Cora Gold Limited (LON:CORA), the West African focused gold company, has announced the appointment of Russell White as a Non-Executive Director. Mr White is a highly experienced mining professional with over 40 years’ experience in mineral processing, project delivery and mine operations, predominantly on West African gold projects. His appointment brings direct mine-building and operational expertise to Cora’s board of directors at a pivotal time as the Company advances towards mine construction at its flagship Sanankoro Gold Project in southern Mali.
Mr White is a metallurgist by training, having graduated from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He progressed from an operational background into engineering and design, taking up roles as Design, Project and Commissioning Manager for various consultants, before spending the last 15 years as a Client Representative, Project Director and Operations Manager for mining companies.
Mr White served as Project Manager and subsequently General Manager at Toro Gold Limited’s Mako Gold Mine (‘Mako’) in Senegal, where he oversaw the study, construction and commissioning phases of the project. Mako, which poured first gold in January 2018, was delivered ahead of schedule and under budget with project safety statistics significantly bettering national Australian standards over 3.6 million man hours worked. Following the successful construction and ramp-up, Mr White was appointed General Manager of the mine, where he was responsible for driving operational performance during a period of optimisation and throughput expansion.
Subsequently in 2020 Mr White joined Centamin plc (‘Centamin’), the established gold producer and operator of the Sukari Gold Mine (‘Sukari’) in Egypt, as Group Projects Manager, until Centamin’s acquisition by AngloGold Ashanti plc in November 2024. Whilst at Centamin, he supported both the Sukari operations and the company’s West Africa portfolio of projects, managing study work and projects under development and execution. Mr White also held the position of Design / Study & Project Manager at Endeavour Mining working across the company’s assets in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Ghana.
Most recently, Mr White served as Project Director at Rupert Resources Ltd (‘Rupert Resources’) until its acquisition by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited in June 2026. During his tenure at Rupert Resources, Mr White led the feasibility study to advance the multi-million-ounce Ikkari gold development project in northern Finland towards production.
Alongside the appointment of Russell White and the Company’s progress towards the mine construction phase at Sanankoro, Andrew Chubb has agreed to step down from his role as a Non-Executive Director of the Company. Mr Chubb, a Partner and Head of Mining at Hannam & Partners, will continue to support Cora’s development in an advisory capacity.
Russell White is deemed independent for the purpose of corporate governance by virtue of the Company considering him to be of independent character and judgement.
Russell White will replace Andrew Chubb on the AIM compliance & corporate governance committee of the Board.
The appointment of Russell White and the resignation of Andrew Chubb are both effective immediately.
Bert Monro, Chief Executive Officer of Cora Gold, commented, “Russell has demonstrated his ability to take a West African gold project all the way from feasibility study through construction to operational management, and done so ahead of schedule and under budget. That is exactly the experience we need on our Board as we advance Sanankoro towards construction and production. With the renewal of the Sanankoro II exploration permit now approved, a significant step towards being awarded a mining permit, and FEED work progressing well, Russell’s operational and construction expertise will be invaluable as we move closer to breaking ground.
“Andrew joined Cora in 2020 and on behalf of the Board I would like to thank him for his contribution during this period. His experience and knowledge has been invaluable as we have sought to fund the Project and progress Sanankoro towards construction. We look forward to working with Andrew in an advisory capacity in the future.”
The following disclosures are made pursuant to Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.
Russell Lloyd White, age 64, holds/held no directorships or partnerships required to be disclosed.
