Last checked at 2 Jan 2020 07:00
Cora Gold Limited / EPIC: CORA.L / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining
2 January 2020
Cora Gold Limited ('Cora' or 'the Company')
Appointment of new CEO
Cora Gold Limited, the West African focused gold exploration company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert ('Bert') Monro as its Chief Executive Officer ('CEO') and a Board Director with immediate effect. As announced on 10 October 2019, Mr. Monro replaces Dr. Jonathan ('Jon') Forster, who has stepped down from his post as CEO and a Director of the Company to reduce his workload after a 40 year career in the minerals industry. Dr. Forster remains Head of Exploration at Cora and will continue to manage the Company's technical activities.
Mr. Monro has significant experience in both the resource sector and the City. Most notably, he spent over ten years at Hummingbird Resources plc (AIM: HUM) ('Hummingbird'), holding several roles including Operations Manager, Country Manager and Head of Business Development as the company transitioned from a private pre-resource explorer through to a listed gold miner with over 6Mozs of gold resources in West Africa. During this time, Hummingbird raised over US$100m of equity from institutional investors as well as over US$100m of debt and royalties to advance the Dugbe gold project in Liberia and build the now producing Yanfolila gold mine in Mali. Hummingbird remains the largest shareholder of Cora, currently with a shareholding of 18.0%.
Mr. Monro has been closely involved with Cora since 2017 when the Company successfully completed its IPO, first as one of two nominees of Hummingbird appointed to the Board (resigned 01 July 2019), and later as Business Development Manager, working with the Board to progress its strategy of gold exploration in Mali alongside the advancement of the Sanankoro Gold Project.
Ed Bowie, None-Executive Chairman, said, "On behalf of the Board and shareholders, I would like to thank Jon for his commitment and hard work during his tenure as CEO. With the recently announced Sanankoro Mineral Resource Estimate and the Scoping Study, which is nearing finalisation, Jon has laid the foundations for what appears to be yet another successful economic gold discovery in his exemplary career; I am delighted that he will continue to oversee the Company's technical development as Head of Exploration.
"It gives me great pleasure to welcome Bert to the role of CEO. Bert brings a huge amount of enthusiasm, an in-depth understanding of the junior gold sector and a keen focus on adding shareholder value. He has played a key role in the Company's development to date, initially as a Non-Executive Director and more recently in a business development capacity and is the ideal candidate to lead the Company through the next phase of its growth.
"Cora, with the combined skills of Bert and Jon, is well placed to continue to discover and define economic gold and add shareholder value."
The information required by Rule 17 and paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies in relation to the appointment of Mr. Robert John Ewart Monro (aged 36) is as follows:
Current directorships | Past directorships within 5 years |
6BA Limited The Pygmy Hippo Foundation Hathaway Consulting Limited | Cora Gold Limited (appointed 30 May 2017; resigned 01 July 2019) |
Mr. Robert Monro is the beneficial holder of 884,250 shares in the Company.
Save as disclosed above, there are no further disclosures required to be made in respect of the appointment of Mr. Robert Monro under Schedule 2(g) or Rule 17 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR") Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit http://www.coragold.com or contact:
Jon Forster / Bert Monro | Cora Gold Limited | +44 (0) 20 3239 0010 |
Ewan Leggat / Charlie Bouverat | SP Angel (Nomad & Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Andy Thacker / Zoe Alexander | Turner Pope Investments (Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 3657 0050 |
Isabel de Salis / Megan Dennison | St Brides Partners (Financial PR) | +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes
Cora Gold is a gold exploration company focused on two world class gold regions in Mali and Senegal in West Africa. Historical exploration has resulted in the highly prospective Sanankoro Gold Discovery, in addition to multiple, high potential, drill ready gold targets within its broader portfolio. Cora Gold's primary focus is on further developing Sanankoro in the Yanfolila Gold Belt (Southern Mali), which Cora Gold believes has the potential for a standalone mine development. Cora Gold's highly experienced and successful management team has a proven track record in making multi-million-ounce gold discoveries, which have been developed into operating mines.