Robert (Bob) Bryan, AM, is an Australian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

who worked extensively in

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

early in his career and has had a long-term involvement in the property and mining industries in Australia and

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. His lifelong achievements in

mining in Australia Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth ...

were recognised when he was inducted into the

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame recognises a set of the leaders in business and social development in Queensland, Australia. Inclusion in the hall of fame can be of individual people (living or dead), groups of people, and organisat ...

in 2009 and the award of an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 2010.

History

Robert Bryan is the son of

Walter Heywood Bryan Walter Heywood (W.H.) Bryan (1891–1966) was an Australian geologist, educator and decorated military veteran. He founded the University of Queensland Seismology Station, and was the first student at the University of Queensland to receive a ...

, a former Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Queensland. In 1983 Bryan founded Pan Australian Mining Ltd (now the $740 million Pan Australian Resources) and, as managing director, oversaw the development of a major gold mine at Mount Leyshon, near

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

in Queensland. He was also chairman of Highlands Pacific, a mineral explorer in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Bryan became the first honorary life member of the then Queensland Mining Council (QMC) in November 1995. His membership was on the recommendation of the Executive Committee which referred to Bryan’s personal contribution to the formation of the Council. Bryan was involved in 18 months of discussions and negotiations to bring about the merger of the Queensland Coal Association and the Queensland Chamber of Mines in 1991. Bryan is also a founding Director of the Sustainable Minerals Institute and the Bryan Research Centre within the University of Queensland. He achieved considerable success in the role of founding chairman for the Queensland Gas Company. In an article, “I’m Going Sailing”, in The Deal, December 2008, Bryan wrote:

"The trick was to find thick
coal seams Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
where the gas could accumulate… from years of drilling in the
Surat Basin The Surat Basin is a geological basin in eastern Australia. It is part of the Great Artesian Basin drainage basin of Australia. The Surat Basin extends across an area of 270,000 square kilometres and the southern third of the basin occupies a larg ...
… I knew of a number of drilling rigs that had caught fire after encountering gas. Safety procedures were pretty rudimentary then. The drillers would smoke when it took their fancy. Up would come the gas, and bang went the rig. We identified where half a dozen rigs had been lost over the years. It was a rather crude prospecting tool, but it worked."

Bryan formed a partnership with Dick Groves, a consultant geologist and his partner Bob Bell, and after a shaky start (described as "far more ideas than money"), Bryan recruited Richard Cottee as managing director. The company's value rose from a market cap of less than $20 million to $5.6 billion in eight years to become a leading

coal seam gas ''Coalbed methane'' (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, or coal seam gas (CSG) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Australia, and other co ...

producer in Queensland. Bob’s private company, Leyshon Pty Ltd is now focussing on property funds management, investment and development.

References

Attribution

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Bob (geologist) Australian geologists Australian miners Members of the Order of Australia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)