Darren Nelson has spent the last 28 years operating and managing lead and zinc smelters. Starting his Chemical Engineering career in 1995 with Pasminco, at the Cockle Creek smelter, Darren operated the Imperial Smelting Furnace before moving on to metal refining and casting. In addition to Cockle Creek, Darren also worked at the Budel Zink and Port Pirie smelters also owned by Pasminco (now Nyrstar).
In 2007 Darren moved to the secondary lead world, managing the smelters of Australian Refined Alloys, then was appointed General Manager, in 2012, of the Enirgi Power Storage Recycling business, operating the Engitec desulphurisation system.
In 2022 Darren built and commissioned the Nexus Recycling business in Perth, Australia, utilizing the Wirtz battery breaker. Darren also operates his own engineering consulting business, Anglesite Management, specialising in lead smelting and all aspects of battery recycling.