VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed project developer Kerr Mines has appointed Claudio Ciavarella as CEO and Martin Kostuik as president and director with immediate effect.

"The additions of Claudio and Martin to Kerr's management team will provide invaluable business and technical leadership as we advance our flagship Copperstone gold mine. Their experience and expertise will be especially valuable as we begin to execute exploration and development programmes, designed to better define our resource and optimise Copperstone's economics,” said chairperson Fahad Al Tamimi.

The company is looking to strengthen its leadership team through the addition of experienced executives who bring business, mining, operational and technical expertise, as it moves forward with development of its past-producing Copperstone project, in Arizona.

With the appointments of Ciavarella and Kostuik, Chris Hopkins will relinquish his interim president and CEO roles, resume his role as CFO and assume corporate secretary responsibilities for the company on a full-time basis.

Kerr also announced the resignation of Gregory Gibson as a director, effective immediately.

The Copperstone project has considerable existing infrastructure, comprising a power line and substation, as well as three water wells, offices, maintenance shops, a laboratory building, a permitted tailings facility, a 450 t/d processing facility and mill, all sufficient for the proposed Copperstone restart. This will also aid in reducing the initial capital outlay to get things started, the company advised.

The company is currently engaged in a two-pronged approach to restarting production, focusing on defining and expanding the current resources and strengthening the mines economics before restart. To this end, it expects to release the results of an updated preliminary economic assessment during the fourth quarter, followed by a production decision in the first quarter of 2018.

Copperstone has historically produced about 500 000 oz of gold.