Chris Wallin is an Australian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and businessman. He is the Managing Director of QCoal Group and Chairman of the QCoal Foundation.

Early life

Chris Wallin grew up in

Moorooka Moorooka is a southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Moorooka had a population of 10,368 people. Geography Moorooka is by road south of Brisbane's central business district. ...

, a suburb of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. His father was born in Eidsvold, Queensland and fought in World War II. He attended

Brisbane State High School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , city = South Brisbane , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Public, selective, co-educational, secondary, ...

and was interested in rocks, minerals and soils from a young age. He was awarded a scholarship to attended the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.

Career

After graduation from university, he worked as a geologist for the

Department of Mines and Energy The Department of Energy and Water Supply (DEWS) was a department of the Queensland Government which is responsible for the state's energy and water industries. The department's head office was at 1 William Street, Brisbane. History The Depart ...

of the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

. Wallin discovered coal deposits throughout Queensland. In 1989 he founded QCoal for the purpose of developing these deposits into operating mines. QCoal mines coal from a number of mines in the

Bowen Basin The Bowen Basin contains the largest coal reserves in Australia. This major coal-producing region contains one of the world's largest deposits of bituminous coal. The Basin contains much of the known Permian coal resources in Queensland includ ...

, including the Sonoma mine, Drake mine and Byerwen mine.

Personal life

He lives in

The Gap The Gap may refer to: Places Australia * The Gap, New South Wales, a locality near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales * The Gap, Northern Territory, a suburb of Alice Springs, Northern Territory * The Gap, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ...

, a suburb of Brisbane. In 2013 he partnered with the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

to deliver a mobile dental service to provide free dental health care to communities across central and northern Queensland.

Net worth

In January 2019 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' estimated Wallin's

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

as 910 million; while he was listed with a net worth of 1.45

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

on the 2021 ''Financial Review'' Rich List.

References

Living people Scientists from Brisbane People educated at Brisbane State High School University of Queensland alumni Businesspeople from Brisbane Year of birth missing (living people) Australian billionaires Australian geologists {{australia-business-bio-stub