Dean Dalla Valle

Dean Dalla Valle
Born	Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation(s)	Mining executive, business leader
Years active	1977–present
Known for	Leadership roles at BHP, CEO of Pacific National, Chair of Hysata, Director at Rio Tinto

Dean Dalla Valle hails from Wollongong, New South Wales. His mining journey commenced at BHP when he started as a 17-year-old electrical apprentice working in underground coal mining within New South Wales. After dedicating two decades to the coal sector, he transitioned to Western Australia's Pilbara region, taking on the role of Vice President - Port for West Australian Iron Ore (WAIO). Throughout his tenure at BHP, he held several key positions including president of the Cannington silver mine in Queensland, leadership roles at Olympic Dam in South Australia, heading the Uranium division in Adelaide, and managing the global Coal Division from Brisbane. His final appointment was as Chief Commercial Officer, where he was responsible for overseeing the Jansen potash project in Canada and coordinating the response to the Samarco disaster in Brazil. After a 40-year career with BHP ending in 2017, the production shaft at Jansen was named to honor his contributions.

Following his departure from BHP, Dalla Valle took on the role of CEO at Pacific National, a privately owned Australian rail freight company, serving from July 2017 until June 2021. He also chaired the Wollongong 2022 Board, which organized the UCI Cycling Event held in September 2022.

In February 2023, he was named the inaugural Chair of Hysata, an Australian company specializing in electrolyser technology. Hysata is developing a highly efficient system (95%, 41.5 kWh/kg) designed to enable cost-effective green hydrogen production.

By June 2023, Dalla Valle joined Rio Tinto’s Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director, applying his broad expertise in mining and renewable energy sectors.