Caracal Gold PLC (LSE:GCAT) announced the appointment of Franck Bizouerne who joins the company as group mineral resource manager, effective from 1 April.
Bizouerne is described as a an expert in greenfield exploration, in particular gold but also lithium and base metals across the African continent. The company said the appointment brings a huge wealth of experience.
In his prior role Bizouerne was exploration manager and principal geologist at Rio Tinto's CBG aluminium mine, and, before that he was exploration manager and senior chief geologist for Etruscan Resources Burkina Faso (Endeavor Mining), where he was responsible for developing the Youga gold mine.
"Franck's appointment as head of exploration comes at a crucial time for Caracal, as we ramp up exploration at our flagship gold mine at Kilimapesa, where we are investing significantly on our exploration activities, aimed at boosting JORC resources to over 1.5mln ounces this year,” said Caracal chief executive Robbie McCrae.
"He will play a key role in implementing the final phase of our initial three-phase operational plan at Kilimapesa and boosting gold production to 24ktpa by the end of the year.”
McCrae added: "We welcome Franck and his in-depth knowledge of Africa to the team and look forward to reporting on our progress as we bring Kilimapesa to the next phase of its exciting growth trajectory."