Change of Course

John Simpson was born in 1956. He has degrees in Metallurgy and Environmental Diagnostics, which prepared him for a career in the mining industry. John has performed various metallurgical roles on gold and diamond mines in South Africa, Angola and other countries. He was an Area Metallurgist on a diamond mine in Angola when that country's first free elections took place. During the subsequent recommencement of the civil war he was captured by UNITA rebels and evacuated to Brazil on release. He spent several years as a Mining Specialist for an international development charity, running projects in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Guyana. He has also been the Metallurgical Manager of a gold mine in Greenland. Since 2014 John has worked as an SAP ERP training consultant. He loves reading, writing, walking, watching sport, enjoying wildlife and listening to classical music. He is single and has no children.