JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold and copper producer Newmont Mining has tasked mining executive Dean Gehring with leading its South American business, effective June 1.

Gehring will succeed Trent Tempel, who is retiring after 33 years at the firm.

The South American assets, which include the Yanacocha gold mine, in Peru, account for around 8% of Newmont’s attributable gold production, but this excludes anticipated production from the Merian gold mine, in Suriname, in 2017. The South American operations also account for about 9% of the company’s gold reserves.

Merian achieved commercial production on time, was $150-million below budget in October 2016 and is anticipated to deliver more than a decade of profitable production.

Gehring will be responsible for enhancing the performance of Newmont’s South American operations and their prospects for future development, continuing on the execution of the NYSE-listed firm’s strategy to improve the underlying business, strengthen the portfolio and create value for shareholders and other stakeholders.

“Dean is an experienced business and operations leader with a 25-year record of delivering step-change improvements in safety, productivity, project execution and sustainability,” said Newmont executive VP and COO Tom Palmer.

Gehring joins Newmont from Rio Tinto, having served as head of safety and security for the group’s global operations in recent years.

He has also served as Rio Tinto Minerals president and CEO and VP of operations, as well as GM of operations and projects with Boron Operations, in California, project development at Ivanhoe-Oyu Tolgoi, in Mongolia, and resource development at Kennecott Copper, in Utah.

He also held managerial roles in engineering, projects and mining operations with PT Freeport Indonesia, BHP Billiton, Hecla Mining and Magma Copper.