Miners across Papua New Guinea have refreshed their boards for 2025. PNG Mining takes a look at some of the key appointments.
K92 Mining
In a bid to strengthen its leadership team, K92 issued a slew of new appointments in January.
These included Heidi Grobler, who will take on the position of vice president – human resources, Stanley Komunt in the general manager, external affairs role, and Andrew Kohler, who has been promoted to interim vice president – exploration.
Kohler will take over the role from Chris Muller, who departs the company after more than eight years of service.
K92 Mining chief executive officer and director John Lewins has welcomed the changes.
“As K92 Mining continues to grow and evolve, the leadership changes announced reflect our firm commitment to building a strong, dynamic team capable of driving our success well into the future,” he said.
Of the leaders, only Komunt is a new recruit for K92; Grobler joined the company in 2021 as head of human resources, while Kohler took on the position of mine geology and exploration manager in 2016.
“Over the past three years, Heidi Grobler has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication, resourcefulness, and the ability to excel in many roles, making her a natural fit for this promotion,” Lewins said.
“We are also pleased to welcome Stanley Komunt … who brings a wealth of community and government relations expertise in PNG, most recently with Newcrest and Newmont.
“I would also like to recognise Andrew Kohler … with over eight years of significant contributions to K92 and a wealth of industry expertise, Andrew is well-positioned to ensure continuity and leadership during this transitional period.”
Harmony
Like K92, Harmony has appointed a hat-trick of industry leaders to its board.
Mametja Moshe, Zanele Matlala and Mangisi Gule have all been appointed to the company’s board of directors this month, with Moshe and Matlala serving as members of the audit and risk committee and Gule serving on the remuneration committee.
“We are pleased to welcome our new independent non-executive directors,” Harmony chairman Patrice Motsepe said.
“Each of them have got expertise and experience that will contribute to Harmony continuing to being a globally competitive company that create attractive returns for its shareholders and benefits all of its various stakeholders.”
There has also been some internal movement on the Harmony board, with Martin Prinsloo taking on the role of audit and risk committee chairman and Given Sibiya serving as chairman of the remuneration committee.
Tolu Minerals
Tolu’s 2025 will be marked by a targeted exploration program at its Tolukuma gold mine, and it needs a strong leader to head the program up: enter Chris Muller.
Muller joins Tolu as its executive group geologist after almost nine years leading K92’s exploration team.
Tolu managing director and chief executive officer Iain Macpherson said hiring PNG’s “foremost geologist and explorer of recent years” was a boon for the company.
“Chris joins Tolu at a key stage in the company’s exciting growth trajectory and brings unparalleled experience, success and no small dose of enthusiasm to Tolu’s very large and prospective exploration profile,” Macpherson said.
Muller has over 25 years of experience in the underground and surface mining sectors, and has been committed to PNG for the past 20 years.
“The timely arrival of Chris brings unparalleled capability to Tolu’s already first-rate team and is further demonstration of Tolu’s commitment to deliver another world-class gold/silver and potentially copper producer in what is rapidly becoming one of the leading global gold/copper provinces,” Macpherson said.
Subscribe to PNG Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
