Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd – Senior Management Change
Chaarat, the AIM quoted gold mining company with assets in the Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia, is pleased to announce the appointment of Darin Cooper as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), effective 1st June 2019.
Darin Cooper joins Chaarat as a COO with more than 30 years’ experience in the metals and mining industry spanning operations, projects, restructuring and culture change. Most recently, Darin was Head of Mining at Fusion Capital, a Swiss investment firm, where he was responsible for due diligence of potential projects, assessment of early stage exploration projects, and development of capital and operating plans for proven development assets. Darin held senior roles at Nyrstar, the global multi-metals business, from 2012-2017, latterly as Vice President, Zinc Smelting. In this role he was responsible for the health and safety, environmental, operational and financial performance of Nyrstar’s zinc smelters worldwide. He has also served as COO of Talvivaara Mining Company (Finland) where he worked with the Finnish government, creditors and investors to secure financing options during their restructuring. Darin started his career at the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation. He obtained a BEng in Metallurgy from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and an MBA from the Open University Business School, Great Britain.
Robert Benbow, current COO of Chaarat, will continue to serve on the Board of the Company where he will remain chair of the Technical Committee. Robert has been instrumental to the recent success of Chaarat and will continue to play a significant role at the Company drawing on his extensive experience of building and operating mines. Robert is a mining executive with more than 40 years’ experience. He has particular knowledge of green field projects and has taken three developments into production, including Alacer Gold Corp’s Çöpler Gold Mine in Eastern Turkey, which has produced over 1 million ounces as one of the lowest cost producers in the world. The Çöpler mine is now operating a pressure oxidation plant to treat refractory ore and Robert’s experience in developing that project is relevant to the Company’s Kyzyltash deposit in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Martin Andersson, Executive Chairman of Chaarat, commented:
“We are delighted to welcome Darin to the company as COO. Darin has a proven track record of increasing performance across a range of mining operations and his expertise will be immensely valuable as we continue towards our goal of becoming a leading emerging markets gold producer. I would like to thank Robert for his significant contribution to Chaarat as CEO and COO, which has taken place throughout a period of great change at the Company. I look forward to continue working alongside him on the Board of Chaarat.”
Artem Volynets, CEO of Chaarat, commented:
“Robert has made an exceptional contribution to Chaarat since he joined the Company and I’m pleased that his operating and development expertise will be retained to assist the further development of Chaarat. Darin brings a wealth of experience and insight to Chaarat, cultivated over many years, across various metals and geographies. I am very much looking forward to working with him and am confident that his contribution to Chaarat will prove invaluable.”