POUROULIS

CEO

Tharisa Minerals

www.tharisa.com

AFTER years of talking and – dare one say – stalling, Phoevos Pouroulis last year finally pushed the button on the Karo Platinum Project in Zimbabwe. Tharisa first bought a controlling interest in Karo Mining Holdings, which controls Karo, by exercising a farm-in option for $27m in Tharisa shares. Tharisa now owns 70% of Karo Mining Holdings, which, in turn, owns 85% of the Karo mine. The other 15% stake in the mine is owned by the Zimbabwe government on a free-funded carry basis. Construction started on July 1 last year and the design and construction schedule is forecast at 24 months, with the first ore in the mill (FOIM) planned for July 2024. The cost of the project has been increased to $391m FOIM from $250m previously. In December Tharisa raised $31.8m (the stretch target was to raise $50m) through a private bond issue for Karo, with the bonds to be listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange. The mine specifications have also been changed, with production now targeting 194,000 ounces of platinum group metals (PGMs) annually instead of 150,000oz/year previously, while the life of mine (LOM) of the open-pit operation was reduced by three years to 17 years. Pouroulis is gung ho over the project, declaring that Karo will “consolidate Tharisa as one of the world’s most forward-thinking and low-cost producers of PGMs in Africa”. Let’s hope he’s right because the major beneficiary of this project after the Tharisa shareholders would be Zimbabwe, where the government has been looking for a further economic boost from PGMs for more than a decade. The project also takes Tharisa’s total PGM output to a little short of 400,000oz/year, which gives it a meaningful presence in the industry. Elsewhere in the business, Pouroulis is hoping the Vulcan concentrator can bring about a much-needed rand cost reduction for its chrome output.

Life Of Phoevos

He’s the youngest son of Loucas Pouroulis – one of South Africa’s best known mining entrepreneurs – who had tried his own hand at the platinum game back in the late 1980s, developing the ill-fated Lefkochrysos

Platinum mine near Brits. Phoevos Pouroulis holds a bachelor’s degree in science and business administration from Boston University and has been involved in the South African mining sector since 2003. He served as commercial director for Chromex Mining and was a founding member of coal producer Keaton Energy. He sits on the council of the International Chrome Development Association. Tharisa is headquartered in Cyprus, which is where the Pouroulis family originally came from.

INTERIM CEO

Gold Fields

www.goldfields.com

SOME are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them — so the saying goes. Executive vice-president (EVP) for Gold Fields South African operations Martin Preece has just had greatness thrust upon him with his appointment to the top slot as interim CEO from January 1. This followed the unexpected decision, announced in December by then Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith, that he was stepping down. His stated reason was that he was taking responsibility for the failure of the bid to take over Yamana Gold and wanted Gold Fields to “move forward under new leadership unencumbered by the Yamana transaction”. Anyone who believes that dollop of corporate public relations garbage probably also still believes in the tooth fairy. Frankly, it makes no sense. Failed bids happen all the time and a competent CEO — which Griffith certainly is — would implement another strategy while looking for the next takeover candidate. Gold Fields chairperson Yunus Suleman denies point blank that a bust-up between Griffith and the board caused his departure. The reason that we’re harping on this is because whatever the real reason for his departure, it could have a bearing on how long Preece will last in his new role — assuming he wants it in the first place. Suleman says a search is now underway to find a replacement for Griffith. The suggestion is being made that Gold Fields itself may be up for grabs — a suggestion denied by Sulemen, who says Gold Fields is performing well and intends to follow through on its growth strategy as identified by Griffith. Meantime, some short-term issues approach: one is commissioning the $920m Salares Norte project in Chile and keeping the improvement at South Deep on track — an asset Preece ran successfully until his surprise promotion.

Life Of Martin

Preece is vastly experienced, with 30 years in the mining business, starting as a learner miner and working his way up through the operational ranks to become mine manager on various mines. He holds a BTech in mining from the Witwatersrand Technicon and has completed the executive development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa, as well as the Accelerated Development Programme at the London Business School. He joined Gold Fields in 2017 from De Beers, where he was COO for South Africa. In his position as EVP at Gold Fields he has overseen the recent dramatic recovery back to profitability at the much-troubled South Deep mine.