London- and Australia-listed Resolute Mining has appointed Gavin Harris COO, effective July 1, following the decision by Geoff Montgomery to step down as COO.

Resolute notes that Montgomery will remain with Resolute as a senior technical adviser and will continue to provide his expertise and guidance across the company's portfolio of operations and projects.

The company says Harris has over 20 years of experience in surface and underground mining, having previously worked in West Africa, Australia, the Middle East and the UK across gold, nickel and copper operations.

He has worked on both development projects and producing operations, having worked for companies such as Barrick Gold, BHP and Teranga Gold.

His most recent role was at the Tier-1 Sukari gold mine, in Egypt, for Centamin – which has been acquired by AngloGold Ashanti – where he spent six years in senior management roles, most recently as GM.

Resolute says that, while at the Sukari mine, Harris was instrumental in delivering the highest gold production for six years in 2024 – 481 000 oz gold – at lower-than-budgeted costs and with a record safety performance.

Additionally, he was responsible for developing and executing several projects at Sukari, including the transition from contract mining to owner-operated mining in the underground mine and increasing efficiencies in the openpit mining operations both of which led to major cost reductions.

Harris has also been involved in the development of the satellite mines in Senegal at Teranga Gold as the project manager of mine development as well as development of Cliffs Nickel Project in Western Australia.

He has also held senior operational roles at the Leinster Nickel Operations in Western Australia and at the Henty gold mine in Tasmania.

“We are excited to welcome Gavin to the Resolute team. In Gavin, we have the operational expertise and experience to continue to realise the full potential at Syama and Mako, as well as bring Doropo into production, a project with which he is already familiar from his time at Centamin.

“At the world-class Sukari mine, Gavin consistently hit production targets and delivered key projects that improved operational efficiency and reduced costs. This combined with his focus on safety performance makes Gavin ideally suited to lead Resolute's operations as we grow and evolve in this exciting new chapter,” says CEO Chris Eger.

"Over the past three years, Geoff has played an important role in improving operational performance across our mines. We thank Geoff for his work as COO and look forward to his continued technical support as a senior adviser,” he adds.