Investors ponder Goldplat management shake-up

African gold producer Goldplat on Tuesday announced a series of board changes. Nigel Wyatt has been named a new non-executive director, while Robert Smith will retire from his position as executive director at the end of the year.

Wyatt has more than 40 years' experience in mining, having worked for a subsidiary of De Beers, Chromex Mining; as well as Dunlop Industrial Products. He joins Goldplat immediately. He currently holds additional directorships in European Metals and International Copper Resources.

Chairman Brian Moritz thanked Smith for his contribution and welcomed Wyatt to the board: "I am delighted to welcome Nigel Wyatt to the board and believe his expertise in the southern African mining arena as well as his experience as an AIM company director will be invaluable to Goldplat as it continues to build itself as a profitable, market-leading gold-recovery company in Africa."

Shares were flat on the announcement, after suffering a sustained downward slope this past year. Goldplat will announce full-year results on 6 November, before its AGM on 5 December.

Analyst view

Analysts at house broker SP Angel noted that the addition of Wyatt should strengthen the board, which previously only had a chairman in a non-executive role.

"His background in specialised materials and processing should also be helpful at a time when Robert Smith is stepping down," noted SP Angel. "A team of younger technical managers have been hired to work under Robert Smith during the course of this year and we hope that steps are taken by the company to bed this down prior to Bob's departure."

Investor view

Interactive Investor discussion board users were poring over the announcement, not sure if the worst was out of the way for Goldplat as a company. User 'jimmyredwine' summed up the sentiment: "We need a clear plan for the future and realistic forward projections and indications on dividend policy."