Our People

Ph.D., Prof.

Pekka joined XMS Finland as a Director and Senior Advisor when the company was founded in 2020. He has over 30 years experience in the mineral sector, R&D, economic geology, mineral exploration, sustainable mining and Earth resources in general. Before starting his own consulting business, Pekka served in different management and chief scientist positions (including Director of Mineral Economics, Science and Innovation Director, Research Professor and Vice of the Director General) related to minerals sector activities at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) for more than twenty years. He served also as an Adjunct Professor in Economic Geology at the University of Helsinki.

Pekka has been involved in building national and European mineral’s sector strategies, innovation programs and major projects, and has had a key role in promoting Finland’s mineral opportunities for the global mining industry over the last 25 years. His publication list comprises approximately 90 contributions in scientific journals and books, mainly related to economic geology, mineral exploration, sustainable mining, and Earth resources in general. Currently, Pekka is the Chairperson of Finland’s Natural Resources Research Foundation.

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Doctoral researcher, MSc

Johanna joined XMS Finland in 2021 as a Battery Mineral Analyst and has since taken over a new role as a Senior Scientist. She is a hands-on geochemist with over 8 years of experience in laboratory analysis of geomaterials both in the private and the public sector. She works closely together with customers to ensure that analytical results and outputs are fit for purpose and meet the customers’ needs. 

Before joining XMS Finland, Johanna has been working in quality control of asphalt, bitumen, and other road materials. She has experience in Ni-Cu-PGE exploration, sampling, sample preparation and geochemical analysis with emphasis on stable isotope analysis of ore forming minerals.

During her MSc studies, she specialized in petrology and economical geology with a focus on geochemistry, isotope geology and analytical methods, especially ICP-MS. Her MSc thesis on geochronology and stable isotope systematics in Eastern Finland was awarded the best MSc thesis in Geology of the year 2018. Her particular interest in research and method development comes alive in her ongoing PhD project, which aims to develop new unconventional transition metal isotope methods to the market to study and better understand the processes that lead to cobalt enrichment in orogenic gold deposits

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PhD Earth Science, MSc (Distinction) Geological Sciences and Technologies, BSc (Hons) in Geological Sciences.

Lorenza joined the company in 2014 as a Senior Geologist and has over 10 years’ experience in x-ray diffraction of geological samples with a particular interest in clay mineralogy. Lorenza is responsible for technical development of XRD methods and interpretation of XRD data. She specialises in quantitative mineralogical analysis using the Rietveld method with BGMN Autoquan , Siroquant, Profex, and HighScore+ software and the use of XRF analysis to calculate the mineralogy.

Lorenza has extensive experience with different rock types and geo-materials. Key projects include: battery minerals identification and quantification, mineralogical analysis of hydrocarbon reservoir rocks worldwide (conventional and unconventional) and participation in the 2016, 2018 and 2020 Reynolds Cup competitions. She is also responsible for the calibration of in-house methods with the analysis of nearly 250 standard minerals.

In 2017 she achieved her PhD in Earth Science with a thesis entitled “Integration of innovative mineral quantification techniques for improved analysis of hydrocarbon reservoir rocks”. Previously, Lorenza was a laboratory researcher for the mineralogical analysis of clay and rock by XRD at the Geotechnologies Center of the University of Siena and was responsible for the geological interpretation of XRD patterns and the installation and routine operation of the PANalytical X’Pert Diffractometer with a high temperature chamber.

Lorenza has taken part in several courses and schools in the field of XRD, geochemistry and geology. She is a member of The Clay Minerals Society, The Mineralogical Society, North Wales Geology Association and a Fellow of The Geological Society.

PhD Igneous Petrology, BSc (First Class Hons) in Geology.

Alan has been a geologist for nearly 45 years, having worked in South Africa, UK, Australia, The Netherlands, and Finland. He is both a generalist and a specialist, which has allowed him to follow exciting new trends in Earth Science throughout his career.

Alan is best known for his innovation in the field of mapping, imaging and analysis of rocks, especially those of commercial, strategic or scientific importance. He uses a multi-scale (planets to protons), multi-modal (visible light, x-ray, e-beam, & laser beam sources), and multi-dimensional (2D to 4D) workflow approach. This allows for the bridging of the different scales of observation found in nature, and for the mineralogy, texture and geochemistry of any geomaterial to be fully characterised.

He is particularly experienced in the Geometallurgy of Critical Minerals, specifically battery minerals, the Circular Economy, and many aspects to do with the Green Energy Transition, which he gained whilst recently a Professor of Geomaterials & Applied Mineralogy at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).

Alan is also a Visiting Professor of Geoinspired Utilisation of Planetary Materials at The Open University (UK), where he is researching the possibilities of bringing Space technologies down to Earth, for Zero Waste applications.

PhD, MSc (Distinction), MEarthSci (Hons)

Jesal joined the company in 2018 responsible for the interpretation of XRD data. She is proficient in the characterisation of various materials and rock types including battery mineral identification and quantification, black mass characterisation, clastic and carbonate hydrocarbon reservoir rocks, building aggregates and heavy clays for bricks and tiles manufacturing. She has an in-depth understanding of clay minerals and interpreting their diffraction patterns following glycolation and heat treatments.

In 2014, she completed her PhD in carbonate sedimentology and diagenesis integrating XRD analyses in the understanding of diagenetic processes, with particular application to the oil and gas industry. She has published her research at both national and international conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.

In 2009, Jesal obtained her undergraduate degree in Earth Sciences at the University of Manchester providing a strong foundation in Geology and also successfully completed her Masters Degree in Petroleum Geoscience in 2010.

Jesal is a Fellow of the Geological Society, a committee member of the Extractive Industries Geology and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists