Proactive Investors - Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHAN) is ready to make a change and build on the progress overseen by Eric Zurrin, who will step down as chief executive and leaving the company in the coming months.
Zurrin today revealed he will be leaving the AIM-quoted gold miner at the end of the third quarter sealing more than six years at the company, which has been transformed during his tenure.
“We now have two producing mines,” Zurrin today told Proactive. “We have absolutely phenomenal exploration property in West Kenya. And, and I think it's important to renew and to try new things.”
News of Zurrin’s departure comes after the Singida mine earlier this month reached a new landmark moment, with the mine in Tanzania achieving its first gold pour.
This is a “massive, massive” achievement for Shanta, Tanzania and the entire team, Zurrin said in the interview with Proactive.
It not only establishes the new mine at Singida but transforms Shanta’s identity, he added, making the growing AIM-firm a 100,000-ounce-per-year gold producer.
Using rough maths and current gold prices, of US$2,000 an ounce, this would represent annual revenue of US$200mln.
Volumes going through the mining operation at Singida are impressive, Zurrin says.
Indeed, overall, the miner yielded some 9,000 ounces of gold across the New Luika and Singida mines.
Looking to the future, Zurrin believes that the next major opportunity for Shanta lies in the West Kenya project, which has so far received only little attention.
That will be a focal point for whomever the company appoints to take up the reins from Zurrin – he now intends to work closely with Shanta find the right successor and ensure a smooth transition.
Describing the Kenya project, meanwhile, he says it is a "very prospective, high-grade, terrific asset".
Following on from Singida and New Luika, it is seen as the next potential catalyst for realising value for shareholders.
In the coming weeks, Shanta expects to outline the company’s path to production in Kenya and showcase the project’s potential.