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New Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser will shape the vision and strategy for the global mining house, which he plans to take to “the next level” through a keen focus on growing cash flows.
Speaking to investors on a call, the South African-born CEO said he had some ideas of where to find value opportunities at Gold Fields, although this would come down to assessing how capital gets allocated, looking for opportunities within the existing assets for further optimisation and value unlock. And lastly, looking for growth prospects.
Out of the blocks in 2024
Fraser will take the top job in January next year, taking over from interim CEO Martin Preece, who has been steering the ship since the exit of Chris Griffith in late 2022. Griffith resigned after a deal to acquire Yamana Gold fell flat.
Fraser said a strong pipeline of opportunities will be developed under his leadership – “whether it’s investing in the existing assets, buying new assets, greenfield development, or returning money to shareholders”.
The incoming CEO said his philosophy is not focused on the size of any business, but rather on growing cash flows per share.
A top priority for Gold Fields now is ramping up its near-complete Salares Norte project in Chile. A joint venture with Anglo Gold Ashanti in Ghana is also a key project that will be executed under the new CEO’s watch.
Fraser previously served as an executive at the Australian giant BHP and COO of South32 before heading up a London-listed junior miner, Chaarat Gold Holdings.
“What I do bring to Gold Fields, I believe, is a very broad-based experience across leading operations in multiple geographies, particularly in the geographies that Gold Fields has exposure to,” said Fraser, adding that he had seen through organisational transformations during his time at big mining corporates.
He hopes to contribute learnings from his experiences at Chaarat Gold, not least of which is how commercial deals are done at the junior end of the sector, “which is where I think opportunities exist for further consolidation in time”.
350 candidate list
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Gold Fields chair, Yunus Suleman, said the group had drawn from a list of some 350 candidates over a 10-month process.
“We were comfortable that his [Fraser’s] strategic experience and his corporate experience, fits in well with the operating experience that we have at the exco level currently,” Suleman said.
Fraser has indeed worked in several jurisdictions in which Gold Fields operates, including Australia and South America. That he already owns a home in South Africa will make the transition to the Johannesburg-based role that much easier, Suleman noted.
Gold Fields’ South Deep Mine is its only remaining operating asset in South Africa, but the company remains headquartered in South Africa with no plans to redomicile the business.
Suleman said there are no plans to restructure the business either. Instead, the focus is on strategy, which seeks to maximise the potential of Gold Fields’ current assets through people and innovation and to grow the value and quality of the group’s portfolio of assets.
Investors on Monday’s call queried how Gold Fields would ensure Preece is retained, given that he had been overlooked for the position of permanent CEO.
