Con Fauconnier, chairman in waiting at Katanga Mining
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Con of the Congo
David McKay
Posted: Tue, 13 Nov 2007

[miningmx.com] -- CON FAUCONNIER, recently resigned as CEO of Exxaro Resources, is back in the mix after a brief two month retirement. That’s if plans for a merger between Katanga Mining, a Toronto listed firm and UK-listed Nikanor come to pass. Fauconnier has been asked to be the merged firm’s non-executive chairman.

The merged entity, to be called Katanga Mining, is slated to produce 400,000 tonnes/year of copper from prospects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I was on leave when the request came through. I didn’t go looking for it,” said Fauconnier who, one heavily suspects, probably didn’t need too much arm-twisting. He’s known Ivan Glasenberg, boss of Swiss metals trading house Glencore and key investor in Nikanor, for years. They have a healthy respect for each other.

Of course, Fauconnier also gets his hands back on the Kamoto mine in the Congo, a copper mine Katanga owns.

Kamoto was once an Iscor Mining asset, bought by former steel executive, Hans Smith. But in an opaque series of events, for which the Congo is getting a reputation, the mining license to Kamoto was lost to Exxaro only to turn up in the hands of Katanga. The Congo is a bit of a nemesis for Fauconnier who saw another Congo asset, Kipushi, lost by Exxaro under his watch.

Says Fauconnier: “The non-executive position is not a full-time thing. It’ll be a couple of board meetings per year.”

But it could be so much more. Two members of the combined Katanga team are Dan Gertner and George Forrest, buccaneering entrepreneurs in the Congo; rivals who have formed a business coalition in Katanga. Marrying the two interests of these men could be a major headache.

In Fauconnier’s defence, he ably parlyed between Kumba Resources shareholders and Anglo American when the latter was steadily taking over Kumba. He knows a thing or two about conflict and seems to have the patience of Job. He’s also a strong operational guy and doesn’t fit the role of passive figurehead. “I’ll step away if I can’t apply certain principles,” he says.

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As for Jonathan Leslie, executive chairman of Nikanor, and formerly of Sappi, he finds himself kicking his heels again even though he was asked to be non-executive of Katanga. He wouldn’t rule out returning as CEO of another company.

It’s thought Leslie was on a slippery slope once Nikanor was found to have heavily overrun its capital budget and had to be recapitalised earlier this year. In the process, his position was “at the pleasure of Glencore” (effectively) which held the right to appoint another chairman. And with Katanga CEO, Arthur Ditto holding so much of his company – nearly 9% - Leslie didn’t come into the reckoning at the executive level. So he left.