EXTENDED TECHNICAL & OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY
Beyond the executive leadership team, Ryal is supported by a trusted network of more than 25 of Australia’s most senior mining operations professionals, spanning multiple technical and operational disciplines. Collectively, the broader team brings tens of billions of dollars in project delivery experience, having worked across more than 50 major listed mining assets globally.
This group has also played a direct role in the development and progression of over 30 projects through to IPO or listed-asset readiness, providing Ryal with rare depth in both technical execution and capital-markets alignment. This capability allows Ryal to mobilise rapidly, scale efficiently, and deliver large, complex project scopes end-to-end, integrating exploration, engineering, construction, commissioning, and operations with institutional-grade governance and reporting standards.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Ryan Slater
Chief Executive Officer
Ryan is a highly experienced, multi-disciplinary Mining, Energy, and Oil & Gas executive with over 20 years’ experience across both greenfield and brownfield developments. He brings deep expertise in complex processing and infrastructure projects, having led assets from early concept and feasibility through tendering, construction, commissioning, and operational handover. With a mechanical trade foundation, engineering qualifications, and strong commercial leadership capability, Ryan has successfully delivered large-scale, multi-disciplinary project packages and managed construction, commissioning, and maintenance teams exceeding 1,000 personnel. His career includes senior leadership roles on landmark projects such as Rio Tinto’s USD 6.55 billion Robe Valley sustaining capital program, Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG developments, AGL’s Barker Inlet Power Station, Northern Minerals’ world-first rare earths mine, and the delivery of the Port Melville marine port and refuelling facility consistently delivering complex projects under demanding conditions, on schedule, and within budget.
Alan Briggs
Managing Director
Alan Briggs is a seasoned mining executive and operator with multi-decade experience in mine ownership, operations, and business leadership. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, he brings deep, first-hand knowledge of the country’s mining landscape and maintains a strong, trusted local network that enables effective, compliant, and sustainable operations. His career spans hands-on operational roles in Australia with tier-one miners including Fortescue Metals Group, BHP, and Rio Tinto, alongside senior executive positions across both mining and broader commercial ventures. Alan provides critical regional insight across Zimbabwe and Africa, ensuring alignment with government policy, community engagement, and long-term value creation. Deeply people-focused, he is committed to responsible leadership and meaningful social impact, championing initiatives that support education, clean water infrastructure, and access to medical facilities in underserved rural and regional communities ensuring the projects we develop leave a lasting, positive legacy for future generations.
Dirk Benade
Geology & Mining Manager
Dirk Benade is a highly respected geology and mining veteran with over 52 years of experience across Zimbabwe, South Africa, and multiple African jurisdictions. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, he brings unparalleled, generational knowledge of Africa’s geology and mineral systems, with a career spanning exploration, mine development, and precious metals operations. His professional progression from field geologist and mine captain through to general manager and managing director has seen him oversee more than 65 operating mines in Zimbabwe alone. Dirk maintains deep, trusted relationships across the region at both political and community levels, providing critical on-the-ground insight into asset governance, resource access, and project selection. His expertise has been instrumental in key discoveries, strategic asset acquisitions, and the prioritisation of projects across the portfolio, while his broader consulting role continues to guide commercial decision-making and investor confidence across Africa.
Ben Dryden
Technical Manager
Ben Dryden is a seasoned Australian technical mining manager with multi-decade experience delivering major mining and infrastructure projects across a broad range of commodities and asset types. He has operated at senior technical levels for Australia’s largest mining companies and has been an integral contributor to major projects spanning EPCM delivery models, brownfield expansions, and greenfield developments. Ben brings end-to-end expertise across the full mining lifecycle from grassroots exploration and drilling through engineering, construction, commissioning, and operational handover, including experience supporting IPO-ready project development. His reporting standards, data collection, and technical analysis are built to listed-asset expectations, with project delivery and communication consistently aligned to JORC standards or higher. This rigor, combined with his deep operational experience, provides critical oversight in risk mitigation, cost control, and execution efficiency across all projects.
Sasha Fagan
Commercial & Business Development Manager
Sasha Fagan is a strategic commercial operator responsible for driving deal flow, securing partnerships, and advancing the company’s growth agenda across mining and investment projects. He brings cross-sector experience spanning private equity, commodities trading, and joint-venture structuring, with a strong capability in opportunity qualification, transaction negotiation, and commercial execution.
Sasha has extensive operational experience in Australia, having worked across multiple asset types with tier-one mining companies including Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto, BHP, and Minara Resources. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, he maintains a deep, high-level network across Africa including government stakeholders, asset owners, and strategic partners which provides critical on-the-ground insight and access. This regional connectivity, combined with his commercial oversight, enables the business to operate at senior institutional levels, rapidly mobilise on new projects, and ensure disciplined, execution-ready decision-making across the entire portfolio.
A LEADERSHIP BENCH BUILT ON REAL-WORLD DELIVERY
Ryal’s executive and technical leadership team brings together more than 100 years of collective mining, infrastructure, and project development expertise. Our specialists have delivered multi-billion-dollar projects across gold, copper, chrome, lithium, and energy infrastructure in Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.
Our people are the backbone of Ryal engineers, geologists, project directors, and financiers who have built projects for the world’s largest mining companies, and who now deploy that capability under the Ryal banner.