Great Western Minerals appoints former Golden Star CEO as new chief financial officer

Great Western Minerals Group (CVE:GWG) (OTCQX:GWMGF) has appointed Thomas G. Mair to vice president of finance and chief financial officer, a move the company says will help as it progresses with the development of its Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa. 

The manufacturer and supplier of rare earth-based metal alloys is looking to vertically integrate by restarting its Steenkampskraal mine, which will eventually provide the downstream feed for its manufacturing. 

Mair, who was most recently the president and CEO at Golden Star Resources (TSE:GSC), will take over from James G. Davidson, who will be retiring. The new appointment will be effective July 8, but the company said Davidson will be staying on for at least the next 90 days to help with the transition. 

"Tom has nearly 30 years of progressive international business  experience in the natural resources industry," said Great Western president and CEO Marc LeVier, in a statement released late Tuesday. 

"His vast experience and leadership in financial  management will be invaluable to GWMG as we progress the development of  our vertical integration strategy with the advancement of SKK and  expansion of our manufacturing services."

Mair joined Golden Star Resources as CFO in 2007, and was previous at Nemont Mining in a number of executive roles, including director of the business process improvement unit.

Separately, the company also said Tuesday that Pieter de Jager has assumed, on a full time basis, the position of financial director at Rare Earth Extraction Co. -- the company's subsidiary that owns the Steenkampskraal project. He was previously with the subsidiary on a part-time basis. 

According to Great Western's statement, de Jager has more than 15 years experience in financial management  and, most recently, was the group CFO at Andulela Investment Holdings Limited, an investment holding company with investments in mining and steel processing.  

Great Western's primary resource is the Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa. The mine, which was previously in production, is surrounded by existing infrastructure. 

In May, the company said on its conference call following the release of its quarterly results that it planned to move ahead with only “the most critical initiatives." Last month, Great Western announced it had signed a letter of intent with Star Uranium Corp. (CVE:SUV) to enter into a joint venture to develop its exploration project at Hoidas Lake in northern Saskatchewan.