Led by founder and major shareholder Chris Ellison, MinRes now has a market capitalisation of more than A$11 billion - more than double what it was at the start of the 2021 financial year.

The strong performance saw MinRes added to the S&P/ASX 100 in December.

The stock hit an all-time high yesterday of more than $61.

Ellison is known for being forthright and is deeply involved with every aspect of MinRes' increasingly expansive business interests.

Ellison tends to shun publicity and declined to be interviewed for this profile. However, the soaring value and influence of Ellison's MinRes makes him a force to be reckoned with.

While MinRes sees itself as a contractor first and miner second, the two commodities it produces, iron ore and lithium, have soared this year.

MinRes' December half underlying net profit after tax jumped 233% to $430 million and the company tripled its dividend to $1 per share.

Instead of taking cash, Ellison participated in the company's dividend reinvestment plan.

The New Zealand-born entrepreneur, who left school at 15, is now a billionaire thanks to his 11% stake in MinRes.

Never one to stand still, Ellison is known for being a savvy dealmaker, and MinRes continued its M&A streak during the year.

The company acquired the Wonmunna iron ore deposit in the Pilbara and achieved first production within just five months.

That acquisition of part of the company's broader aspiration to be producing 92 million tonnes per annum of iron ore within 3-5 years.

Outside iron ore and lithium, MinRes started buying shares in Venturex Resources the day it was announced Bill Beament was joining the company in February, before acquiring Northern Star Resources' 17.5% stake in Venturex days later.

MinRes acquired the stake for $27.3 million and while its interest has diluted to 13.8% following Venturex's recapitalisation, its stake is now worth $59.2 million.

But perhaps more important than any of the financial success is MinRes' leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has won the praise of the company's peers and the government.

"It was something that was probably one of the single most important things this business has ever done in its history," Ellison said last year of the company's response.

The company acted early, securing PCR testing machines from Thermo Fisher in the US and establishing three drive-thru testing facilities in Perth and seven in regional centres.

The company also employed 40 nurses.

Ellison described MinRes' capability as the largest and most sophisticated PCR COVID-19 screening program in Australia.

The program was expanded to the broader resources sector with roughly 60 mining and oil and gas companies using the facilities for their fly-in, fly-out workforces.

When Perth went into lockdown in early February, MinRes opened its drive-thru testing facilities in Wangara and at Perth Airport to the public to assist with increased demand.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Ellison offered to assist the federal government with the vaccine rollout back in April given the efficiency of the company's testing program.

COVID-19 and associated border closures has resulted in a skills shortage in WA, but MinRes has been incentivising workers to move from other states and is looking at improvement site facilities to attract workers.

The company has also put an increased focus on culture.

In November, Ellison said the company started working on its culture about in recent years, employing a full-time culture coach to work inside the business.

"It's not lip service I'm paying," he said. "We have to change. We have to be a different organisation."

The aim is to keep people at MinRes for their entire working careers.

"Every Friday night I get a list of everyone who's put their notice in," Ellison said.

"I go through it, every single person and find out why they're leaving because I give a shit."

The company's new 15,000sq.m "Google-style" headquarters in Osborne Park, 8km northwest of the Perth CBD, is being built around culture.

MinRes has what it believes is one of the most generous maternity leave programs in the sector as part of its aim to retain more women.

Mental health is also an area where the company has increased its focus and it has employed a company psychologist, Chris Harris, an initiative that is aiming to also prevent domestic violence and bullying.

During FY20, MinRes boosted its community contributions by 37%, supporting over 40 organisations across health, education and employment.

In FY21 it has announced a three-year partnership with Lifeline and a new four-year partnership with Perth Children's Hospital Foundation

"We can actually demonstrate we care through our actions," Ellison said last year.

Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison is a nominee for CEO of the Year in the 2021 MNN Awards.