Pieter du Preez, CFO at Blyvoor Gold
Full Name: Pieter du Preez
Position and Company Name: CFO at Blyvoor Gold
Main Activity of the Company: Blyvoor Gold is a South African gold mining company operating the Blyvoor mine, on Johannesburg’s West Rand. The company is led by an agile leadership team and strong investors, who have built a high-quality, long-term, profitable mining asset offering steady growth and low costs, and produces 40 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of less than $1 000/oz
Date and Place of Birth: February 10, 1968, Johannesburg
Schools and Tertiary Education: BCom (Hons), University of Johannesburg; Chartered Financial Analyst
First Job: Graduate trainee in the Mineral Economics Division at Gold Fields of South Africa (GFSA)
Size of First Pay Packet: R1 800 a month (if my memory serves me well)
Career Path to Date: Group economist at GFSA; financial economist and analyst at stockbroker EW Balderson; corporate finance executive at Radagast Capital; Sasfin Capital; Touchstone Capital, which I founded; and CFO at Taung Gold, the controlling shareholder of which is listed in Hong Kong
Value of Assets under Your Control: Market capitalisation of more than R6-billion
Number of People under Your Leadership: 1 800 (directly and indirectly), and this number is set to grow to 5 000 as we ramp up operations at the mine
Management Style: Collaborative
Personal Best Achievement: Every time I raised money for an SME mining company
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My wife – she is my life companion and perfect joint venture partner
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Every manager with a red pen (that was in the era before desktop and laptop computers)
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Ben Shapiro
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Elon Musk – a serial entrepreneur
Philosophy of Life: If it were easy, everyone would be doing it
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Joining the Blyvoor team
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Every time I failed to learn from a setback
Hope for the Future: That my generation leaves this world a better place – counterintuitively, this begins with each person first looking inward (attitude, not wallet) rather than outward
Favourite Reading: Biographies and religious philosophy
Favourite TV Programme: Sport (I don’t watch much else on television)
Favourite Food/Drink: A good whisky
Favourite Music: Cantorial
Favourite Sport: Golf
Hobbies: Reading and music
Car: Mitsubishi Pajero
Pets: Snowy, the Persian cat
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Lawlessness, fake news, confirmation bias and lazy research
Married: To Channa Kayla
Children: Liz, 28; David, 27
Clubs: Family, community