Yellowhead Mining Inc. announced on June 26, the appointment of Frank D. Wheatley as chief executive officer of the company effective July 1. Wheatley has also been appointed as a director of the company effective July 1, subject to TSX approval.
“Yellowhead is fortunate to have engaged Mr. Wheatley as our new CEO. He has the corporate skills and experience, along with the aptitude and attitude, required in today’s market. The Yellowhead team looks forward to building the company through the next stages of the development of the Harper Creek project with Frank at the helm,” stated Greg Hawkins, chairman of the board. Hawkins had been serving as Yellowhead’s interim CEO.
According to a media release from Yellowhead, Wheatley is a senior mining executive and legal counsel with 28 years of business, financial and legal experience with Canadian public mining companies exploring, developing, permitting, financing and operating gold, silver, copper and lithium mines on several continents. His senior executive roles ranged from executive director, president, chief operating officer, to vice president and general counsel, with emphasis on public financing, project debt financing, permitting of large scale mining projects in accordance with all international best practice, environmental and corporate social responsibility standards, together with strategic mergers and acquisitions in the international minerals industry.
Wheatley was most recently executive director, corporate affairs and strategy with Talison Lithium Limited, a leading global lithium producer with operations in Western Australia, until its acquisition by Chengdu Tianqi Industry (Group) Co. in March 2013.
Wheatley is currently also a member of the board of directors of Teranga Gold Corporation (TSX, ASX) and Selwyn Resources Ltd. (TSX-V).
Yellowhead’s previous CEO, Ian Smith, resigned last December.
Yellowhead’s Harper Creek Project is a copper-goldsilver volcanogenic sulphide deposit located approximately 10 kilometers southwest of Vavenby. The company’s development strategy is to engineer, permit, finance, construct, and operate the Harper Creek project.