Vedanta Resources today announced the appointment of Ms Deshnee Naidoo, as the Chief Executive Officer – Africa Base Metals. Ms Naidoo’s appointment signals the Vedanta group’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its African operations, and will seek to identify and drive synergies across these operations in terms of operational excellence, procurement, marketing, people development, and the investment in communities, in line with the group’s vision of business with purpose.
Ms Naidoo will combine the leadership of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), in Zambia, and Vedanta Zinc International (VZI), in South Africa and Namibia, as well as Copper Mines of Tasmania. In this role she will also assume responsibility of Chief Executive Officer, KCM and will drive synergies across ZI and KCM. Ms Naidoo’s appointment coincides with the departure of Steven Din, KCM’s current CEO, who will leave Vedanta group this July.
Ms Naidoo joined Vedanta Resources in 2014 with over 20 years’ experience in the resources industry, including platinum, thermal coal and manganese. Prior to joining the Vedanta Group, she was Chief Financial Officer of Anglo American Thermal Coal, South Africa. As CEO of VZI she has led the development of the US$400 million Gamsberg Project, which will come into production in mid-2018, as well as the development of the Pit 112 Project at Skorpion Zinc.
Chairman of Vedanta Resources, Mr. Anil Agarwal commented, ‘’Deshnee has successfully brought on new production at Gamsberg and won the respect and confidence of the teams that she leads. I’m delighted that we have a woman leader from Africa at the helm of our African operations. We have strong ambitions for our business in Africa and Deshnee is committed to deliver on these.’’
KCM is one of the most attractive resource assets in the world with potential to reach 400 ktpa of integrated copper production in the near term. The Southern African operations have the potential to become one of the largest zinc producing regions in the world, while the investment in KCM will enable Zambia to become the largest copper-producing country in Africa.
Speaking about Steven’s move, Mr. Agarwal said, “We warmly thank Steven for all his valuable contribution to Vedanta and KCM over the last four years, where he successfully steered the business through one of the major copper price slumps. He enhanced the safety culture and initiated a programme to transform KCM and aligned the workforce to Vedanta’s vision to produce 400,000 tonnes Copper. I wish him every good fortune and thank him for his services to Vedanta, KCM and to the communities in the Copperbelt and Zambia. Steven’s departure from KCM creates the opportunity for Deshnee to step into the CEO – KCM role whilst the larger Africa role enables more collaboration and synergies across the continent and Southern Africa”.
About Vedanta Zinc International
Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) – headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa – is a grouping of zinc assets located in South Africa, Namibia and Ireland, owned by India-based Vedanta Limited, a listed subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc.
Operations include:
• Black Mountain Mining (BMM) and the associated flagship Gamsberg Project in South Africa’s Northern Cape province;
• Skorpion Zinc Mine and Refinery in the //Kharas region of Namibia.
Mining and milling at the Lisheen Mine in Ireland was concluded in December 2015 after 17 years of operation and the mine is currently in an active closure mode.
VZI’s vision is to create an integrated world-class regional zinc complex comprising the BMM (including Gamsberg) and the Skorpion Zinc mining and refining operations. To date, Vedanta Resources has invested over $1.7 billion in Southern Africa, and contributed over R100 million in CSR projects in South Africa and Namibia over the last 5 years.
About Konkola Copper Mines
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) is one of the leading integrated copper producers in Africa, and aims to become a major global copper producer. KCM is primarily engaged in the exploration for, mining, production and sale of copper and copper by-products.
KCM’s operations are located in the Copperbelt and Central Provinces, and include open pit mines, underground mines, several concentrators, a leaching plant, a state-of-the-art flash smelter, a modernized refinery and a sulphuric acid plant. We recently sank Zambia’s first post-independence era mining shaft as part of the Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP). This 1,500 metre shaft has ensured KCM’s longevity, by allowing for the access of the deep Konkola ore body and extending the mine life by over 25 years.
KCM is currently one of Zambia’s largest private sector employers with over 13,000 employees.
The state-owned mining company Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) is the other shareholder in KCM, controlling a 20.6% stake in the company. KCM enjoys a strong relationship with the Zambian government and is a committed partner in improving the economic prospects of the country through our operations and other activities
About Vedanta Resources plc
Vedanta Resources plc (Vedanta) is a London listed diversified global natural resources company. The group produces aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore, oil & gas and commercial energy. Vedanta has operations in India, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Australia and Sri Lanka. With an empowered talent pool globally, Vedanta places strong emphasis on partnering with all its stakeholders based on the core values of trust, sustainability, growth, entrepreneurship, integrity, respect and care. For more information, please visit www.vedantaresources.com.
Source: vedanta zinc international
