ASX-listed Predictive Discovery has made several key appointments to further strengthen its board and management team, to support progress with the 5.38-million-ounce Bankan gold project in Guinea.
Alberto Lavandeira joins as a nonexecutive director, bringing more than 45 years of development and operating experience across gold, copper and industrial minerals in Africa and Europe.
Sandra Bates transitions from nonexecutive director to executive director – legal and environmental, social and governance (ESG) to strengthen the company’s in-house legal, ESG and permitting expertise.
Henk Diederichs joins as COO to advance Bankan through the definitive feasibility study (DFS) phase and into development and operations.
Lavandeira is currently CEO and executive director of London-listed copper producer Atalaya Mining, which he joined in 2014 as COO and has been instrumental in successfully developing, expanding and operating the Rio Tinto copper operation in Spain. He is currently also a nonexecutive director of ASX-listed Black Dragon Gold.
Under an additional consultancy arrangement, Bates played a key role in the recent finalisation of Predictive Discovery’s environmental and social impact assessment and will strengthen its in-house capability across legal, ESG and permitting, the company avers.
Bates is an international lawyer and public company director with over 25 years of top-tier private practice and in-house experience advising management teams and boards of both listed and private companies in Europe, North America and Africa.
She is a risk assessment and ESG specialist and brings extensive experience of guiding companies in the natural resources sector through complex negotiations often with a cross-cultural element, the company says. Most recently, Bates was general counsel of TSX-V-listed Elemental Altus Royalties.
She is recognised by international legal consultancy Chambers and Partners as a mining law expert.
Bates is also an experienced ESG/Sustainability Committee chair and is currently nonexecutive director (and audit committee chair) of ASX- and London-listed Adriatic Metals.
Following these appointments, the board comprises two executive directors (Andrew Pardey and Bates) and three independent nonexecutive directors (Simon Jackson, Steven Michael and Lavandeira).
Diederichs, joining as COO, will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of the DFS and advancing the Bankan project into development and operations.
He is an engineer with over 20 years of experience in the mining industry with extensive expertise in project development and operations.
Most recently, Diederichs was CEO and MD of OreCorp, which was advancing the Nyanzaga gold project in Tanzania until the recent acquisition by Perseus Mining.
The company says that he was instrumental in leading the Nyanzaga project through the scoping, prefeasibility study and definitive feasibility study phases.
“The ongoing strengthening of the board and management team is critical to our strategy of developing the Tier-1 Bankan project in Guinea, currently the largest gold development project in Africa,” says MD Andrew Pardey.
As part of the changes, the company has completed a remuneration review which included reviewing the employment terms of the senior management team.