Alacer Gold's Louw Smith becomes Nordgold COO
MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) - Louw Smith has been appointed chief operating officer of gold producer Nordgold, the company said in a statement.
Most recently Smith was COO at Alacer Gold, leading a successful start-up of the Copler Gold Mine in Turkey. Prior to Alacer Gold, he spent over 15 years at Gold Fields International in Australia. In his new position, Smith will report to CEO Nikolai Zelenski, the statement said.
In addition, Martin White has been appointed Nordgold's technical director, and Philip Lodewyk Engelbrecht is the new director of metallurgy. Matthew Wilcox has been appointed general director of the Lefa Mine in Guinea. Wilcox joined Nordgold in 2010, when he was responsible for the engineering design, construction, and subsequent launch of the company's Bissa Mine in Burkina Faso.
All three of the abovementioned employees will answer to Louw.
Nordgold is the former gold producing subdivision of Severstal's resource division, and it was spun off in January 2012. The company's Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Steel magnate Alexei Mordashov is Nordgold's principal beneficiary with a stake of 85.4%, and the free float is 15%.
The company operates nine active mines in four countries - Russia, Kazakhstan, Guinea, and Burkina Faso - as well as a number of projects at the development and exploration stages.
