Geoff Ward has been appointed as chief executive of local tech company Hazer Group, while Michael Minosora is set to chair junior explorer Golden Deeps.
Geoff Ward has been appointed as chief executive of local tech company Hazer Group, while Michael Minosora is set to chair junior explorer Golden Deeps.
Mr Ward replaces acting CEO Mark Edwards, who took over in April following the resignation of founder Geoff Pocock.
Mr Ward, who was a Business News 40under40 winner in 2002, has previously worked as a senior executive with Woodside Energy and served as managing director of ASX-listed Geodynamics from 2011 to 2016 in Brisbane.
He also served as a director for corporate advisory company Azure Capital, initially from 2008 to 2010 before rejoining early this year to open a Brisbane office.
Chairman Tim Goldsmith welcomed the appointment.
“Geoff’s experience, education background and track record as a strong business leader are ideally suited to Hazer and our current stage of development,” he said.
“We are excited he has joined Hazer and are looking forward to working with him and the existing team to establish a compelling organisation vision and strategy, strong business model, and deliver on the many opportunities identified to implement Hazer’s unique technology position.”
Mr Ward said he is confident about Hazer’s future.
“I am delighted to be joining Hazer,” he said.
“The company’s technology offers compelling growth paths in key domestic and international markets which will continue to strengthen as global macro trends towards the hydrogen economy, electrification of transport, and developing lower impact industrial processes continues.”
Mr Ward will receive a base salary of $300,000, with a number of performance incentives.
Shares in Hazer finished up 7.14 per cent at 30 cents each today.
Meanwhile, West Perth-based Golden Deeps has appointed former Atlantic managing director Mr Minosora as its executive chairman.
Mr Minosora resigned from the vanadium and iron ore producer in 2014 following a tough period for the company, which included a number of operational issues at its Windimurra project near Mount Magnet.
He joined Atlantic in 2009 and led the company to development of the vanadium project.
Mr Minosora has also served as a managing partner of Azure Capital and EY, along with a stint as chief financial officer at Fortescue Metals Group.
Most recently he has led investment banking company Seabourn Capital.
Golden is focused on its Grootfontein base metal project.
“The feature of the project which attracted Mr Minosora is that its vanadium content is hosted in base metals vanadate mineralisation, which beneficiates very simply to a very high grade vanadium-lead-zinc concentrate,” the company said in a statement to the ASX.
“The high grade concentrate is then expected to result in the project having a low capital cost and being a low operating cost vanadium producer.”
Shares in the company lifted 48.15 per cent today to 4 cents each.
