Appointment of General Manager at Bushveld Vametco and Group Head of Finance
Bushveld Minerals Limited (AIM: BMN), the AIM-listed, integrated primary vanadium producer which owns high-grade vanadium assets in South Africa, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bertina Symonds as General Manager of Bushveld Vametco (“Vametco”) and Hiten Ooka as Group Head of Finance.
Bertina Symonds’ appointment combines the roles of CEO and COO into General Manager for Vametco. Bertina brings over 20 years of mining and beneficiation experience, most recently as the General Manager of the Nkomati Nickel Mine owned by JSE-listed African Rainbow Minerals Ltd, a role she has filled since 2015. Bertina has a strong leadership, production and commercial background. She comes with a solid track record in general management, stakeholder engagement and operations improvement, having successfully implemented a number of productivity initiatives.
Bertina takes over duties and responsibilities from Malcolm Curror, who will continue to provide consulting services to Bushveld. Lyndon Williams is moving to a new role at Bushveld’s Head Office as Group Vanadium Specialist in support of operations integration and technical support to the Group’s product marketing initiatives.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Hiten Ooka as Group Head of Finance reporting to Geoff Sproule, Finance Director. In this newly created role, Hiten will be responsible for the Group’s financial management capacity, including but not limited to financial reporting, treasury, tax and consolidation. Hiten is a qualified chartered accountant with 10 years of financial management experience in mining including 4 years as a group financial manager at Trafigura and 3 years as a divisional finance director for Eurasian Resources Group, ERG Africa.
The above changes are a part of Bushveld’s new operating model intended to enhance coordination between Bushveld and its operating companies, as well as to deepen leadership capacity on its growth journey to reach production capacity of 10,000 mtV per annum in the next 3-5 years. This is in addition to the efforts made in the downstream energy storage industry through Bushveld Energy Limited. Further appointments will be announced in due course.
The Group’s capital allocation and dividend policy will be outlined in the CY 2018 Annual report.
Fortune Mojapelo, CEO of Bushveld Minerals Limited, commented:
“An important part of delivering on our growth aspirations is building sound leadership capacity. The addition of Bertina and Hiten to the team is excellent news indeed, as is the change in role for Lyndon.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Malcolm for his service as CEO of Bushveld Vametco Alloys.
“This is an important year for Bushveld as we implement the Transformational Programme at Vametco in order to achieve the 2019 targets which we will continue to outline in future updates. We are confident that with these appointments we will be able to drive operational excellence across the Group.”
About Bushveld Minerals Limited
Bushveld Minerals is a low cost, integrated, primary vanadium producer, with ownership of high grade vanadium assets.
The Company’s flagship vanadium platform includes a 74% controlling interest in Bushveld Vametco Alloys (Pty) Ltd a primary vanadium mining and processing company; the Mokopane Vanadium Project and the Brits Vanadium Project.
Bushveld’s vision is to become a significant, low cost, integrated primary vanadium producer through owning high grade assets. This incorporates development and promotion of the role of vanadium in the growing global energy storage market through Bushveld Energy, the Company’s energy storage project developer and component manufacturer. Whilst the demand for vanadium remains largely anchored in the steel industry, Bushveld Minerals believes there is strong potential for an imminent and significant global vanadium demand surge from the fast-growing energy storage market, particularly through the use and adoption of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
While the Company’s focus is on the vanadium operations and the development and promotion of VRFBs it has additional investments in coal, power and tin.
The coal platform comprises the wholly-owned Imaloto Coal Project, which is being developed as one of Madagascar’s leading independent power producers. The Company’s tin interests are held through its shareholding in AIM listed AfriTin Mining Limited.
The Company’s approach to project development recognises that, whilst attractive project economics are imperative, they are insufficient to secure capital to bring them to account. A clear path to production within a visible timeframe, low capital expenditure requirements and scalability are important factors in ensuring a positive return on investment. This philosophy is core to the Company’s strategy in developing projects.
Detailed information on the Company and progress to date can be accessed on the website: www.bushveldminerals.com.
