Gold Road boss Murray to retire

Gold Road Resources has appointed Duncan Gibbs as its next managing director and chief executive, following the pending retirement of Ian Murray.

As former general manager of AngloGold Ashanti, Gibbs led the turnaround program at the Sunrise Dam operation in Western Australia.

He also oversaw the Tropicana gold mine from its discovery, study phases, construction through to the mine’s steady-state operation.

Sunrise Dam and Tropicana account for 14 per cent of the total gold production at AngloGold.

Gold Road said there were significant parallels between its Gruyere gold project and AngloGold’s Tropicana.

Both mines are of similar scale, based in the northeastern Goldfields of Western Australia and developed in a JV structure.

Gold Road non-executive chairman Tim Netscher said, “In Duncan Gibbs we have found a very capable and suitable new managing director and chief executive officer, who will lead the next chapter of Gold Road’s growth.”

The transition process started earlier this year when Murray communicated his intention to retire once construction of the Gruyere gold project neared completion.

Murray will remain a director and assist Gibbs in the handover, starting September 17 until the end of the year.

Gibbs said his initial focus would be on leading a successful operational start-up at Gruyere, of which Gold Road owns a 50 per cent stake under a JV with Gold Fields.

Since discovery, the Gruyere mineral resource has grown to 144Mt grading 1.3g/t for 5.9Moz of contained gold, making it one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Australia.

Expected production in Gruyere ranges between 170,000oz and 230,000oz by the end of 2019.