Marcus Engelbrecht, former chief executive officer (CEO) of gold miner Archipelago Resources, has taken over as CEO at Stratex International plc (LON:STI).
He will replace Dr Bob Foster as CEO as Dr Foster is retiring from the board after more than 10 years.
"Stratex has been considering its board succession plan for some time, to ensure the continued strength and experience of the company's management team when directors retire,” revealed Christopher Hall, chairman of Stratex.
“Bob, who founded the company with former chairman David Hall in 2005, has played a critical role in its development and success as an explorer and discoverer in Turkey, where our 45% owned Altıntepe gold mine is now in production, in the East African Rift Valley and more recently in West Africa. The board, management team and shareholders owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his input over the last decade and we are fortunate that he has agreed to act as a consultant to the company," Hall revealed.
New man Engelbrecht has 30 years' experience in the global mining industry, and during his time at the helm of Archipelago he took the company from mine construction to production.
Prior to his stint at Archipelago he had stints in financial roles at OceanaGold and BHP Billiton.
Engelbrecht has been welcomed to the board with the granting of 6mln issues, exercisable at a price of 1.78p.
“I have known Marcus since he was managing director of Archipelago Resources PLC and have every confidence that he will continue the development of the company as a successful explorer and mine developer,” Hall said.
Broker SP Angel said: "Marcus Engelbrecht joins the company at an interesting time in the company’s evolution with the Altintepe mine reaching production and encouraging exploration results from West Africa forming a solid basis for the future."
Shares in Stratex were up 11% in late morning trading.
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