Chemicals and explosives group AECI has chosen Rochelle Gabriels as its new CFO. She will also join the company’s board as an executive director.
“In addition to these roles, her extended portfolio will include mergers and acquisitions, IT, enterprise risk management and strategic projects,” the company said on Monday.
It said Gabriels had “more than 15 years’ experience in various roles including CFO positions at multinational companies”.
Board chair Khotso Mokhele said: “On behalf of the board, I am excited to welcome Rochelle to the group and we are confident that AECI will benefit from her strong leadership and deep financial experience. Rochelle’s appointment further strengthens the board in terms of skills and diversity, positioning AECI for even greater success in the future.”
Gabriels replaces acting CFO Rafael Fernandes, who will return to his role as financial director of the company’s mining division.
On September 21 AECI said it had bagged a five-year contract to supply explosives and provide services to Newcrest Mining’s Lihir gold mining operation in Papua New Guinea.
The deal came as the R12bn JSE-listed group, which is reviewing its operations to design a new growth strategy that it will unveil in November, is tackling the lowering of its R5.7bn debt pile.
The move to provide services and products to one of the world’s largest open-pit gold mines, which is owned by Newcrest, the largest listed gold producer on the Australian Securities Exchange, is expected to boost the mining division in maintaining its market share growth in the competitive Asia Pacific region.
This is after it reported “pleasing momentum” in the division for the five months to the end of May, which resulted in an improvement in overall sales volumes and margins as it saw further market share gains in SA, Central Africa, East Africa and the Asia Pacific region.
“The Newcrest Lihir contract not only further expands our reach in the greater Asia Pacific region but is a significant milestone on our journey to sustainable international business growth,” AECI CEO Holger Riemensperger said at the time.
The company said construction of the new plant was expected to take six months and it would be in full production in May 2024.
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