Phillip Cocohineas first attended the University of New South Wales in 1995. Intent on a future career in business, he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting by 1998. To establish a more well-rounded educational foundation from which to build upon, Phillip remained at the University of New South Wales for the next two years and earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2000.
Over the next period, Cochineas gained experience while acting as marketing director for an Australian eCommerce company. However, by 2001 he was ready to undertake a new challenge in London, England. While in the United Kingdom, Phillip served as Head of Strategy & Business Development for Screwfix, Britain’s number one trade catalogue. During this period, Cochineas also studied at London Business School.
Despite juggling both his career and his education at one point, Phillip was able to graduate after two years at London Business School with a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Towards the end of his MBA program, Phillip began working as marketing director for Bathstore, the UK’s leading bathroom retailer.
By 2007, Phillip was ready to expand his business activities to his home nation of Australia. That year, he became the director of Palloys. Five years later, Palloys and ABC Refinery merged to create Pallion, the largest precious metals services group in all of Australasia. At this point, Cochineas became the director Pallion. A wide-ranging and versatile company, Pallion is involved in bullion, refining, casting, jewellery, and many others. As the director of Pallion, Cochineas oversaw a range of exciting developments, including a contract to manufacture the prestigious Lexus Melbourne Cup and the development of new acidless separation technology.
In 2012, Pallion acquired ABC Refinery, adding the Australian company to their expanding list of wholly-owned subsidiaries. From this point onwards, Cochineas began acting as the Managing Director for ABC Refinery. Over the next few years, he pushed this company towards new levels of success, helping the company receive new levels of accreditation across the globe. Today, ABC Refinery is Australia’s only independent LBMA-accredited gold refinery, and it refines more than 20% of the nation’s mined gold.
Due to his rising influence within Australia’s gold industry, Phillip Cochineas eventually became the director of the Gold Industry Group. After gaining this position, Cochineas became an influential figure in the push to create a unified voice for Australia’s gold industry. Since 2015, Phillip has worked to strengthen this industry, protecting the interests of not only major companies, but also prospectors, explorers, and service providers of all sizes across Australia. The Gold Industry Group is a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors.
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Cochineas remained optimistic about the future of Pallion, ABC Refinery, and Australia’s gold industry as a whole. He underlined the increasing value and demand for gold assets during periods of uncertainty, and he believes that the long-term stability of gold will ensure the importance of Australian gold refineries and suppliers in the international supply chain into the future.