St Barbara board moves after Leonora sale

St Barbara will undergo top-level staff changes following the sale of its Leonora assets to Rayleigh Finlayson’s Genesis Minerals.

Andrew Strelein will start as the ASX-listed gold producer’s managing director and chief executive on July 1, replacing Dan Lougher.

Mr Strelein joined St Barbara as chief development officer in mid-2021.

St Barbara non-executive chair Kerry Gleeson said Mr Strelein had significant global experience in business development and project advancement.

“He is ideally suited to take over as the company enters a new phase,” she said.

“I would also like to thank Dan [Lougher] for his invaluable leadership at St Barbara to stabilise Gwalia performance while the company navigated a period of intense change culminating in the transaction with Genesis Minerals.”

Mr Lougher will retire from his role tomorrow.

“I have enjoyed my short but exciting time at St Barbara,” he said.

“My final day as MD and CEO of St Barbara will be spent at Gwalia to meet with the team and to observe the last gold pour under St Barbara’s ownership.

“I will hand over the keys at Gwalia to Genesis Minerals with great pride in the site team’s performance and wish everyone the best.”

Sara Prendergast will also take over from Lucas Welsh as chief financial officer from September 1.

Ms Prendergast has been St Barbara’s general manager of finance and procurement since October 2020.

Mr Welsh has been the CFO since August 2021 and will leave the company on September 30.

Earlier this month, the St Barbara board recommended that shareholders vote in favour of Genesis Minerals' takeover bid over ASX-listed gold developer Silver Lake's proposal.

St Barbara locked in a deal to sell its Leonora assets to Genesis Minerals for $600 million in cash and scrip in April after an initial arrangement between the pair fell through.

Silver Lake then offered to acquire St Barbara's Leonora assets for $370 million cash and 327.1 million shares valued at $352 million.