Peter Lynch (mining engineer)

Peter Lynch (14 February 1964 – 26 January 2017) was an Australian mining engineer.

Life and career
Lynch was born in Caringbah, New South Wales, the second child of Dr Gilbert Lynch a general surgeon in the St George region of Sydney, and wife Judy. He attended local Catholic schools, then studied mining engineering at the University of New South Wales, graduating in 1988. After moving to Queensland to work on coal projects,he met his wife Laura, a geologist from Sydney. The couple had three children - Alicia, Sebastian, and George.

In 1995, he was appointed Mine Manager of Mount Isa Mines' (MIM) Oaky North Underground Mine, a poorly-performing mine, which he turned into a profitable venture within three years. MIM then appointed him general manager of Lead Zinc Development and by 2002 he was the managing director of Australian Premium Coals Pty Ltd. (APC).

Lynch left MIM to work with Gallipoli Mining (a subsidiary of JX Holdings), then was involved in the set-up of Galilee Basin coal giant Waratah Coal in 2006. He was President and CEO for several years, but, citing family reasons, left in 2010, shortly after the buyout of the company by Clive Palmer.

In 2009, Lynch set up a mining exploration company, Cokal Ltd., the company has four exploratory projects in Kalimantan, Indonesia and has signed a joint agreement with Tanzoz Resources to develop metallurgical coal exploration in Tanzania.

He also held an interest in several property developments including Evans Head AirPark, a residential air park development for people who own private planes.

By 2016, Lynch was living in between mining operations he was supervising in Indonesia, and his new home base in Perth.

Death
He died together with his new girlfriend, Endah Cakrawati, on 26 January 2017 when his private plane, a Grumman G-73 Mallard, crashed into the Swan River during Australia Day celebrations in Perth. His daughter was living with him at the time, but she did not join him for the flight. The City of Perth Skyworks fireworks display was subsequently cancelled.