Vancouver, BC, Canada - November 25, 2010, Vancouver, BC, Canada - Andean American Gold Corp. announces that John F. Huguet will step down as chairman and chief executive officer of the company, effective December 31.
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Mr. Huguet has more than 40 years in natural resource development, including North, Central and South America and South East Asia. Many joint ventures and unique financing structures highlighted his career with the Atkinson Companies.
He started his career in 1963 with Atkinson and left Atkinson in April 1997 where he had served 8 years as President and 4 years as Managing Director of Atkinson Holdings and Commonwealth Construction. During his 33 years, this Company constructed and placed into operation 86 major mining projects, including the Granduc Copper Mine (Asarco), Gibraltar (Placer Development) and La Coipa (Placer Dome).
Mr. Huguet joined Andean American as Chairman in April 1997 and took operational control in September 1998. Mr. Huguet will remain available to Andean American as a consultant to facilitate managerial continuity and provide the Company with ongoing access to his experience.
The Board has appointed the Company's current President, David Rae, to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2011.
From 1998 to 2006 Mr. Rae worked in various management capacities with Falconbridge, becoming the Vice President, Strategy and Commercial, where he managed the global sales of Falconbridge Nickel products and business unit strategy. He successfully led the multi-disciplinary team integrating the Nickel unit of Falconbridge into Xstrata.
Mr. Rae subsequently worked with Xstrata Nickel from 2006 to 2008, including the new position of Senior Vice President Europe & Africa, where he was responsible for strategic initiatives and sales growth. Prior to joining Andean American, Mr. Rae has been advising in a consulting capacity to companies such as Kinross, Vale Inco and Iamgold on operational, productivity and strategic challenges. He holds a BSc in Physical Metallurgy from Leeds University, Yorkshire, England.
Paulo Bilezikjian, currently the Company's lead independent director, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Bilezikjian is an asset manager with extensive experience in emerging markets and an excellent track record in investment management. Previously, he was a Partner with Hedging Griffo, then the largest independent Asset Management Company in Brazil, where he headed their international investments division. With a degree from McGill University, Mr. Bilezikjian previously worked for JP Morgan in Brazil and New York in the equity division and was the head of the equity proprietary desk for ING Brazil. ■