Toronto's Argonaut Gold has selected Larry Radford is its new president and CEO of Argonaut Gold, effective March 21.
He succeeds company founder Pete Dougherty who left the company just before last Christmas.
It'll be Radford's job to get the Magino Mine Project, near Dubreuilville, over the construction finish line in 2023 and stay within the $800-million budget.
According to a March 7 news release from the company, Radford has spent more than 35 years on the technical and operations side of the mining industry.
He was recently chief operating officer of Gold Standard Ventures Corporation, where he oversaw the development of the South Railroad Project, including permitting, feasibility studies and exploration. Radford was also senior vice president and chief operating officer at Hecla Mining Company where he managed several underground mines in Quebec, Idaho, Alaska, Nevada, and Mexico. He's also held senior management positions with Kinross Gold Corporation and Barrick at a number of mine sites around the world.
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The release said Radford is a second-generation miner who began his mining career in 1984 with Coeur D'Alene Mines Corporation after receiving a bachelor of science in mining engineering from the University of Idaho and an MBA from the University of Alaska.
"Larry has had an impressive career in mining operations and project delivery," said Argonaut Chairman Jim Kofman in a statement.
"During his time with both Barrick and Kinross, he made a name for himself – including working directly with members of Argonaut's board of directors – as someone who was mandated to either turn around existing mines or deliver on projects that had experienced challenges during construction and/or ramp up."
Radford knows the importance of delivering Magino on time and on budget.
"Argonaut is a company that has found a niche in that is has over a decade long history of operating lower grade mines profitably. With the Magino project scheduled to come online in 2023, and with the exploration upside at Magino that could lead to processing expansion or underground mine development or both, I see an opportunity to dramatically increase Argonaut's gold production and lower Argonaut's consolidated cost base.
"It's clear that the execution and delivery of the Magino project is the largest value driver for the company and I look forward to leading the existing team to ensure we execute and deliver."
Argonaut has also decided to completely cash out of its ownership in Magna Gold. The company announced March 8 that it has sold all of its 9.7 million common shares in Magna - representing 10.8 per cent of the shares - to raise $6.67 million.
