Peter Whittall Appointed Pike River Coal Limited Chief Executive Officer
14.09.2010 | ABN Newswire
13:15 AEST Sept 14, 2010 ABN Newswire (C) 2004-2010 Asia Business News PL. All Rights Reserved.Wellington, New Zealand (ABN Newswire) - Pike River Coal Limited (NZE: PRC) (PINK: PKRRF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter W Whittall as Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective 2 October 2010.
Mr Whittall has held the position of General Manager-Mines since he joined Pike River at the company's Greymouth mine site in 2005. During that time he has been responsible for on-site construction, mine development, recruitment of the new operations workforce and has been closely involved with the company's recent capital raisings. He moved to the Wellington head office of Pike River earlier this year.
Mr Whittall holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and a Masters of Business Administration both from the University of Wollongong. Prior to joining Pike River he had 24 years experience in underground coal mines for BHP Billiton's (ASX: BHP) (NYSE: BHP) Illawarra Coal including managing the Dendrobium, Tower and Appin coal mines in NSW.
Pike River Chairman John Dow welcomed Mr Whittall's appointment.
'Peter Whittall brings nearly 30 years of experience as a coal miner and coal mining executive to his new role as Pike CEO.
'He has a practical understanding of our business and as a seasoned executive is well-equipped to lead Pike River through the transition from mine development to steady-state mining operations.'
About Pike River Coal Limited:
Pike River Coal Limited (NZE: PRC) continues to make good progress in the development of its underground premium hard coking coal mine, located 50 kilometres north east of Greymouth on the South Island's West Coast. Under Pike River's mine plan 17.6 million tonnes of high quality, low ash coking coal will be produced over the mine life for use in the steel making industry, particularly in Asia and the sub-continent. Pike River's hard coking coal will be used by coke and steel makers and will be an important component in the coke making blend due to its low ash, low phosphorous and high fluidity.
Contact:
Pike River Coal Limited
John Dow, Chairman
Peter Whittall, CEO designate
Tel: +64-4-494-0190
http://www.pike.co.nz
