Endeavour Mining Corporation has announced the appointment of Vincent Benoit to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development effective November 1, 2016.
Mr. Benoit was formerly Executive Vice President Strategy and Business Development.
In his enhanced role, Mr. Benoit will oversee finance, strategy, corporate development and investor relations.
Ota Hally, current Chief Financial Officer, will remain with Endeavour until December 31, 2016 to support Mr. Benoit and help facilitate a seamless transition in his expanded role.
Douglas Bowlby, Executive Vice President Corporate Development, and Richard Thomas, Executive Vice President Technical Services, have also stepped down from their roles and will not be replaced.
Endeavour’s leadership team will now be comprised of six executives compared to ten at the beginning of the year.
As part of its optimisation efforts, the company is also announcing the relocation of its corporate functions from its Vancouver, Paris, and Monaco offices to a new Corporate Office in London.
This follows the recently completed relocation of the company’s Operations Office from Accra (Ghana) to Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), where Attie Roux (COO), Jeremy Langford (EVP, Projects), Patrick Bouisset (EVP, Exploration and Growth) and their teams are now based, allowing for more collaboration and proximity to our core West African operations.
Sébastien de Montessus, President and CEO, stated: “These executive and organisational changes are consistent with our efforts to rationalise and streamline Endeavour’s organisational structure and reinforce the focus of the company on our operations and the highly prospective exploration package we hold in West Africa. Our leadership team is now leaner and more cost efficient, with the right expertise and track-record necessary to develop Endeavour into a premier African gold producer. I am pleased to have an accomplished executive such as Vincent Benoit move into his new role, and I am confident that his financial acumen and experience in large companies will be instrumental in increasing our efficiency across the business. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Doug, Ota and Richard for their exceptional dedication and contribution to Endeavour over the past years, and wish them all the best for the future.”
The executive team reporting to Sébastien de Montessus (CEO & President) will now be comprised of Attie Roux (Chief Operating Officer), Jeremy Langford (EVP, Projects), Patrick Bouisset (EVP, Exploration and Growth), Morgan Caroll (EVP, Corporate Finance & General Counsel) and Vincent Benoit (EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development).
About Vincent Benoit
Mr. Benoit is a seasoned executive, with more than 25 years of corporate finance, investor relations and M&A experience in the mining, energy and telecom sectors.
He joined Endeavour as Executive Vice President Strategy and Business Development in November 2015 following the transaction with La Mancha.
While at La Mancha from 2013 to 2015, he was Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Development where he successfully led the group’s portfolio restructuring which repositioned La Mancha as a leading private mining investor through strategic alliances formed with Evolution Mining Ltd. and Endeavour Mining.
Previously, as EVP Mergers & Acquisitions at Orange, he was responsible for the development of the group’s African footprint, its European portfolio restructuring, and forming strategic partnerships. At Orange, he was also Head of Strategy & Investor Relations.
Mr. Benoit held previously held various finance positions including with Areva, Bull Information System, and PwC. He holds a business degree from ESC-Bordeaux Business School and is a Chartered Accountant.
About Endeavour Mining Corporation
Endeavour Mining is a TSX-listed intermediate gold producer, focused on developing a portfolio of high quality mines in the prolific West-African region, where it has established a solid operational and construction track record. Endeavour is ideally positioned as the major pure West-African multi-operation gold mining company, operating five mines in Côte d’Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity), Burkina Faso (Karma), Mali (Tabakoto), and Ghana (Nzema).
In 2016, it expects to produce between 575koz and 610koz at an AISC of US$870 to US$920/oz. Endeavour is currently building its Houndé project in Burkina Faso, which is expected to commence production in Q4-2017 and to become its flagship low-cost mine with an average annual production of 190koz at an AISC of US$709/oz over an initial 10-year mine life based on reserves. The development of the Houndé project is expected to lift Endeavour’s group production 900kozpa and decrease its average AISC to circa $800/oz by 2018, while exploration aims to extend all mine lives to 10 years.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
