[miningmx.com] — SO FAR this year there has already been one high profile move by a South African mining executive – that of Harmony financial director Hannes Meyer – but two more could be pending.
Those are former Rand Uranium CEO John Munro, as well as Metorex CEO Terence Goodlace who will be resigning along with all the other Metorex directors next week when the takeover scheme by Jinchuan Mining becomes effective on January 16.
Canadian copper producer First Quantum announced on January 4 that Meyer had been appointed chief financial officer with effect from March 15.
This followed the announcement from Harmony on December 15 that Meyer was leaving because he had “decided to pursue other business interests”.
Meyer did not reply a request to be interviewed on his move to First Quantum where he will be based in London working with newly appointed finance GM Juliet Wall.
First Quantum’s current operations are the Kanshanshi copper/gold mine in Zambia and the Guelb Moghrein gold mine in Mauritania. It has five other projects at various stages of development, of which the most advanced are the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia and the Kevitsa nickel mine in Finland.
According to First Quantum CEO Philip Pascall, “the appointment of Hannes and Juliet comes at an important time for First Quantum. With our Kevitsa and Ravensthorpe mines entering continuous operations we now have a much broader international presence.
“I am confident that Juliet – with her extensive international experience in operations, controls and reporting – and Hannes, with his broader strategic role also encompassing capital management, will provide First Quantum with the additional management talent the company needs for this next stage of our growth.”
A spokesperson for Gold One International confirmed that former Rand Uranium CEO John Munro would no longer be involved with the operation following completion of the $250m takeover last week Friday.
However, a statement released on Monday said two former Rand Uranium executives would be joining the Gold One group.
These were Hartley Dikgale, who would become senior VP: general counsel, and Grant Stuart who had been appointed VP: investor relations.
Munro could not be reached for comment. Prior to joining Rand Uranium in 2008 Munro was the executive in charge of corporate and business development at Gold Fields.
Goodlace likewise did not return calls and he has previously ducked questions on his future at Metorex following the takeover by Jinchuan.
In September, Goodlace declined to comment on whether he wanted to stay with Metorex once Jinchuan took it over. “This is something that the management of Metorex has been very careful about,” he said.
“We decided we would not negotiate for ourselves until the shareholders had decided on whether to accept the offer. Now that they have accepted the offer we will get into negotiations with Jinchuan on the details of our future.”
What was clear was that Jinchuan wanted Goodlace and the rest of the top management team to stay, because retaining that team with its proven track record could be crucial in ensuring the future success of its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On August 16, Jinchuan vice-presiden Sanlin Zhang told Miningmx he was keen to retain the Metorex management team because of their proven abilities.
Zhang stressed that Metorex would continue to be run as a stand-alone operation with its board of directors and management, and would be “a very good platform” on which its management could develop professionally.
