TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2014 /CNW/ - IAMGOLD Corporation
("the Company") announced today that in its continuing efforts
to maximize economic returns, the Company has transformed its
corporate structure with the primary objective of creating a more
efficient and effective organization that embeds agility and
scalability through the adoption of leading practices.
As part of this process, the Company conducted a study
involving interviews across the corporate offices in
Toronto, Ontario, and Longueuil, Quebec. A deeper examination
of Project Development was also part of the study. The
Company's existing organizational structure was benchmarked against
best practices and the study took into consideration many external
sources and prior internal studies.
Steve Letwin, President and CEO
of IAMGOLD, commented, "We are determined to make this Company a
stronger competitor in the gold industry and to enrich the lives of
all our stakeholders: investors, employees, business partners and
the countries and communities in which we operate. As a first
step we have now re-organized IAMGOLD's corporate structure to
drive the transformation of the Company. We have also taken
steps to make our balance sheet stronger and improve our liquidity
as a result of significant cost reductions, disciplined management
of our capital and the sale of Niobec."
Recognizing the challenges of a lower gold price environment and
reinforcing our culture of continuous improvement to become more
efficient and effective, IAMGOLD has reorganized its top executive
leadership team. The reorganized corporate structure will be
led by the following executives, who will all report directly to
Steve Letwin:
- Gordon Stothart, Executive Vice
President and COO;
- Carol Banducci, Executive Vice
President and CFO;
- Benjamin Little, Senior Vice
President Corporate Affairs, People and Safety;
- Craig MacDougall, Senior Vice
President Exploration; and
- Jeffery Snow, General Counsel
and Senior Vice President, Business Development.
In effecting these changes, the Company's executive team will be
40 percent smaller than it was previously, as the following
executives who have contributed many years of service will leave
the Company to pursue other interests:
- Robert Carreau, Senior Vice
President, Health, Safety and Sustainability;
- Denis Miville-Deschênes, Senior Vice President, Project
Development; and
- Paul Olmsted, Senior Vice
President, Corporate Development.
"Each of these senior leaders has made many valuable
contributions to IAMGOLD," added Mr. Letwin. "On behalf of the
Board and all of the Company's stakeholders, I thank them for their
many years of service and wish them the very best in the
future."
These changes follow the departure in September of Lisa Zangari, SVP, Human Resources, who left the
Company for a similar position in the technology
sector. IAMGOLD's Information Technology group will now report
to Carol Banducci, Benjamin Little will now assume responsibility
for Human Resources and Health, Safety and Sustainability;
Jeffery Snow will now also lead
Business Development and Gordon
Stothart will continue to oversee Project
Development.
As part of its regular project review process, IAMGOLD assesses
the gold price outlook, the economic returns and other key success
criteria for each of its current and planned projects.
In the most recent assessment, the Company has decided that, other
than select studies with critical timelines, work on our major
expansion and development projects will be considerably
reduced.
As a result, IAMGOLD is adopting a different project execution
model for its Project Development group, who will engage
third-party design and engineering teams on an as needed
basis. Although necessary, with regret, the Company has
decided to disband the majority of its Project Development team
effective immediately. The project team and the technical
services team will now report directly to Gord Stothart.
Concurrent with these changes, IAMGOLD has undertaken further
cost cutting initiatives in addition to the $125 million of cost reductions realized in
2013. The Company is targeting a 10 percent overall reduction
of corporate general and administrative costs in the 2015 budget as
well as productivity and cost reduction initiatives at the Rosebel
and Essakane mines. In respect of this focus on costs, the
Company has decided to reduce a number of its corporate
memberships, including withdrawal from the World Gold
Council. While the Company acknowledges the excellent past
work of WGC and is grateful for their efforts to promote gold, it
is necessary in these times to make these tough decisions and focus
on the essentials of running the business.
"IAMGOLD has great promise and the determination, discipline and
financial strength to achieve improved economic returns," added Mr.
Letwin. "I have great confidence in the future of
IAMGOLD. I know that our employees, our investors and all
stakeholders in the communities in which we operate will want to be
part of that future."
About IAMGOLD
IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier
mining company with five operating gold mines (including current
joint ventures) on three continents and one of the world's top
three niobium mines. A solid base of strategic assets in
Canada, South America and Africa is complemented by development and
exploration projects and continued assessment of accretive
acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong financial
position with extensive management and operational
expertise.
Please note:
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website at www.newswire.ca. All material information on IAMGOLD can
be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov.
Si vous désirez obtenir la version française de ce communiqué,
veuillez consulter le
http://www.iamgold.com/French/Home/default.aspx.
SOURCE IAMGOLD Corporation