St Barbara CEO tenders resignation

Four years after winning a boardroom stoush, St Barbara chief executive and managing director Eduard Eshuys has tendered his resignation with former Newcrest Mining executive Tim Lehany to take over.

The announcement is pasted below:

The Board of St Barbara today announces a transition of leadership that will take effect in early March next year.

On 2 March 2009, Mr Eduard Eshuys will leave St Barbara, resigning from the Board and the position of Managing Director & CEO of the Company. He will be succeeded by Mr Tim Lehany.

Previously the Executive General Manager Operations of Newcrest Mining, Mr Lehany is a mining engineer, graduating from the NSW University School of Mines with a First Class Honours degree. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Melbourne's Business School and has had extensive operating experience over the past 20 years with a number of mining companies. He joined Newcrest Mining in early 1999, initially based on site at the Ridgeway/Cadia operations, and subsequently in executive management positions at Newcrest's head office in Melbourne.

Mr Lehany led the successful establishment and operation of the Ridgeway Gold Mine in NSW, and the subsequent amalgamation of Ridgeway and the Cadia Hill Gold Mine into Newcrest's Cadia Valley Operations. In Melbourne, he played a key leadership role in the implementation of a structured value-driven five year planning process that has greatly streamlined business processes and enhanced Newcrest's operational performance.

Appointed as Managing Director & CEO in mid 2004, Mr Eshuys' leadership has seen St Barbara re-emerge as a leading Australian gold producer, developer and explorer.

The purchase of the Sons of Gwalia gold assets and the course of St Barbara's growth since then, are well known.

Significant new deposits have been discovered and the Company's published reserves and resources extended. Mr Eshuys has successfully guided the Company through the critical development and commissioning phase of the Gwalia mine, to place St Barbara in a strong position strategically as a gold-mining company, to continue to enhance shareholder value on a sustained basis.

In these achievements, he has been assisted by the expertise, hard work and enthusiasm of a team of managers, employees and contractors.

The Board has been mindful of the need for a longer term growth strategy for the Company to be developed. We are pleased to have been able to retain a high calibre successor to Mr Eshuys, to lead the Company into the next growth phase.

The Board is also pleased that Mr Eshuys' skills have not been lost to the Company. He will be retained through a consultancy arrangement, which will allow the Company to continue to access his proven exploration expertise and knowledge of Company assets and activities. He will be assisting Mr Lehany in the transition process.

The Board acknowledges Mr Eshuys' achievements with appreciation and welcomes Mr Lehany to St Barbara

Operations Progress Report

We are pleased to confirm that activities at Southern Cross and Leonora Operations are proceeding according to plan -

1. the first high grade stope in the Gwalia Deeps is currently being prepared to commence production this month, as previously advised.

2. the Gwalia processing plant is operating at above design capacity

3. development of the Hoover and Barden declines is on track

4. production from Southern Cross Operations is in line with forecast

5. The December 2008 quarterly report is due to be released around 22nd January 2009.