ABOUT
Soma Geotechnical Pty Ltd was established in 2018 by Laura Jey who has over 20 yearsâ experience as a mining Geotechnical Engineer in surface and underground; design, operations, corporate and consulting globally in gold, iron ore, copper, manganese, tungsten and nickel at BHP, Rio Tinto, Coffey and Red 5 Ltd / Vault Minerals.
Laura was most recently the Group Principal Geotechnical Engineer for Red 5 Ltd / Vault Minerals gold mining company; leading multiple operating mines to achieve zero geotechnical events outside the organisational risk tolerance over the long-term; whilst ramping up from junior to mid-tier miner, and simultaneously producing fit-for-purpose mine designs to achieve the highest performing ASX listed mining company in FY24.
Laura Jey - Director & Principal Geotechnical Engineer
Soma GeotechnicalÂ
QUALIFICATIONS
- Master of Mining Geomechanics, Curtin University WASM 2012
- Bachelor of Geological Engineering, RMIT University 2003
- Bachelor of Applied Geology, RMIT University 2001
- Online Professional Certificate in Tailings Management, AusIMM 2022
- Diploma Leadership & Management, Open Universities 2017
CERTIFICATIONS
- WHS Statutory Supervisor, Western Australia DEMIRS
- Fellow and Chartered Professional in Geotechnical Engineering of the AusIMM
- Member of the Institute of Engineers Australia
- Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland in Geotechnical (mining)
SERVICE TO INDUSTRY & AWARDS
- Presenter at the WAGCG meeting on âGCMPs and the new WHS legislationâ, Perth 2023
- Technical Reviewer for the 2023, 2020 & 2016 International Symposium on Slope Stability in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering, ACG, Perth
- AusIMM Chartered Professional Assessor for geotechnical engineering candidates, 2021 â 2018
- AusIMM Mining Society Chair, 2020
- Finalist - Women in Resources Awards, Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, 2019
PUBLICATIONS
- Hayman, L J 2020, 'Utilising data science to test similarity of rock mass unit strength distributions in the Pilbara', in PM Dight (ed.), Proceedings of the 2020 International Symposium on Slope Stability in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 625-636, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2025_38
- Hayman, L J 2014, 'Economic and productivity comparison of ground support for rockburst-prone and squeezing ground conditions', in M Hudyma & Y Potvin (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Sudbury, Canada, pp. 329-342, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1410_22_Hayman
