JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Dec. 19, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Board of Durban Roodepoort Deep, Limited (JSE:DUR) (Nasdaq:DROOY) (ASX:DRD) announced today (19 December 2003) that, with immediate effect, the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) have been split and an Independent Senior Non-Executive Director has been appointed.
Ian Murray, formerly Deputy CEO, has become CEO, and will retain responsibility for the financial function.
Geoff Campbell, currently a non-executive director, becomes the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and will be responsible for effective corporate governance between the Board, the Executive and external stakeholders.
Mark Wellesley-Wood remains as Executive Chairman and will retain responsibility for all operations as well as for the Board.
The DRD Board functions through four principal committees:
-- the Executive Committee (Exco), which controls the day to day
management of the company, and which will now be chaired by Ian
Murray;
-- the Audit Committee, which supervises financial controls and the
internal audit function, is chaired by independent, non-executive
director, Rob Hume with the remaining members consisting of
independent, non-executive directors;
-- the Remuneration Committee, which handles all remuneration and
rewards for all senior staff. It is chaired by Geoff Campbell,
also an independent, non-executive director, with the other
members consisting of independent, non-executive directors; and
-- the Risk Committee, which will be established at the next Board
Meeting. This new committee will review risk management and
Health, Safety and Environmental Compliance. This new committee
will be chaired by an independent non-executive director Doug
Blackmur.
Commenting on these changes, Mark Wellesley-Wood, said: "Our business is still evolving and these changes serve to provide the stability and certainty in execution necessary for future growth. Ian and I have worked well together over the last three years and I am confident that, with our strengthened management team, DRD's continued growth is assured."
Durban Roodepoort Deep, Limited (DRD) ranks among the world's 10 largest gold producers, with production in the 2003 financial year totaling 870,000 ounces. The company has a track record of success in extending the lives of older mines. In South Africa it owns the Blyvooruitzicht mine and North West Operations (comprising Hartebeestfontein and Buffelsfontein mines), and has a 40% stake in Crown Gold Recoveries (comprising East Rand Prorietary Mines Limited and the Crown dump retreatment operation). In Australasia, a key target area for growth, the company owns the Tolukuma mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG), has a 19.81% interest in Fijian operator Emperor Mines, and a 20% interest in the PNG-based Porgera Joint Venture. DRD has primary listings on the Johannesburg (JSE:DUR) and Australian (ASX:DRD) stock exchanges and secondary listings on Nasdaq (DROOY), the London Stock Exchange and the Paris and Brussels Bourses. Its shares are also traded on the regulated unofficial market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Berlin OTC Market.
Some of the information in this media release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or other future financial performance. We wish to caution you that these statements are only projections and those actual events or results may differ materially. In reviewing, please refer to the documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, specifically to our annual report on Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including such risks as difficulties in being a marginal producer of gold, changes and reliability of ore reserve estimates, gold price volatility, currency fluctuations, problems in the integration of operations, exploration and mining risks and a variety of risks described in our annual report on Form 20-F. We undertake no obligation to publicly release results of any of these forward looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unexpected results.
Cautionary note to US investors: the United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use the term "resources" (which includes "measured", "indicated", and "inferred") in our media releases, which the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filing with the SEC. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No. 0-28800, available from us at 45 Empire Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa. You can also obtain this form from the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml