Batero Gold appoints former Newmont exec Len Harris to its board of directors

Canada-based Batero Gold (CVE:BAT) announced after the bell Wednesday the appointment of Leonard Harris to the company’s board of directors.
Harris is a metallurgist, with over six decades of experience in the mining sector, such as building and operating mines in South America and across the globe.
He joins Batero as the company evaluates its leach processing operation at its Batero-Quinchia gold project in Colombia.
The company said Harris will provide valuable technical, environmental and community input as Batero focuses on the leach processing circuit at the La Cumbre gold deposit.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Len," said the company’s president and CEO, Brandon Rook.
"In addition to his vast technical expertise, he provides an enormous wealth of knowledge in community and government relations in South America."
Harris held many senior positions at Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) over the span of 20 years.
He was the first general manager at Newmont’s Yanacocha heap leach mine in Peru, currently the largest gold mine in South America.
Harris then became president and general manager at Newmont Peru, and was vice president and general manager at Newmont Latin America.
Prior to his time at Newmont, he spent over 15 years at Cerro de Pasco Corp’s smelting, refining and ore processing operation in Peru.
He is a currently a consultant and director for exploration and development companies.
The company reported at the end of April that it had closed an oversubscribed special warrant financing co-led by Raymond James and Cormark Securities.
It also completed a non-brokered special warrant financing on the same terms as the brokered financing.
Batero, therefore, issued a total of 9.7 million special warrants at a price of 65 Canadian cents each, for total proceeds of $6.3 million.
The company said the new funds will be used to advance its Quinchia project in Colombia, within a planned preliminary economic assessment, including additional drilling and metallurgical work, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Batero Gold’s Quinchia gold project is located within the Middle Cauca Belt in Colombia.
The project is host to 3.5 million ounces of gold in the indicated resource category (248.5 million tonnes averaging 0.44 g/t gold) and 2.6 million ounce of gold in the inferred mineral resource category (242.4 million tonnes averaging 0.33 g/t gold).
Batero's $8 million, 12-month work program for the project in 2012 includes 15,000 metres of drilling, and an updated resource estimate within a PEA for the La Cumbre area of the property.