TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The US’s top gold producer Newmont Mining on Friday said president and COO Gary Goldberg has assumed his new position as president and CEO and joined the board, in line with a succession plan announced in December, when outgoing CEO Richard O’Brien announced his plans to retire.
Goldberg said he would focus on strengthening Newmont’s fundamentals as a mining company and delivering greater value to shareholders.
“My immediate priorities are to drive a more disciplined approach to capital allocation and to set and meet aggressive cost targets,” Goldberg said.
Mining veteran Goldberg has a wealth of mining experience. Before joining Newmont in December 2011, Goldberg spent 30 years at Rio Tinto based in the US, UK and Australia and served in increasingly senior positions in its gold, copper, coal and industrial minerals businesses.
He was president and CEO of Rio Tinto Minerals from 2006 to 2011, president and CEO of Rio Tinto Borax from 2004 to 2006, MD of Coal and Allied Industries from 2001 to 2004 and president and CEO of Kennecott Energy from 1999 to 2001.
Goldberg also served as chairman of the US National Mining Association from 2008 to 2010 and formed and led its CEO's Safety Task Force. Under his leadership at Rio Tinto Borax, the company was twice named America's safest large mining operation by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and was the first mining company to receive the California Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.
In Australia, he was appointed to the government's Business Roundtable on Sustainable Development.
He holds a BSc in Mining Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a MBA from the University of Utah.