| Mon 24 May 2010, 7:05 | | CZA - Coal of Africa Limited - Coal makes key board and management appointments |
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CZA
CZA
CZA - Coal of Africa Limited - Coal makes key board and management appointments
in line with rapid growth
Coal of Africa Limited
(previously, "GVM Metals Limited")
(Incorporated and registered in Australia)
(Registration number ABN 008 905 388)
JSE Share code: CZA
ASX Share code: CZA
ISIN AU000000CZA6
("CoAL" or the "Company")
COAL MAKES KEY BOARD AND MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS IN LINE WITH RAPID GROWTH
HIGHLIGHTS
- Appointment of John Wallington as Chief Executive Officer/ Executive
Director, effective 15 June 2010
- Incumbent Managing Director to move to Executive Deputy Chairman role
- Several key management positions filled to strengthen operations team
Coal is pleased to announce that it has secured several key appointments in line
with the recent rapid growth of the Company and to support its strategy and
expanding production profile.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Effective 15 June 2010, CoAL is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr John
Wallington as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Executive Director to the
Company.
Mr Wallington brings 30 years experience in the coal exploration and mining
industry, including having held the position of CEO for the Anglo Coal Division
("Anglo Coal") of Anglo American plc, one of the world`s largest mining and
natural resource groups, between 2005 and 2008.
As CEO of Anglo Coal, Mr Wallington was responsible for the management of the
Coal Division, which had a turnover of over US$3.5 billion per annum and
employed over 10,000 people, including contractors. He joined Anglo American in
1981 and was CEO of the South African Region prior to his appointment as CEO of
Anglo Coal globally.
Since leaving Anglo Coal in 2008, Mr Wallington has acted as a Non-Executive
Director and/or acting Managing Director of two smaller ASX/JSE listed
exploration and development companies. Mr Wallington will resign from his
remaining directorship in due course.
He holds a BSc in Mining Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand in
Johannesburg, South Africa and has participated in executive programmes with
both the London Business School and Harvard Business School.
The key terms of Mr Wallington`s appointment with CoAL appear in the Schedule
below.
Disclosure of Directorships under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules
There is no other information that is required to be disclosed with regards to
Mr Wallington`s appointment pursuant to Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM
Rules, save as set out below:
Full Name: Mr John Nicholas Wallington
Age: 52 years
Current Directorships Past Directorships within last 5 years
Firestone Energy Limited Anglo American plc
Keaton Energy Holdings Limited
The Board welcomes Mr Wallington and looks forward to his contribution.
CoAL further advises that, upon Mr Wallington`s appointment becoming effective,
the Company`s incumbent Managing Director, Mr Simon Farrell, will move into the
role of Executive Deputy Chairman.
Mr Farrell today commented: "We are very pleased John has joined us at such a
crucial time in the Company`s development. The Nucoal acquisition is now bedded
down and performing to expectations and, after a challenging period at
Mooiplaats getting through the lean coal section, we are now fully into
bituminous thermal coal and progressing as planned up the production curve.
Development at our Vele Project is progressing well and production is planned to
commence next quarter. At Makhado, we expect to lodge the New Order Mining Right
("NOMR") application during the next quarter and to commence development in the
first half of 2011, assuming receipt of the NOMR and the South African
Department of Mineral Resources approval for the Rio Tinto Farm Swap. Quite
simply, we need someone of John`s experience and skill set to oversee CoAL`s
next chapter as a multi asset coking and thermal coal producer. What is also
pleasing is that John and our Chief Operating Officer, Riaan van der Merwe,
worked together at Anglo Coal for many years. For myself, I am very excited
about the development as I will now be able to focus on continuing the job of
building CoAL into a world class, international coal company."
Mr Wallington`s Appendix 3X "Director`s Initial Interest Notice" will be
provided upon his appointment becoming effective.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS
The Company further advises that its senior management team has been
strengthened with several new appointments. In early 2010, Mr Willie Hattingh
was appointed to the position of General Manager - Commercial. In this newly
created role, Mr Hattingh is responsible for sales and logistics. He joined CoAL
from Xstrata plc, where he held the positions of Marketing Manager Atlantic
Thermal Coal and Export Marketing Manager. In addition, Mr Hattingh was an
Alternative Director on the Board of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal Company
Limited.
Further, the Company has secured the services of Mr Eugene O`Brien as Executive
- Project Development. In this role, Mr O`Brien will take responsibility for the
progress and delivery of the Company`s Makhado Project. He is an engineer with a
strong project management background, having worked as Project Manager - Africa
Region, AngloGold Ashanti Limited (2000-2001) before serving as Project Director
for various Anglo Platinum Limited projects (2001-2004). During this time, he
was responsible for projects with a combined value of ZAR7 billion, which he
managed from conception through to implementation and into the production phase.
Most recently, he was employed as a Project Director with Barrick Gold
Corporation. Mr O`Brien joined CoAL on 1 April 2010.
Mr Mark Coetzee has also joined CoAL`s operations team as the Vele Colliery
General Manager. He is also a qualified engineer and has recently completed a
stint in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC") for Jindal DRC/Jindal
Minerals & Metals Congo/Kasai Sud Diamant. In the position of Chairman and
Business Head, Mark reported to the Mineral Resources Executive at a corporate
level and was involved in the estimation, assessment, evaluation and economic
extraction of mineral reserves. He was responsible for overall conduct of JDRC
and JMMA`s affairs, including strategising all exploration and exploitation of
various resources, such as diamonds, gold, coal, copper, cobalt, tin, power
generation and uranium, as well as pursuing merger and acquisition opportunities
to further growth in the DRC and other African countries. Mr Coetzee joined CoAL
on 15 April 2010.
Lastly, on 1 April 2010, Mr Graham Gemmel was appointed to the role of Geologist
- Mooiplaats. Mr Gemmel has over 20 years experience and has joined CoAL from
Homeland Mining & Energy SA (Pty) Limited, where he held the position of Chief
Geologist.
SCHEDULE
The key terms of Mr Wallington`s appointment are:
- 3 year term, commencing on 15 June 2010 and expiring on 14 June 2013, based
in South Africa;
- Annual gross base remuneration of GBP400,000, inclusive of superannuation;
- At the completion of each 12 month period of service, up to a maximum of
75% of annual remuneration as a performance based bonus, at the discretion
of the Board and subject to agreed key performance indicators;
- Subject to shareholder approval, the following issues of the Company`s
shares, the final allocation of which will be calculated according to the
conditions set out below:
- up to 250,000 shares following 12 months service;
- up to 500,000 shares following 24 months service;
- up to 500,000 shares following 36 months service.
The allocation of the above mentioned shares is subject to the following capital
performance conditions:
- JPMorgan will be requested to provide a list of 6 peer group companies
at the start of each 12 month service period;
- The average share price growth over the ensuing 12 months for these
peers will be calculated and used as the base measure to determine the
CEO`s share allocation;
- The % allocation of CoAL shares to the CEO will be calculated using
the CoAL share price weighted average for the month preceding the end
of the 12 month period:
Capital Growth (Share Price) as compared to Share allocation
average of 6 peer group companies
0-5% higher than average 20%
5-10% higher 40%
10-15% higher 60%
15-20% higher 80%
20-25% higher 90%
25% or more 100%
- The appointment may be terminated by either party on 3 months written
notice, or earlier in certain circumstances usual to appointments of
this nature.
AUTHORISED BY:
Simon Farrell
Managing Director
24 May 2010
JSE Sponsor
Macquarie First South Advisers
Contacts
CoAL
Simon Farrell
Blair Sergeant
Tel: +61 (0) 417 985 383
Tel: +27 (0) 11 785 4518
Azure Capital
Geoff Ward
Ryan Rockwood
Tel: +61 (0) 8 6263 0888
Evolution Securities
Simon Edwards
Chris Sim
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7071 4300
Conduit PR
Jos Simson
Leesa Peters
Macquarie First South Advisers
Melanie de Nysschen
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7429 6603
Tel: +27 (0) 11 583 2000
Date: 24/05/2010 07:05:02 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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