reefton hunts new chief executive

http://www.thewest.com.au/20050426/busines...-sto131031.html

Reefton hunts new chief executive

NEALE PRIOR

Roger Nikolaenko's African explorer Reefton Mining is on the hunt for a chief executive after the resignation of Simon Gilbert, who was recruited last year to help lift the company from its perennial position as a miner in name only.

The resignation comes just 11 months after Mr Gilbert's appointment as Reefton chief executive was unveiled and three weeks after Mr Nikolaenko quit as managing director, seemingly clearing the way for Mr Gilbert to step on to the Reefton board and have a clear role as the company's top executive.

Reefton said Mr Nikolaenko, a veteran company promoter who has had a crack at everything from minerals exploration to technology ventures, had stepped down from the company's board due to other business commitments.

A similar line was used by Reefton in unveiling Mr Gilbert's surprise resignation on Friday, with the company saying he wished to pursue other commercial opportunities. But he would continue to make himself available on a consultancy basis.

Neither Mr Nikolaenko nor Mr Gilbert could be contacted for comment yesterday and Reefton chairman Brad Moore said he could not provide any details because he had been on leave for a week.

"I have not spoken to Simon yet," said Mr Moore, a close family associate of Mr Nikolaenko's. "I can't make much comment until I speak to him."

Fellow director Gary Hemming, Reefton's technical chief, said there was no link to the earlier resignation. "It just happened at the same time, it is a coincidence," Mr Hemming said.

Mr Gilbert was recruited by Reefton a year ago from a consultancy role at mineral sands miner Iluka. He was described as a specialist in the technical, operational and corporate financing issues facing mining companies.

His skills were expected to be valuable as West Perth-based Reefton tried to commercialise its Skeleton Coast mineral sands and diamond project in Namibia and explore its Erongo polymetallic prospect.

He had to face investor and media queries earlier this month when the company followed up the announcement of Mr Nikolaenko's resignation with revelations of delays in the Namibian Government dealings with renewals for its tenements.

Mr Gilbert said at the time Reefton had hired a lawyer to pursue potential legal action against Namibian authorities over their failure to deal with renewal applications.

He said there was no link between Mr Nikolaenko's departure and the announcement of the tenement renewal delays. Reefton's prospecting licences remain valid pending a decision by Namibian authorities.

Meanwhile, an old business associate of Mr Nikolaenko's, Balcatta-based dealmaker John Terpu, is spinning a new diamond float out of his main corporate vehicle Conquest Mining. Mr Nikolaenko is a former managing director of Conquest.

Conquest is selling its east Kimberley diamond prospects into the the new company, Argyle Bow River Diamonds, for $2 million cash and 5 million shares with a face value of 25¢ each. Argyle Bow River, chaired by South Perth lawyer Seng Fai Chan, is trying to raise up to $8.5 million from a public offer pitched at 25¢ a share.