Alwyn Pretorius heads Newmont’s Africa Operations

Alwyn Pretorius has assumed the position of Newmont Mining Corporation’s Africa operations as Senior Vice President, Africa Operations after the company announced his official appointment in March. 

Mr. Pretorius brings more than 20 years of gold sector experience to the role with extensive expertise in underground deep-level gold mining. 

Before joining Newmont, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Harmony Gold Company Limited, one of South Africa’s leading gold producers. 

“Africa is one of the Newmont’s key growth regions, with Ghana representing 16 percent of the company’s global production in 2015,” said Mr. Pretorius. 

“Thanks to our employees, contractors and other stakeholders Newmont successfully confronted the many challenges facing the business over the last few years and continues to perform well. Our task ahead is to take our performance to the next level and deliver safe, efficient and responsible production that creates sustainable value for all of our stakeholders.”

The Africa Region has maintained one of Newmont’s lowest injury rates and cost profiles at Akyem; and is advancing value accretive projects at its Ahafo operations.

Over the past few years, the Region has implemented a number of business improvement initiatives to ensure the business remains sustainable in the face of a number of challenges confronting the mining industry. 

Mr. Pretorius’s experience includes leadership roles at Harmony and ARMgold, where he managed portfolios of up to 10 mines with annual production of 1.3 million ounces of gold. In these roles, he delivered significant safety, productivity and sustainability improvements, and forged strong stakeholder relationships. 

He has held several other management positions at Harmony, including Safety, Health and Technology Executive and Chief Operating Officer of the company’s South African operations.

His extensive experience in the gold mining sector will prove valuable in advancing Newmont Africa’s growth prospects in Ghana and Ethiopia. 

 “Guiding our path forward will be our commitment to creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining,” Mr. Pretorius said.