owen hegartys new gig

Just an update on what he is up to if anyone is curious

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Smart Rich Energy Finance (Holdings) Ltd.'s new chief executive, Owen Hegarty, said Tuesday he has an "aggressive attitude" toward expansion by the Hong Kong-listed company, which is buying the Martabe gold and silver project in Indonesia.
He said his optimistic outlook is backed by his bullish view on gold prices, which he expects to exceed US$1,000 an ounce, or even hit US$1,500 ounce in the foreseeable
future, up from around US$923 an ounce now. The company is also seeking to sell HK$4.55 billion (US$587.0 million) worth of new shares through Morgan Stanley, which will give it added "fire power."
Smart Rich is buying Martabe from China Sci-Tech Holdings Ltd. (0985.HK), which bought the project from OZ Minerals Ltd. (OZL.AU) for US$211 million in April. Hegarty was previously a director of OZ Minerals. Australian media have reported he was
subsequently one of the bidders for Martabe through a private company. Though his bid for the Indonesian gold project failed, he now gets to run the mine after becoming Smart Rich's chief executive last week.
"We want to be aggressive in terms of...putting our foot on the future, in terms of expansions around (the Martabe project), expansions into other parts of North Sumatra,
other parts of Indonesia...and also Australia," Hegarty told a group of reporters in Hong Kong.
"Already in the region, we are looking at a number of prospects of...maybe early-stage prospects or existing operations," he said.
The Martabe project has proven and probable gold reserves of 2.2 million ounces and silver reserves of 29.7 million ounces.
Hegarty said the project, which has been suspended since November due to lack of funds,
will be restarted as soon as the proceeds from the share placement come through. He said
he expects the project to start producing its first gold in the first quarter of 2011, later than the earlier forecast of March 2010. The project will require US$360.2 million of capital expenditure, of which US$284.5 million will be met from the share sale, Hegarty said. The remaining proceeds from the placement will be used for acquisitions.
"We are raising sufficient money not only to buy the (Martabe) mine, not only to build the mine, but also to have some fire power to ensure we are able to take advantage
of the opportunity," Hegarty said. He said some private investors and funds have expressed an interest in the placement. A roadshow for the deal will take place in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, London and Sydney, and Hegarty said he hopes the fund-raising will be completed in a few weeks.
He said he got the job at Smart Rich after OZ sold the Martabe project to China
Sci-Tech, and he doesn't have a plan to buy out Smart Rich.
Smart Rich's management team will be awarded about 5% of the company's equity
as part of an incentive scheme, Hegarty said.