Brent Usher Ph.D., RPGeo.

Brent joined KCB’s Brisbane office in 2009 from South Africa, and has developed a strong professional reputation with international mining clients. He’s a prolific author and contributor to more than 60 technical papers and several chapters of published books, and is a sought-after member of international technical panels on mine waste geochemistry, aqueous geochemistry and hydrogeology.

Known for his leadership skills, Brent helped develop the South African national practice guidelines for the prediction of mine water quality and has taught short courses on acid mine drainage and mine water management on three continents.

Brent became an Associate in 2011 and was promoted to Principal in 2020. He currently manages the Geoscience Group in the Brisbane office.

His experience includes projects across Australia and internationally, related primarily to the assessment, prediction and management of acid rock drainage, metal leaching and salinity at mine sites throughout their lifecycle. He is a technical reviewer of geochemical site characterization programs, and geochemical models of mine water quality and water balance models, for baseline and predictive impact assessments.

Education

Brent has a B.Sc. in geology/chemistry, a B.Sc. (Honours) in chemistry, an M.Sc. in geohydrology (cum laude) and a Ph.D. in hydrogeochemistry from the University of the Free State in South Africa. He is a member of the International Mine Water Association, the National Ground Water Association and a registered geoscientist in both geochemistry and hydrogeology with the Australian Institute for Geoscientists.

Fun Fact

I spent my wedding night in a cave. It was a wedding gift from my sister-in-law and it required 4 x 4 driving up a mountain track to a beautifully refurbished mountainside sandstone cave. We’re still married twenty-something years later.