Ajax will have new person at helm of project
One of the chief overseers of the proposed Ajax copper and gold mine has stepped down.
Andrew Pooler, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for the Abacus Mining and Exploration Corporation, resigned late last week.
According to a release from the company, Pooler stepped down from his post “to pursue other opportunities.”
Pooler had worked on the Ajax project — proposed to be developed south of Aberdeen — for Abacus since 2008 and was charged with overseeing the project through its developmental stages, construction and operation.
His resignation comes a month after Polish mining firm KGHM paid Abacus $30 million to increase its ownership in the local mining project to 80 per cent from 51 per cent.
Pooler’s replacement on the Ajax file is expected to be selected by KGHM in the next few months.
“Abacus has been the operator up to now but, with KGHM International coming into the picture right now, they’re going to be taking over the operation,” said Norman Thompson, community-relations manager for the project.
“And, that was always the plan, with them taking over 80 per cent of the joint venture.”
Thompson said Pooler’s resignation will not have an effect on the project’s proceedings.
The mine is in the early stages of the environmental-assessment process, with KGHM Ajax working on responses to hundreds of questions and concerns submitted during a public feedback period, which ended in March.
In a release, Abacus president and CEO Jim Excell said Pooler’s work on the project “helped navigate the project’s successful transition through feasibility towards production.”
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