Gold Fields names Mike Fraser as CEO amid Americas growth push (updated)

Osisko Mining

09/10/2023 11:14

(Adds chairman's quote paragraph 3, details and background
throughout)
       Oct 9 (Reuters) - Gold Fields  GFIJ.J  has appointed
Michael Fraser as CEO from January to drive the South African
miner's strategy to find new gold deposits outside of its home
country and grow the company in the Americas region.
    Fraser, a South African, is currently the CEO of AIM-listed
Chaarat Gold Holdings  CGH.L  and has previously served as chief
operating officer of South32's  S32.AX  aluminium, nickel,
manganese and energy coal businesses.
    “He brings a rich and unique mix of global operational and
corporate experience and his track record of collaboration in
delivering superior results...ideally places him to lead our
management team in taking our business forward,” Gold Fields
board chairman Yunus Suleman said in a statement.
    Fraser will lead the Johannesburg-based gold company's
expansion in the Americas region where it is investing in new
mines in Chile and Canada.
    Gold Fields is racing to start bullion production at its
Salares Norte project in the Atacama region of Northern Chile
later this year, after challenges related to Covid-19 and
adverse weather conditions. 
    The project is key for Gold Fields to boost output to about
2.8 million ounces by 2025 from about 2.3 million currently.  
    The miner's joint project in Canada with Osisko Mining
 OSK.TO  could start producing gold in 2026.
    Gold Fields, founded by Cecil John Rhodes in 1887, has
shifted its focus to lucrative deposits in Ghana, Australia and
the Americas given the geological challenges to digging for the
metal in some of the world's deepest mines in its home country.
    Rival AngloGold Ashanti moved its primary listing to New
York from Johannesburg earlier this year after selling down all
its assets in South Africa.
    Martin Preece will remain as Gold Fields' acting CEO until
the end of the year after his predecessor resigned over a failed
bid to acquire Canada's Yamana Gold  YRI.S , and then continue
in an executive role, the company said. 
    

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya and Felix Njini, Editing by Louise
Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))