Morne will be taking over from retiring Andre Boje, who will remain involved with the company.
Botswana-headquartered coal mining company Minergy Limited has appointed CFO Morne du Plessis as its new CEO with effect from 1 August.
In a statement, the company said that Morne’s appointment follows an extensive candidate selection and recruitment process led by the board’s remuneration and nomination committee. The committee included external candidates in order for the board to be in a position of appointing the most qualified and experienced person to fill the CEO role, which is currently held by Andre Boje.
Andre will be retiring at the end of July, but will remain involved in the company to retain oversight and strategic responsibility for Minergy’s coal marketing and sales for a period of 12 months. He will also remain part of the team tasked with ensuring the successful listing of Minergy on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.
Commenting on his appointment, Morne said:
“I am grateful to be appointed as CEO of a company which is so well placed as a new entrant into the southern African coal market. I thank Andre for his leadership and vision for the project.”
Morne has extensive experience in southern African coal mining and trading, particularly in South Africa. He is a qualified chartered accountant with an MBA from Heriot Watt University Edinburgh in Scotland. He has held top management positions with several coal mining and trading groups, including Genet SA, Umcebo Mining Group and Wescoal Holdings Limited. He has been a director on the board of Minergy since January 2017, leading into the listing of the company on the Botswana Stock Exchange, and became its CFO in February 2017.
Minergy chairman Mokwena Morulane said that Morne’s extensive experience in coal mining and trading and his significant listed public company director experience was a significant factor in the board’s decision to appoint him as CEO. He continued, saying that Morne has “deep and practical understanding of what is required to implement a modern mining project, with his tenure as Minergy’s CFO uniquely placing him with intimate knowledge of the company’s flagship Masama Project in Botswana in order to bring it into full production over the coming months”.
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