About Greenwich Surveying

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Dale Alswang is a director of Greenwich Surveying and an endorsed Registered Underground Coal Mine Surveyor, bringing specialist technical depth and experience to the business.

Dale holds one of the profession’s most rigorous statutory qualifications have been endorsed and registered under the Surveyors Act.

This allows Greenwich Surveying to practice and sign off work in underground coal environments.

Unlike surface-based surveying disciplines, underground coal surveying demands strict adherence to control networks, error management, and regulatory standards that leave no margin for assumption.

Dale’s expertise sits at the core of Greenwich Surveying’s original service offer which is underground coal. 

It is the foundation on which the business is built and remains a key strength as the company expands its service offering across commodities and jurisdictions.

Underground specialists 

Dale began his professional career in the United Kingdom as a building surveyor before relocating to Australia and completing a degree in spatial science. 

That dual background gives him a rare perspective in understanding both the built environment and the unique constraints of underground mining.

Where surveyors operating on the surface may default to GPS, underground surveyors need to develop and maintain strong control networks and understand how small errors compound. 

As a director, Dale is closely involved in shaping how Greenwich Surveying works with clients. Typically, he approaches each contract from a hands-on point of view deferring to operational realities rather than rigid templates.

Greenwich prioritises continuity, site knowledge and relationships to develop and maintain professional standards.

Service Philosophy

Greenwich surveyors understand the fundamentals, the importance of field experience and appreciate the responsibility that comes with underground work.

Dale’s focus is on building Greenwich Surveying into a stronger, more resilient business, one that continues to grow capability while maintaining the close client relationships that defined its early success.

That includes building systems and processes that supports their clients, the industry and their team.

As General Manager and practice leader, John Macpherson supports the technical and cultural direction of Greenwich Surveying. 

It is a simple philosophy John says. 

“When our clients succeed, we succeed. We’re there to help the operation be successful. We are a service provider and most importantly and enabler for successful projects.”

John has stacked up 20 years mining experience after starting his career the more traditional way. He grew up in Lithgow in New South Wales and went straight into underground coal as a cadet mine surveyor while studying at the same time. 

John graduated from the University of Southern Qld in 2010 with a Bachelor of Spatial Science Technology), achieving the highest academic standard for his cohort.

By 23, he had earned his statutory ticket, making him one of the youngest in the field to do so.

That early operational exposure shaped a practical mindset that still defines his approach to client service. 

“I grew up in a coal town and went straight into a cadetship,” John says. “So it’s been mining and surveying since I left school, working and studying at the same time. That gives you a pretty grounded view of how mines actually operate.”

John has since worked across underground and open cut coal and metalliferous mines around Australia, where he earned mining engineering and ventilation credentials. He understands the pressures on production, the reality of schedules and the cost of downtime. 

This operational grounding means Greenwich integrates into the mine plan and scheduling, contributing to decisions that directly affect productivity and safety.

“You don’t go to a mine because they want surveying,” John says. “They want to get coal or gold out of the ground and make a profit. That’s the end goal. Our job is to fit into their process and help them do that better.”

“Clients rarely have ‘survey problems’ in isolation. They have production, compliance or planning challenges that require accurate, reliable data. 

“They don’t want to go to ten providers to solve five problems. They want someone who understands their operation and can find a solution.”

He is also a strong advocate to have clients expect more from surveyors. 

“One stereotype is that surveyors just go out and measure things. But when you integrate into the mine plan and schedule, you reduce downtime and improve profitability. That’s real value.”

“Greenwich Surveying is a growing, mining-focused firm built on responsiveness and technical credibility and building genuine partnerships with clients. 

“We match the right expert to the right problem, prioritise face-to-face engagement and focus on delivering value that outweighs our cost — particularly for lean operations, startups and restarts.”

“If you want a survey partner who understands your end goal is safe, efficient production, not just measurements, then Greenwich Surveying is ready to work alongside you.”.

Glyn Richards brings more than three decades of underground mining and surveying experience to his role as Director at Greenwich Surveying, combining rigorous statutory credentials with a practical, operations-first mindset.

A blend of statutory authority, technical rigour and operational judgement underpins Glyn’s approach and Greenwich Surveying’s reputation. 

He’s part of a professional leadership group at Greenwich Surveying who understand not just where things are but how a mine actually works, shift by shift.

Glyn is a Registered Mine Surveyor endorsed by the Surveyors Board of Queensland and is authorised to sign off annual mine plans. It is one of the highest professional responsibilities in the surveying profession. 

This qualification requires technical excellence and demonstrated competence in leadership, risk management, budgeting and time-critical decision-making within live mining environments. 

Greenwich Surveying has a depth of capability that places the firm in a strong position to support complex and compliance-critical operations.

On site, Glyn currently acts as the Registered Mine Surveyor at Ironbark Mine, where Greenwich Surveying has been embedded since the project’s inception. 

The role places surveying at the centre of daily mine operations and pushes stereotypes that limit surveying to ‘set-out and measurement.’ Surveying is a statutory position on underground mines and their input into operations is made daily.

Where planning meets reality

Glyn’s career began in the United Kingdom in 1995 through a formal mining apprenticeship system, where he was mentored by senior surveyors trained in pre-digital methods. 

That grounding instilled a strong discipline around accuracy, error management, and proof of work. These are principles he believes are more important than ever as technology becomes faster and more accessible.

After relocating to Australia in 2010, Glyn worked across a range of major underground coal operations including Newlands, Grosvenor and multiple other Bowen Basin sites. 

His experience spans greenfield and brownfield environments, with Ironbark standing out as a rare ‘blank canvas’ project where Greenwich Surveying established the mine survey control baseline using static GNSS networks, from which all future underground workings will be connected.

They’ve continued with the operation from development through to on-going production.

Ironbark is owned by Fitzroy Resources and located more than 30km northeast of Moranbah in Queensland’s northern Bowen Basin. 

A Masters Degree in experience

Glyn says the contribution of mine surveying is often misunderstood. 

Their input is fundamental to mining operations and the skills working underground are tested against an environment where there’s very little reference, tight confines, constant movement and no margin for error. 

There’s constant reference to establishing and maintaining control networks and the ability to deliver precise data in live production conditions all the while supporting the clients’ goals of continuous production, on-time and on-budget.

That environment demands close coordination with engineers, planners, and production crews. Greenwich builds relationships and communication to underlie safety and precision. 

While surveying is built on science, Glyn believes experience adds an essential human layer in terms of respecting everyone’s contribution to the process, knowing where to work to minimise disruption and integrating with the run of mine to help maintain production flow.