Wiluna Mining Corporation has announced significant changes to its board to focus on the significant gold resource reported, following the resignation of the Executive Chairman from the Company and its board of directors.
Effective immediately, Rowan Johnston has been appointed Interim Non-Executive Chairman and Michael Monaghan has been appointed as acting CEO. They will be supported by Robert Ryan as acting COO with a dedicated team on site led by Jon Pluckhahn.
The renewed focus of the Company under the new team is to reset the mine plan to take advantage of the 5.5M ounce gold resource reported at the Wiluna operations.
Upon mutual agreement with Wiluna Mining, Milan Jerkovic stepped down with immediate effect as Executive Chairman and resigned from the Board of Directors.
This change in management structure comes after a successful and well supported capital raising.
Mr Monaghan is a mining engineer with over 30 years of management experience in both underground and open pit operations across a number of commodities as well as commissioning, mine management, turnaround management, and environmental and safety compliance in Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Interim Chairman, Mr Johnston thanked Mr Jerkovic for his tireless efforts, belief and contribution to the company and wished him all the best for the future.
Mr Johnston reflected on the new flotation plant and its success, and what the new team promotions will mean to Wiluna Mining.
“With the new flotation plant producing saleable concentrate and operating at a higher than name-plate capacity and improved specifications, the question of metallurgy has been answered. The gold is there, it can be extracted and recovered,” Mr Johnston said.
“With most of the upfront capital expenditure on the WilTails project already spent and its commissioning currently being targeted for October 2022, we will have a further revenue stream coming online.
“Now we will focus on finalising a realistic, executable mine plan over the coming months that will provide a return to our shareholders, whilst also ensuring a focus on cost management. This is reflected in the addition of Mike and Robert to the executive management team both well respected and experienced in underground mining engineering.”
Mr Monaghan was most recently Chief Operating Officer for Highland Gold. Prior to that he held Chief Operating Officer and General Manager roles for Akara Resources in Thailand a subsidiary of Kingsgate Consolidated, General Manager and Mining Manager positions at AngloGold Ashanti Geita Gold Mine in Tanzania, Etruscan Resources Youga Gold Mine in Burkina Faso and Redback Mining’s Chirano Gold Mine in Ghana.
He is a graduate of University of Ballarat and a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
