The experience, integrity and qualifications of a consulting engineering company’staff are its best assets. WEIR is proud of its personnel who collectively have nearly 600 years of experience working in and serving the mining and energy industries. WEIR personnel have both the engineering expertise and operational experience to provide competent service to our clients. The following personnel are well qualified to undertake your projects and assignments.

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Brian L. Anderson - Assistant Mining Engineer
Mr. Anderson holds a degree in mining engineering, with experience in the fields of surface and underground mining, and explosives. Recent mining industry experience also includes surface and underground mine planning, mine and ventilation modeling, due diligence investigations, mine analysis, and mine surveying.

Fernand A. Barata - Senior Civil/Mining Engineer Manager
Mr. Barata is a mining and civil engineer with over 53 years of engineering and operating experience in the mining, construction and consulting industries. His experience includes surface mining equipment selection, utilization and productivity, design of highways and bridges, analysis of construction and mining projects, preparation of operating manuals for the construction and mining industries, and management of major construction and surface mining projects throughout the US, China, Morocco, South America, and South Africa.

Thomas E. Blandford, III - Senior Vice President
Mr. Blandford is a mining engineer with more than 29 years of experience in engineering and operations management. His experience includes engineering management at both surface and underground coal mining operations throughout the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia, as well as mine planning and design, feasibility studies, due diligence investigations, operational analysis, and contract mining.

Roy Byrom - Preparation Engineer/Associate
Mr. Byrom has more than 53 years of experience in the coal industry. His expertise is in the fields of coal preparation and coal quality together with their attendant disciplines of sampling, laboratory procedures, coal blending and coal handling. His experience includes preparation plant operation, flowsheet design, coal quality predictions, cost projections, plant valuations and operational analysis.

T. Donald Del Bosco - Senior Engineering Manager
Mr. Del Bosco is a mining engineer with more than 41 years of engineering and operations experience in the mining industry. His engineering experience includes extensive mine planning and design relative to area, contour and mountain-top removal mining methods. Mr. Del Bosco has extensive operations experience in all coal producing regions of the US and Western Canada. He has considerable expertise relating to productivity and operating cost of surface mining equipment and surface mining methods including dragline, bucket wheel excavator, truck/shovel and truck/loader.

Amanda B. Duchek - Geologist
Ms. Duchek has over six years of experience in the fields of geology, geophysics and environmental geology. Her expertise includes application of environmental science to geological investigations, field applications of geophysics, detailed mapping and correlation of subsurface horizons, geologic modeling, and reserve and resource studies.

Douglas M. Dwosh - Senior Mining Engineer
Mr. Dwosh is a mining engineer with more than 44 years of experience in all major disciplines of mining engineering. He has worked on mining engineering and surface and underground operations projects in all US coal producing regions and in Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa. Mr. Dwosh’s expertise relates to surface mine design, underground mine operation, financial analysis, strategic planning, and coal market studies.

Ken Fishel - Senior Geologist/Associate
Mr. Fishel is a professional geologist with diverse geological expertise, experience and knowledge of many sedimentary basins in the world, having completed projects in the US, Australia, Canada, China, Columbia, Peru, and the Philippines. His professional career spans over 40 years in the coal industry. His expertise includes design of exploration programs, evaluation and interpretation of geological data and conducting coal reserve studies.

William D. Fulsang - CAD Technician
Mr. Fulsang is a CAD technician with expertise in the use of AutoCAD and mining software programs relative to mine planning, mine mapping, and geologic modeling.

James R. Gummel - Vice President
Mr. Gummel has over 35 years of engineering, technical and diverse financial experience in the energy industry and related industries, with a strong background in mining project valuations and evaluations, reserve and resource valuations, transaction management, and project finance. Mr. Gummel’s experience includes reserve, resource and asset valuations, feasibility studies, technical due diligence, coal markets, secured and unsecured credit underwriting, transaction structuring and compliance, private placement and equity capital investments, derivative products, bank syndications, and export financing. Mr. Gummel has international experience in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Indonesia, Venezuela, and Papua New Guinea.

Donald D. Haas - Senior Mining Engineer/Associate
Mr. Haas is a mining engineer with over 41 years of worldwide experience in surface and underground mining relating to coal, industrial minerals, and precious and base metals. His expertise is in property evaluation, mine planning, mine cost estimates, drilling and blasting techniques, operational analysis, feasibility studies, contract mining, and financial analysis.

Dennis W. Hill - Civil Engineer
Mr. Hill has more than 21 years of experience as a civil engineer, primarily associated with large surface mining operations. His expertise includes mine permitting, transportation systems design, construction management, erosion control, sedimentation pond design, pre and post development analysis of streams, and materials handling.

Paul Jesko - Senior Construction Manager/Associate
Mr. Jesko has more than 44 years of engineering and construction management experience in the coal and industrial minerals industries. His expertise includes engineering and construction management for material handling systems and processing facilities, in addition mine site construction projects.

Dennis N. Kostic - President and CEO
Mr. Kostic is a mining engineer with over 39 years of engineering and operations experience in the mining industry in both surface and underground mining. His experience includes extensive mine layout and design expertise, multiple seam mining, surface and underground mine operational assessments, mine property evaluations, due diligence investigations, and coal market studies throughout the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Kazakhstan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and Venezuela. He has held senior level engineering and operating positions with several major US coal mining companies.

Walt Mueller, Jr. - Technical Advisor
Mr. Mueller is a mining engineer with more than 43 years of operations and engineering experience. He has held senior management positions relating to both surface and underground mining operations throughout the US and Canada. He has specific expertise in longwall mining, in addition to other underground mining methods. His experience relates to development and operation of underground mining operations.

John W. Sabo - Executive Vice President
Mr. Sabo has 44 years of operating, engineering and consulting experience in the mining and energy industries. He has specific expertise in evaluation of surface and underground mining operations, reserve estimation and mineability, mining engineering, and operations. His experience includes operational analysis, due diligence evaluations, mine planning and feasibility studies, and valuations of mining properties throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Czech Republic, and South Africa.

Rick W. Thomas - Vice President
Mr. Thomas is a mining engineer with more than 30 years of experience in engineering, operations management, and mergers and acquisitions relating to both the coal and industrial minerals industries. His experience includes engineering and operations management at both surface and underground coal mining operations throughout the United States, and at industrial minerals operations. He has significant experience in surface and underground mine planning, evaluations and contract mining, including contractor selection and contract mining agreements.

Linda R. Torre - Senior Mining/Environmental Engineer/Associate
Ms. Torre is a mining and environmental engineer with over 27 years of experience in mine planning, cost analysis and environmental engineering and permitting. Her experience includes operations and economic analysis of surface and underground mining operations, and evaluation of environmental and permitting compliance.

Tom A. Tveten - Chief Geologist
Mr. Tveten has over 39 years experience in geological evaluations in all of the major coal basins in the US as well as Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, South Africa, and Venezuela. His career has involved assignments for both surface and underground coal mining operations as well as reserve analysis and mine feasibility related to reserve acquisitions. He has significant experience in computer modeling of all types of coal reserves.

WEIR is supported by an extensive network of engineering associates, technical personnel, CADD specialists, and an administrative staff.