TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2015) - Continental Gold Limited (CNL.TO)(CGOOF) ("Continental" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Leon Teicher as Executive Chairman of the Company.
Mr. Teicher joined the Continental Board in April 2013 and has served as non-executive Chairman since April 2014. He was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerrejón Coal Ltd., Colombia's largest private coal producer and exporter and one of the largest integrated mining companies in the world, with mine-railway-port and marketing operations. Throughout his career, Mr. Teicher has held leadership roles in both the mining and high-tech industries, including as Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, and later member of the board, of Carbocol S.A. (a state-owned Colombian coal company), and general manager of various regional and country operations for Unisys Corporation, a global information technology company. He also founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Xeon Technology Corp., a software business development company. Currently a member of the Board of Governors of Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Mr. Teicher is also a member of the board of directors of Fedesarrollo, Colombia's leading economic think-tank, and Cementos Argos (Medellín, Colombia), the fourth largest cement producer in Latin America and second largest in the Southeast USA. Mr. Teicher holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Economics from Universidad de los Andes. Among other distinctions, he has been a Fulbright Scholar (1976-1978) and has received various recognition awards from the Colombian government. Mr. Teicher is a dual citizen of Colombia and Canada.
"We are very grateful that Leon has accepted the Executive Chairman role at this critical juncture of the Company's development," stated Ari Sussman, President and CEO. "Since Leon has joined Continental, he has been instrumental in helping to advance our corporate initiatives in Colombia. His extensive experience with operating a large mine in Colombia in a socially responsible manner is a tremendous asset to the Company."
"I have sincerely enjoyed working with the Continental Board and executive team since joining the Company in 2013 and I look forward to getting more involved on a day-to-day basis," Leon Teicher commented. "I see a very real opportunity to build a world-class and socially responsible mine at Buriticá, one that benefits all stakeholders. My vision is to establish the Company as a fundamental partner of the Buriticá community, creating a foundation that provides long-term employment and opportunities for the people and operates harmoniously with the community, the formalized miners and the respective government entities. Successfully accomplishing this will also support our goal of developing other important resources in Colombia."
The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Guillermo Salgado as Vice-President, Environment, of the Company. Ari Sussman, CEO, will also assume the title of President of the Company.
Mr. Salgado is a seasoned executive with over 10 years of environmental experience in Colombia, and has been Environmental Manager of the Company since November 2014. He was previously Environmental and Community Manager for Colombian Natural Resources S.A.S. ("CNR") (a Goldman Sachs company) where he was responsible for overall environmental compliance for the Sociedad Portuaria Rio Cordoba, El Hatillo, La Francia and Cerro Largo mines. Prior to CNR, Mr. Salgado was Sustainability Corporate Manager for C. I. Prodeco S.A. (Glencore International), where he had overall responsibility for environmental and community issues for the Puerto Nuevo Port Society, Carbones de La Jagua, Consorcio Minero Unido, Carbones El Tesoro and Prodeco mines. Over the course of his career, Mr. Salgado has successfully implemented environmental management plans and obtained new and modified environmental licences for various business initiatives. Mr. Salgado holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia.