Members of the media
The chairperson of the board of directors of Rössing Uranium Limited, Mrs Foibe Namene, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Storrie as the new managing director of Rössing Uranium Limited as from 29 October 2018.
Richard joins Rössing from Rio Tinto Serbia where he successfully led the Jadar project over the last five years. The Jadar project in Serbia is a significant, world-class lithium-borate resource. Richard played a significant role in leading the team in establishing a strong safety record and to better understand the orebody and the project's overall technical and economic viability.
He has over 20 years international mining experience and has worked for Rio Tinto in its top tier open-pit and underground operations in both developing and first world countries around the world. Richard’s mining career has taken him to Alaska, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Mongolia, Serbia and Namibia. This includes his first international assignment with Rio Tinto in 1997 working at Rössing as the load and haul, and grade control engineer.
“I am confident that under his leadership we’ll be in excellent hands to further build on our five priorities of safety, people, partnerships, growth and cash,” said the chairperson.
Rössing’s current managing director, Werner Duvenhage, will ensure a thorough transition to Richard before taking up another position in Rio Tinto. Mrs Namene announced to employees today that Werner accepted the position of managing director at Rio Tinto Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa. He will be transitioning to RBM later this month. The Rössing chairperson congratulated the current MD, saying: “Werner’s appointment to the managing director role at RBM is testimony to his leadership capability and consistent with the results he has achieved during his time at Rössing.”
RBM is South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer and beneficiation company. The company was formed in 1976 to mine the vast mineral rich sands of the northern KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, and produces predominantly rutile, zircon, titania slag, titanium dioxide feedstock and high purity iron.
About Rössing Uranium
Uranium was discovered in the Namib Desert in 1928, but it was not until intensive exploration in the late 1950s that much interest was shown in the area. After discovering numerous uranium occurrences, Rio Tinto secured the rights to the low-grade Rössing deposit in 1966. Ten years later, in 1976, Rössing Uranium, Namibia’s first commercial uranium mine, began operating and celebrated its 40th year of production in 2016.
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.
Issued by:
Rössing Uranium Corporate Communications
Enquiries:
Daylight Ekandjo
Manager Partnerships, Communication & External Affairs
Rössing Uranium Limited