Coal of Africa Limited CEO David Brown
Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – After spending almost six months as acting CEO of Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL), David Brown has been permanently appointed to the position, with effect from February 1.
Brown, who had also been appointed executive director, joined the CoAL board after almost 14 years at Impala Platinum (Implats), where he served as a CFO from January 1999 to August 2006, and then as CEO from September 2006 to June 2012.
He is also a nonexecutive director at Vodacom and Edcon Holdings and a member of the Accenture South African advisory board.
A chartered accountant, Brown completed his articles with law firm Ernst and Young, graduating from the University of Cape Town with a BCom CTA.
Following his appointment, African Minerals CEO and CoAL nonexecutive director Bernard Pryor was appointed interim chairperson of CoAL, effective February 1, while the search for a permanent chairperson continued.
Between 2006 and 2010, Pryor held senior executive positions within Anglo American as head of business development and as Anglo Ferrous Brazil CEO.
“I am delighted that David has joined the company on a permanent basis as CEO. CoAL now has the ability to build on the significant progress that has been made over the last 12 months," said Pryor.
“David brings substantial South African mining experience and has been instrumental in defining the CoAL turnaround strategy and [starting] its implementation. His wealth of experience will be vital as we shape CoAL towards its strategy of becoming a significant coking coal producer in South Africa," he added.