South African miner聽Gold Fields聽(JSE, NYSE: GFI)聽 former Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) boss Chris Griffith as its new chief executive officer.
Griffith will take the helm in April after current CEO Nick Holland retires, having spent 13 years leading the company.
Holland was聽due to retire at the end September this year, but agreed to move the date forward to facilitate the leadership transition.
Griffith will take the helm in April when current CEO Nick Holland retires after spending 13 years leading Gold Fields
鈥淣ick has defined Gold Fields as it is today; a global, highly profitable and sustainable company, which is widely considered a leader in its field, Cheryl Carolus, Gold Fields鈥� chairperson, said in .
鈥淚n 2008, two-thirds of our production came from聽South Africa; in 2020 approximately 90% emanated from outside of聽South Africa聽with all our mines highly mechanized and increasingly automated,鈥� she said.
Griffith, 56, who has a background in mining engineering,聽helped restructure Amplats from 2012 when he was appointed CEO of the Anglo American unit. He led a turnaround plan to cut production and costs in response to platinum prices, which then were depressed.
鈥淥ver the course of a few years, having to retrench 20,000 people was I think the worst time in my career,鈥� Griffith said when he unexpectedly left Amplats in February 2020, after seven years heading the world鈥檚 second-largest platinum group metals (PGM) producer.
Gold Fields has mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. It is also developing a gold mine in Chile, giving Griffith control of an international company after decades heading mining operations in his home country.