7 August 2024
Adriatic
Metals PLC
("Adriatic Metals" or the "Company")
EXECUTIVE
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Adriatic Metals plc ("Adriatic" or
"the Company") announces the following leadership changes as the
Company moves through ramp up and into steady state
production.
The Company's CEO and Managing
Director, Paul Cronin, has tendered his resignation to the Board,
and will step down on August 9 prior to relocating to Australia for
family reasons. With effect from 9 August, Laura Tyler will become
Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Sanela Karic
will become Executive Director for Corporate Affairs. Eric
Rasmussen, Non-Executive Director, will chair the Sustainability
Committee.
Paul Cronin commented:
"It is vital for the success of any company that management
recognise the need to evolve, as the company evolves. In the case
of Adriatic, that evolution has been rapid and now is the
appropriate time to for me to step down - for the Company, and for
me personally. It has been a great honour to serve as the Company's
CEO for the last five years, and I am immensely proud of what we
have achieved as a team. Living and working in Bosnia and
Herzegovina at the Project has been instrumental to successfully
steering the Company through permitting, construction and the
commencement of production, but now is the time for new leadership,
with a skillset better aligned to the needs of the Company, and its
stakeholders."
Laura Tyler is currently a
Non-Executive Director of Adriatic, and brings substantial
operating, technical and leadership skills to the role of Interim
Chief Executive Officer. Her experience as Chief Technical Officer
at BHP, as well as prior roles in Executive Leadership for the
Olympic Dam, Cannington, and Ekati underground mines, will ensure
Adriatic has the strength of leadership to steer the Vares Silver
Operation through ramp up and into steady state production, whilst
continuing to grow the reserve base at both Vares and
Raska.
Sanela Karic has been a
Non-Executive of Adriatic for four years. She has been involved in
the establishment of the Company's sustainability programs
in-country, as well as providing critical legal and commercial
advice. Ms Karic, who is currently the Chair of the Sustainability
Committee, will now become Executive Director for Corporate Affairs
of Adriatic and a Director of Adriatic's operating subsidiary in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, a key role for the continuing co-operation
with all levels of Government.
Michael Rawlinson, Adriatic's Chairman,
commented:
"I
would like to thank Paul for his vision and energy, leading
Adriatic on an incredible journey from exploration junior to
producer in just seven years. He should be justly proud of his
achievements, and we wish him well as he returns
to Australia.
Paul has kindly offered to continue to work with us as a
consultant, to ensure a smooth leadership
transition."
"I
am pleased that Laura Tyler has agreed to become Interim CEO, with
her extensive experience, invaluable leadership skills and
enthusiasm for creating world-class Tier 1 operations. I am also
confident Sanela Karic is the right person to lead our subsidiary
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has a profound connection with local
staff and stakeholders, and extensive experience in navigating the
regulatory environment in-country. As former Head of Natural
Resources at the EBRD, Eric Rasmussen brings a wealth of experience
to his new role as Chair of the Sustainability
Committee."
Laura Tyler, Interim Chief Executive Officer
commented:
"In the short time I have been working with the Adriatic
Metals Board, I have been impressed by the dedication of the team
led by Paul to deliver the Vares Operations into production. I
recently spent time at the Vares and Rupice sites and having been
impressed by the excellent professionals and dedicated team
players, I am excited to help lead the Project from ramp-up to
nameplate capacity over the coming months. I would like to
congratulate Paul on the implementation of his bold vision that is
delivering real value to the people of Vares and Bosnia and
Herzegovina."
Michael Rawlinson, Chairman, concluded:
"The Vares ramp-up continues unabated and we are fortunate to
have a strong team that can deliver, augmented by support from our
stakeholders in government and in the communities we serve. We are
making good progress on alternative plans to create additional
tailings capacity and we are concurrently revising the mine stope
sequencing that will aim to maintain metal output, whilst
minimising tailings generation. We will update the market on
these plans in due course, alongside the permanent CEO
process."
The Board will commence a global
search for a new permanent CEO in the coming weeks.
The terms of Ms Tyler and Ms Karic's
services agreements as Interim Chief Executive Officer and
Executive Director respectively are in the process of being agreed
and will be announced in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 3.16 once
finalised.
-ends-
Authorised by Paul Cronin, Managing
Director & CEO
For further information please
visit: www.adriaticmetals.com;
email: info@adriaticmetals.com,
@AdriaticMetals
on Twitter; or contact:
Adriatic Metals PLC
|
|
Klara Kaczmarek
GM - Corporate
Development
|
Tel: +44 (0) 7859 048228
Klara.kaczmarek@adriaticmetals.com
|
|
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Burson Buchanan
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
|
Bobby Morse / Christopher
Jones
|
adriatic@buchanan.uk.com
|
Morgans Corporate Limited
|
|
Rob Douglas / Sam Warriner / Mitch
Duffy
|
Tel: +61 7 3334 4888
|
|
|
RBC
Capital Markets
|
|
Farid Dadashev / James Agnew / Jamil
Miah
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000
|
|
|
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited
|
Ashton Clanfield / Callum Stewart /
Varun Talwar
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 7600
|
|
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Morrow Sodali
|
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Cameron Gilenko
|
Tel: +61 466 984 953
|
ABOUT
ADRIATIC METALS
Adriatic Metals Plc (ASX:ADT,
LSE:ADT1, OTCQX:ADMLF) is a precious and base metals developer that
is advancing the world-class Vares Silver Project in Bosnia &
Herzegovina, as well as the Raska Zinc-Silver Project in Serbia.
First concentrate production took place in February 2024 and the
Vares Silver Operation is fully funded to nameplate production,
which is expected in Q4 2024. Concurrent with ongoing operational
activities, the Company continues to explore across its highly
prospective 44km2 concession package.
MARKET ABUSE REGULATION
DISCLOSURE
The information contained within
this announcement is deemed by the Company (LEI:
549300OHAH2GL1DP0L61) to constitute inside information for the
purpose of Article 7 of EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No.
596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) ACT 2018, as amended. The person
responsible for arranging and authorising the release of this
announcement on behalf of the Company is Paul Cronin, Managing
Director and CEO.