Mike Andrews
November 24, 2010
Mike Andrews named President and Chief Operating Officer
In the Board meeting immediately following the AGM on November 19, 2010, Mike Andrews was named President and COO of Southern Arc. He’s been a Board member of the Company for five years. The news release says it all:
http://www.southernarcminerals.com/news/news_releases/index.php?&content_id=251
I see him as an excellent partner to Hamish Campbell. He’s lived and worked in Indonesia for the past 22 years, most recently taking Kingsrose Mining’s Way Linggo project from early exploration into a producing mine. I’ve met him on a number of occasions and have been impressed each time. He’s clearly proficient on the technical side. He also is able to speak to lay people (like me) in terms we can understand. That’s a real asset for a Company intent on having an ongoing conversation with investors.
I also see him as an excellent partner to John Proust, as he brings significant corporate experience to the table. Moreover, to the extent that Proust can be freed up by Andrews to focus on corporate development (read: deals), shareholders will be the beneficiaries.
What I make of this appointment is just one more key component in the infrastructure Proust is creating by which to enable this Company to forge forward into a very active stage of its development. Along with the recent appointments of Celeste Curran as a contract negotiating specialist, and Steve Garwin as a senior technical advisor, this appointment contributes meaningfully to the rounding of the senior team.
Of interest, Mike Andrews is also the main shareholder in a company that builds and operates diamond drill rigs of various sizes for mineral exploration. He tells me that they are currently completing a new rig every ten days. He is quick to note that any contracts with Southern Arc will be at arm’s length in competitive bidding scenarios (he’s very much aware of the risk of conflict of interest), but also adds that he does not anticipate any shortages of rigs for Southern Arc during this important coming phase of activity.
June 7, 2010
Director
The Company says:
Mike Andrews is a geologist with over 26 years of research and mining industry experience in gold, copper, coal and iron exploration, and provides Southern Arc with valuable insight with respect to the considerable mineral opportunities available in Indonesia. He holds an honours degree in Geology from the University of Reading, and a doctorate in exploration geochemistry from the University of Wales. Dr. Andrews currently manages an underground gold/silver mining development project in Indonesia for Pacific Goldfields Pty Ltd.
Dr. Andrews is also a director of Kingsrose Mining Ltd, Advance Concept Holdings Ltd., Paragon Resources (Hong Kong) Ltd., Managing director of Pacific Goldfields Pty Ltd. and Natarang Offshore Pty Ltd, Australian subsidiaries of Advance Concept Holdings Ltd., and director of Indonesian PT Natarang Mining and PT Paragon Perdana Mining.
Previously he held the positions of executive director and chief geologist of AuIron Energy Ltd and of Director Gold Operations for Meekatharra Minerals Ltd. in Indonesia. Between 1995 and 1998, Dr. Andrews managed the Teck-MM Gold Indonesian Joint Venture, an exploration portfolio of thirteen gold and copper projects in Indonesia. He has also previously held senior exploration positions with Ashton Mining Ltd, Aurora Gold Ltd and Muswellbrook Energy and Minerals Ltd. Dr. Andrews is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
I say: Mike Andrews speaks English. What I mean to say is that, as a former professor of geology, he is skilled in translating highly technical concepts into a language I can understand. For this, I am very grateful. He made an excellent presentation at the March 2010 PDAC session in Toronto. Everyone I spoke to (including my wife, with absolutely no related experience) understood what he was saying, and found it useful to seeing the big picture.
Dr. Andrews is not afraid to share his enthusiasm. At the PDAC, he confirmed his proclamation to me on site in 2007 that he was still ‘over the moon’ on Selodong. At the same time, he’s not overly promotional. He’s just excited about key Southern Arc prospects.
Of key interest, Mike Andrews demonstrates current success in taking a property to a producing mine. The Way Linggo project is his own, now going into production on southern Sumatra (read about that project, a strong analogy to SA’s own Lemonga prospect in Taliwang, by clicking here). Personally, and in part because of this demonstrated success, I’d be pleased to see him take a more active role in SA operations.
Andrews on the left in the picture, below, shown with Hamish Campbell by a streamside outcropping at Selodong.
