Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya—The president and chief executive officer of the Melbourne-based OceanaGold Corp., which owns the Didipio mine in Kasibu town here, has announced his resignation.
Mick Wilkes has served as OGC president and CEO in the last 10 years.
He was instrumental in developing Didipio as a flagship mine along with two other operational mines in New Zealand and in the United States.
“While OceanaGold has been a huge part of my life in the last 10 years, I have decided to step down. I am doing so to allow me to spend more time with my family, particularly my young daughter who has ever known her dad as someone always away from home, and I want to change that,” Wilkes said in a written message to employees.
Wilkes praised the company’s success as a mid-tier mining firm operating in New Zealand, the Philippines and the United States.
After the Didipio mine was commissioned in 2013, OGC was able to acquire Waihi mine in New Zealand and Haile mine in state of South Carolina, USA.
“I have reflected on all the great things we have achieved at OceanaGold during my tenure. At first, we took the daunting challenge of building Didipio and did so incredibly successfully, creating a truly world class mine,” Wilkes said.
OGC Board Chairman Ian Reid announced that Wilkes will be replaced by Michael Holmes, the current Chief Operating Officer of OGC.
The Didipio mine operation was halted in October last year after it failed to secure the extension of its Financial and/or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) which expired in June.
The FTAA serves as its primary permit to extract gold and copper resources.
The extension of OGC’s Didipio Mine FTAA has been opposed by Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla.
The company is awaiting the action of President Rodrigo Duterte on its application for FTAA extension.
