Great Basin Gold Ltd. (fka GBGLF)

[amarksp]

Dippenaar quits Harmony [to GBN]
David McKay
Posted: Tue, 06 Dec 2005
[miningmx.com] -- FERDI Dippenaar, co-founder of Harmony Gold in its current form, and long-standing lieutenant to Bernard Swanepoel, CEO of the South African firm, is to quit the company in order to head up Canadian listed Great Basin Gold.


"We've known for a little time and we've been able to put in some succession planning," said Swanepoel in an interview.

"But it's sad to lose a personal friend of so many years. It sounds like a good opportunity however," said Swanepoel.

The departure of Dippenaar, long regarded a fixture at Harmony, will raise questions on the long-term intentions of Swanepoel.

"It's the end of an era," said Steve Shepherd, an analyst at JP Morgan. "Where does this put Bernard? He's now on his own so to speak," Shepherd said.

"The old guard has gone," said an analyst who declined to be named. "This leaves Bernard isolated at the top," he said.

Great Basin Gold is owned by the Hunter Dickinson group and owns a number of gold properties including the Burnstone prospect, a project near Harmony's Evander Gold Mines.

Great Basin Gold said on its website that it was conducting a feasibility study to produce 200,000 to 400,000 oz/year of gold from Burnstone. It also owns a property called the Ivanhoe project in Nevada, US. Harmony also announced the resignation of Rick Menell, non-executive director at the gold firm.
Free news alerts: click here to subscribeMenell will focus his energies on TEAL Mining & Exploration, a junior mining firm with African projects and recently listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"Ferdi and I have been working together since we were at Beatrix mine in 1994. The rest is history.

"I will miss his energy and work ethic which has been magnificent. But I think Great Basin have been pestering him for some time," Swanepoel said.