discovery

  • Resource drill-out and deep directional drilling at Ernest Henry (now Evolution Mining underground)

  • Extensive work in the Mount Isa and Cloncurry district during the 1990s “golden age” of discoveries (Osborne, Eloise, Century, Cannington, Ernest Henry)

International

From 2007 he worked in technically and logistically challenging jurisdictions:

  • Papua New Guinea (porphyry Cu-Au and magmatic Ni)

  • New Zealand (heli-drilling epithermal Au in a National Park)

  • Philippines (Mindanao gold porphyries)

  • Mongolia (placer and hard-rock gold, Cu-Au porphyries, due diligence and project generation), where he established and managed the Mongolian office of RSC Mining & Mineral Exploration

  • Senior roles with RPM Global (now SLR Consulting) managing projects across Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye

A life outside geology

Many contract geologists and field techs have a life beyond the drill rig. They use their skills to fund the things they care about, and they bring more back to each job because of it. Stew has worked that way for most of his career.

After a permaculture course with Bill Mollison, he sank water bores on a disused pineapple farm on Magnetic Island and spent 13 years turning it into a food forest. The property sold with an abundance of tropical fruits and cabinet timber trees, plus a net gain to the water table.

He persuaded two shires to drop their objections and installed the first onsite waste treatment systems (Biocycle and Dowmus) in Townsville and Thuringowa. Both councils later made such systems mandatory on semi-rural blocks.

In Townsville he established Magnetic-Palm Islands Rent-a-Yacht, where two companies had tried and failed before. Working with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, he opened up over 1,000 square nautical miles and 13 new islands to bareboat charter and secured the first permits for 20 yachts. The business came through September 11, the collapse of Ansett Airlines, SARS and tax changes that hit the charter industry hard. He sold it in 2003 with a healthy fleet and staff.

He also built Kooka Publishing, an aerial photography and publishing business he sold in 2009.

While working in Mongolia, he bought a 38-foot catamaran in South Africa and sailed it across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and on to Florida with his wife Sarnai and her sister, the first Mongolians to sail across an ocean, at least since the 13th century. They spent five years cruising the Caribbean between geology contracts, and the YouTube channel documenting the voyage has passed 5 million views.

Why NORGEO

Stew returned to Australia in 2022 to an industry crying out for experienced geologists. Getting back in was still harder than it should have been. Fifteen years of international work seemed to count for little, because the network he once relied on was no longer there.

That gap is common for contractors who move in and out of the industry. Good people step away for a season or a few years, and when they come back the doors have closed behind them. That was the seed for NORGEO, a continually refreshed network of currently available geos and field techs. It’s built so experienced people can get back to work quickly and clients can find them when they’re needed.

Norwest today

That same year Stew co-founded Norwest Exploration and Mining Services. Norwest specialises in rapid placement of experienced Australian and overseas geologists and field technical support, with 482/494 visa sponsorship where required, into mine-site and exploration roles nationwide.

Norwest contractors have filled critical vacancies for Glencore, Evolution Mining, MICO and numerous mid-tier and junior explorers in Queensland and Western Australia.

Stew remains based in Mount Isa and is directly involved in candidate selection and client liaison, making sure the right person is on site, on time, every time.