Bloomfield brings to the company more than 27 years of mining experience in technical, operations, management and corporate roles.

He led BHP Billiton’s Illawarra Coal group in the role of president, a role he was appointed to in 2004.

During his time at Illawarra Coal, Bloomfield oversaw a marked improvement in safety performance, steered Illawarra Coal towards growth and secured, with his team, a number of critically important approvals, including the Appin Area 9 project, which will ensure the future of the company’s Illawarra’s operations.

Mastermyne’s order book has benefited from the addition of the Appin Area 9 and Kestrel Mine Services contracts, which were mobilised during the second half of last financial year.

“Col has had a very successful career to date and we are looking forward to having him on the board of Mastermyne,” chairman Darren Hamblin said.

“His appointment is timely as the company moves back into a period of growth following the recent slowdown across the sector.

“We are very confident that the company will benefit from Col’s strong mining background, his industry network and his perspective as a mine operator.”

Bloomfield holds a first class certificate of competency in mine management and has managed underground coal mines in Australia.

His former roles include health, safety and environment vice president for BHP Billiton where he had global responsibility for the function.

Previously he was project director for the BHP Billiton merger integration and a member of the BHP deal team for the transaction.

In total he spent more than five years working in various roles in BHP Billiton’s corporate office.

Bloomfield has previous experience as a director at the NSW Minerals Council for almost nine years including three as chairman.

He was also chairman of Port Kembla Coal Terminal for more than eight years.