Harte Gold unveils senior executive changes
Harte Gold Corp. [HRT-TSX; HRTFF-OTCH4O-FSE] said its President and CEO Sam Coetzer is stepping down for personal reasons, but will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.
He is being replaced by Frazer Bourchier, a professional engineer who was chief operating officer at Detour Gold and spearheaded the 2018 turnaround of the Detour mine in northeastern Ontario prior to its sale to Kirkland Lake Gold. He was previously CEO at Nevsun Resources.
The transition takes effect on September 21, 2020.
“Due to personal issues, I regretfully made the decision to step away from day-to-day duties as President and CEO of Harte Gold,” said Coetzer in a press release that was issued after the close of trading on September 17, 2020.
Harte Gold shares declined in early trading, falling 6.0% or $0.01 to 16 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 28 cents and $0.07.
Harte is Ontario’s newest gold producer through its wholly-owned Sugar Zone mine 80 km east of the Hemlo gold camp in northern Ontario. A feasibility study was completed on the Sugar Zone mine in February, 2019, which estimated total reserves at 890,000 ounces of gold. Exploration continues on the Sugar Zone, which covers 79,335 hectares in a greenstone belt.
The company recently restarted operations following a temporary suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sugar Zone Mine is expected to produce 20,000 to 24,000 ounces of gold this year, rising to between 60,000 and 65,000 ounces in 2021. Total gold production for 2019 was 27,316 ounces.
After 2020, production growth is expected to continue as higher-grade areas of the mine become accessible. While mined tonnages are expected to be consistent in 2021 and 2022, the average grade of areas mined in those years is expected to improve.
The company is launching a feasibility study to explore the expansion of the Sugar Zone mine to a 1,200 tonnes/day.
In addition to the Sugar Zone property, Harte Gold also holds the Stoughton Abitibi property on the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone, east of Timmins, Ontario. That property is adjacent to the Holloway Gold Mine.
Dr. Martin Raffield is stepping down as executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Dr. Raffield is a resident of the United States and made a decision due to constraints on cross-border travel. He will remain as a consultant until completion of the new feasibility study, expected in Q4 2020. Dan Gagnon, currently general manager of the Sugar zone mine, has been named vice-president operations.