Bravus in Australia
Bravus is a diversified group of Australian businesses delivering integrated energy and infrastructure services.
Bravus’ Australian businesses support a sustainable and affordable global energy mix, progressing the transition to a lower-carbon future.
Our people provide energy and infrastructure solutions from regional Australia that support communities across the world.
We’ve been in Australia for more than a decade, bringing investment, new ways of operating, and working with communities since 2010. Our businesses have grown to encompass thermal coal, solar energy, port operations, and rail operations.
Part of the global Adani Group , Bravus is committed to delivering at the forefront of a future energy mix by producing and transporting high quality Australian coal, and renewable energy.
A vision for local and global growth
Bravus has demonstrated its commitment to Australia over more than a decade.
It started with the 2010 purchase of a greenfield coal tenement in central Queensland’s Galilee Basin, before ramping up with the 2011 acquisition of the export terminal at the Port of Abbot Point and land for the proposed mine site in 2012.
The Adani Group’s vision was for a major integrated pit-to-port operation that would provide high-quality, lower-emission Queensland thermal coal for the global market. This would supply much-needed energy security to lift people in the developing world from poverty. The driving force was always the transformative impact of electricity supply to overcome disadvantage across the world.
Over time, the Group’s vision expanded to include investment in at-scale solar and renewable developments in India to complement, and in the long-term replace, thermal energy from coal.
Committed to Australia
As the Carmichael Project stalled, Bravus’ Australian companies continued to develop the Rugby Run solar farm in central Queensland. Safe operations also continued at the North Queensland Export Terminal.
But the term “Stop Adani” gathered pace in Australian politics. Organised anti-mining activism has grown as a political and social movement. Supported financially by overseas interests, local activists devised a plan to “disrupt and delay” key projects and infrastructure to develop the Galilee Basin.
Bravus was caught in the centre of a political fight that merged with the international divestment campaign. Stop Adani posters were plastered to walls across Melbourne and Sydney.
We were committed. We also had the support of regional Queensland communities whose livelihoods are linked to the resources sector, and particularly the coal sector, which is Australia’s second largest export industry. These communities devised their own campaigns, to support the project, Start Adani and Go Galilee Basin. Regional Queenslanders are proud and passionate about the export coal industry that they are a part of, and could see through the myths and lies being peddled by the Stop Adani campaign.
We successfully completed multiple rounds of approvals, government regulatory changes, and court challenges over the course of eight years to deliver the Carmichael project.
From Stop to Start
In 2018, the Adani Group announced it would self-finance a $2bn scaled down 10 million tonne per annum mine and a shorter, narrow gauge rail line.
In June 2019, following the final environmental approvals from the Queensland Government, Adani Mining (now Bravus Mining and Resources) announced it would proceed with construction of the Carmichael Project.
More than 15,000 people had already registered their interest to work on the Carmichael project. Headquartered from Townsville, North Queensland, and through a business centre in Rockhampton, central Queensland, construction ramped up through locally-based contractors such BMD, G&S, DRA Global, Stresscrete, Austrak, Wagners, Bennetts, Hastings Deering, Hillery Group and Mendi Group. As the Carmichael project continues into operations, we are continuing to work with local contractors including Mackellar Group, Hinterland Aviation, SkyTrans, SMW Group and Rhomberg Rail.
Meanwhile, we continued to operate our port and renewable energy businesses safely, and in 2020 launched a new brand for our export terminal at Abbot Point, NQXT. We also launched the Bowen Rail Company in the same year.
In 2022, the Adani Australia business changed its name to Bravus.
Bravus’ focus is deliberately local, we invest in the communities that support us. This is Bravus’ Australian story.
Committed to responsible operations
Amid the noise over the Carmichael Project, Bravus Australia’s other operations continued to deliver responsible operations. These included exporting resources from the North Queensland Export Terminal, and delivering solar power to homes and businesses from Adani Renewables’ Rugby Run solar farm.
Bravus Australia leadership team
Mr Samir Vora is the most senior representative of the Adani Group in Australia. He joined Adani Group in July 1994 and is a member of the Adani family and an Executive Director of the business.
Mr. Vora moved to Brisbane in 2011 with his family and has been instrumental in commencing all the businesses of Adani Group in Australia starting from the acquisition of Abbot Point export terminal to the construction of one of the largest greenfield mine and rail project in Central Queensland which created more than 2500 direct jobs. He was also responsible for delivering the first renewable project of Adani group in Queensland. In his current capacity as Executive Director of Adani Australia, he is responsible for the business of Carmichael Coal mine operations (Bravus Mining), Rail Operations (Bowen Rail Company), Port (North Queensland Export Terminal) and 65 MW Rugby Run Solar Farm with an overall investment of more than AUD 6 Billion.
He holds a B.S. from California State University, USA and has over 25 years’ of diversified experience in International Trading, Mining, and Transport Infrastructure such as Rail and Ports.
Mark is a seasoned professional who has more than twenty years’ experience in supply chain, financial (accounting), external board governance and regulatory management for mining and transport operations.
Prior to joining NQXT, Mark worked with Peabody Energy Australia, most recently as Director Infrastructure, where he was responsible for the financial, regulatory, and commercial management of Peabody’s port and rail interests across Queensland and NSW. Mark has also been Director for Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal Pty Ltd (DBCT), Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Pty Ltd (NCIG) and Chairman and Director of the Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT).
Mark is the General Manager of North Queensland Export Terminal.
Brendan is a seasoned professional who has more than ten years’ experience in management roles across the rail and infrastructure sectors.
Prior to joining Bowen Rail Company as General Manager in 2021, Brendan worked with Bravus Mining and Resources as the Project Head (Rail), where he successfully oversaw the construction of the approximately 200km Carmichael Rail Network. Brendan has previously been Construction Manager at Inland Rail, General Manager for RMC Rail Services, and has also held various roles at Aurizon including Asset Manager – Operations and Project Engineer.
Brendan holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of Queensland.
Allan Brown is Abbot Point Operations’ General Manager – Port Operations, responsible for the safe management and export performance of Queensland’s most northern coal port.
Allan is a specialist in asset optimisation and integrity management on the back of a more than 35 year career spent in the ports, mining, refining and materials processing industries.
As a leader, Allan is passionate about building and enhancing systems that empower his team to drive a culture of safety, collaboration, and individual and collective achievement.
He is a former General Manager Operations of Gladstone Ports Corporation, and held senior positions at Newcrest Mining and Comalco (now Rio Tinto’s Aluminium division).
Allan lives in Bowen with wife, Susan, once owned his own surf shop, and is a lifelong supporter of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Derek is an experienced executive who has more than twenty years’ experience in the energy, infrastructure, resources, and manufacturing industries.
Derek has deep expertise throughout the energy value chain in both technical and commercial fields. He is known for the successful delivery of complex multi-year major projects and being a business turnaround specialist.
Prior to joining Bravus in 2019, Derek worked as Business Development Manager for Alinta Energy, AGL and BOC Gases. In his role as Business Manager – Renewables, Derek is a member of the Adani Group executive leadership team with sole responsible for the development, construction and then operations of the $120m Rugby Run Solar Farm and Whyalla Solar Farm Project.
Under Derek’s leadership, the Rugby Run Solar Farm project in central Queensland was successfully delivered on time and on budget, and Rugby Run Solar Farm is consistently one of the top performing solar farms in Queensland.
Mick Crowe has more than 30-years’ experience working across the domestic and international resources and construction sectors. He is married to Narelle and together they have four daughters Emerson, Ella, Maelin and Ashlan.
He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1989 and commenced his career in estimating and construction working in the Queensland coal fields on draglines and process plants. This progressed to project control work on the national rail expansion in Melbourne, followed by project controls on the expansion of the Freeport Mine in Indonesia, cementing his credentials in project controls and project management.
He later gained exposure to mining operations as Operations Support Superintendent in Florida for IMC Agrico in a business turnaround role working across their six opencut phosphate mines.
In 1995 Mick was one of five shareholders to start an engineering company working in the Queensland coal fields. Mick and his partners built a maintenance and construction business peaking at 1,300 employees with national operations, which Mick ran until 2019. His roles included Project Controls Manager, GM Maintenance Operations, COO and CEO. During this time he built, maintained and operated most forms of equipment for both underground and open cut mining. The business established a strong reputation for delivery, exceptional community engagement and was widely recognised for its high-performance culture.
Most recently Mick established DRA’s China office in Dalian to foster relationships with suppliers of equipment and mining companies seeking to invest. This has provided a functional network of engineering, OEM and investment relationships inside China allowing African and Australian operations to harness these capabilities to benefit local projects.
Mick has held board positions with Queensland Health and Safety, Resource Industry Network, Coral Sea Research Institute, Regional Economic Development.
Mr Khandelwal is a qualified Chartered Accountant with more than 24 years of industry experience. He has been Chief Financial Officer for the Australian business of the Adani Group since September 2010 and is responsible for accounting, corporate finance, taxation, strategic planning, and other related matters. Prior to joining Adani in 2008, he worked with Jindal Steel & Power Limited and Reliance Industries Limited and has wide experience and in-depth understanding of the infrastructure, steel, power and mining sectors.
Kate Campbell is Head of Communications, Community and ESG Reporting for Bravus, the Adani Group’s Australian coal mining, rail, solar energy and port business.
Kate joined Adani in 2018. She developed and implemented the reputation strategy that unlocked approvals for the Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Central Queensland, despite a concerted campaign by the anti-fossil fuel movement to halt the project.
Kate has worked in the resources industry for more than 20 years. She is an expert in reputation management, external relations, brand, communications and social impact management. Before joining Adani, she worked for Shell and Santos to help secure the social licence to operate of Australia’s onshore natural gas industry. Kate began her mining industry career at Mount Isa Mines, and held corporate affairs and community relations roles in Xstrata’s (now Glencore) coal and copper businesses.
Kate is passionate about the benefits the resources industry brings to Australian families and communities, and its role in improving people’s lives, particularly in the developing world, by providing critical energy and resources.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Business Communication. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and three children.