TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US potash and fertiliser producer The Mosaic Company announced on Wednesday that the board had chosen executive VP for operations and COO James ‘Joc’ O'Rourke to succeed James Prokopanko as president and CEO, effective from August 5.
Prokopanko would continue to serve as senior adviser until his planned retirement on January 4, 2016.
Prokopanko, 61, had been Mosaic’s president and CEO since January 1, 2007. Before that, he served as COO and executive VP since July 31, 2006.
O'Rourke, 54, has served as Mosaic's executive VP for operations and COO since 2012, and joined the company as executive VP for operations in 2009. Before joining Mosaic, O'Rourke was president of Barrick Gold’s Australia Pacific business, the largest gold producer in Australia, where he was responsible for ten gold and copper mines in Australia and Papua New Guinea.