11 Jun 2012 07:00
Embargoed 7am: 11 June 2012
Bellzone Mining plc
("Bellzone" or "the Company")
Appointment of Chief Executive Officer
·; Glenn Baldwin appointed as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") with effect from 3 September 2012
·; Mr Baldwin is currently CEO of Consolidated Minerals Ltd, a leading manganese and chromite producer with operations in Australia and Ghana
·; Previous senior positions held at Gold Fields Ltd, Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd, Southern Era Diamonds Inc., Lonmin Investments Canada Inc. and Anglo American Plc
·; Nik Zuks, incumbent CEO, to remain a Director and reaffirms his commitment to the Company as a major shareholder
Bellzone Mining plc (AIM: BZM), is pleased to announce the appointment of Glenn Richard Baldwin as its CEO with effect from 3 September 2012.
Mr Baldwin (aged 39) joins the board of Bellzone from Consolidated Minerals Ltd. where he has held the position of CEO since September 2010 following his appointment as Chief Operating Officer in January 2010.
While CEO of Consolidated Minerals, Mr Baldwin oversaw the operations of the flagship Woodie Woodie manganese mine in Western Australia which consists of a series of open pit operations which substantially increased production, the recommencement and subsequent ramp up in production of the Coobina Chromite open pit mine in the Pilbara region and the GMC manganese operations in Ghana. In addition, Mr Baldwin was responsible for the management of some 2000 employees at the operations, and offices in Accra, Jersey, Perth, and Shanghai. Mr Baldwin led the procurement of the company's inaugural US$405 million senior secured debt facility in 2011.
Mr Baldwin holds BEng (Hons) in Mining from the University of South Australia, a Western Australian 1st Class Mine Managers Certificate and a South African Mine Manager's Certificate of Competency. Since starting his career with the Mount Isa Mine in Australia he has built up circa 20 years of experience covering finance, international business and a range of technical mining skills.
Prior to Consolidated Minerals, Mr Baldwin held a variety of leadership and senior positions, including:
·; Gold Fields Ltd. - Executive Vice President and Head of the Australasia Region; Executive Vice President and Head of International Operations (including Australia and Ghana
·; Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd - Chief Operating Officer
·; SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. (formerly SouthernEra Resources Ltd.) - Mine General Manager of Messina Platinum Mine
·; Lonmin Investments Canada Inc. (Formerly, Southern Platinum Corp.) - Vice President of Operations
·; Anglo American Plc - Senior Mining Engineer of technical division; Project Mining Manager of Anglo Platinum; Mine Manager at Anglo Platinum's Boschfontein East Mine in South Africa
Mr Baldwin has served as a Director of Consolidated Minerals Ltd; Gold Fields La Cima SA. and a Non-Executive Director of BC Iron Ltd. On commencement of this role, he will have no external Directorships to the Bellzone group of companies.
Nik Zuks, outgoing Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am looking forward to introducing Glenn to our stakeholders over the coming months. As a significant and supportive shareholder I am pleased that we have found someone of Glenn's calibre and energy to take over the reins of Bellzone. An important factor in Glenn's appointment is his strong track record in leading multiple large scale operations. In addition, throughout our discussions it was clear that Glenn and I share the vision of building Bellzone into a significant mining house that respects the environment, our host communities and the well-being of our workforce.
The timing is right for this transition. The Company's direction is set with production underway at Forécariah, Kalia's development moving forward and a number of interesting opportunities being evaluated. Glenn's leadership, technical skills and experience in Africa and Australia will be accretive to the energy and skills of the team we have in place and I look forward to playing a supportive role with a focus on strategy and government relations."
Glenn Baldwin, incoming Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am delighted to be joining the Bellzone team. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to lead one of Africa's largest emerging iron ore companies. Bellzone has an advanced portfolio including its new Forécariah mine which has recently commenced production, combined with its 6 billion tonne flagship Kalia Iron Ore Project. I look forward to further advancing the good work done by Bellzone's team to-date growing the Company and increasing shareholder value."
Save as set out in this announcement, there are no further matters to be disclosed under paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Enquiries:
Bellzone Mining plc
Nik Zuks +61 (0) 8 9420 8900
Canaccord Genuity Limited
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker to Bellzone +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Andrew Chubb/Tarica Mpinga
Renaissance Capital Limited
Joint Broker to Bellzone +44 (0)20 7367 7777
Rob Edwards
Tavistock (UK)
Jos Simson/Mike Bartlett/Paul Youens +44 (0)20 7920 3150 / +44 (0)7899 870 450
PPR (Australia)
David Ikin
+61 (0) 8 9388 0944 / +61 (0) 408 438 772
About Bellzone Mining Plc
Bellzone Mining plc is a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange and was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM: BZM) on 1st April 2010. Bellzone Mining plc ("Bellzone" or "the Company") is an exploration and resource development company with iron ore and nickel / copper permits in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.
Kalia Mine
The Company's flagship project, the Kalia Mine Project, is planned to commence production in 2015 and be producing iron ore and iron ore concentrate at a rate of 50 million tonnes per annum. The Kalia Mine Project has 1.46 billion tonnes of contained iron in JORC resources in 6.16 billion tonnes of magnetite, 193 million tonnes of oxide and 92.5 million tonnes of supergene BIF. The oxide and Supergene BIF resources have been established from just 10.5% of the 55km2 of the mapped surface oxides on the Kalia permit while the magnetite has been established over 7km of the 19km Kalia I strike. Drilling results and
internal estimates indicate that the Kalia Mine Project has the potential to host more than 10 billion tonnes of magnetite.
Forécariah JV
Bellzone and CIF have fully funded a joint venture to undertake the accelerated exploration and development programme at CIF's Forécariah iron permits that lie between 30 and 80 kilometres from the Guinea coast. The Forécariah permits are held in a CIF subsidiary, Guinea Development Corporation ("GDC") and will be transferred to the JV operations company, Forécariah Guinea Mining SA as per the terms of the definitive and JV shareholder agreements. Commissioning production commenced in Q1 2012 and production will be at an initial rate of 3‐4 mtpa.
Other activities
Bellzone has completed a mapping and surface sampling programme identifying highly prospective targets at its Sadeka Nickel/Copper Project. A VTEM aerial survey has been completed and prospective targets have been identified and a drilling programme has commenced.