Thungela unveils Moses Madondo as CEO-designate

Moses Madondo

THUNGELA Resources today announced its founding CEO July Ndlovu would step down from the company this year as he had reached retirement age.

He will be replaced by Moses Madondo who is currently CEO of De Beers’ mining operations, known as De Beers Group Managed Operations. Madondo will become CEO-designate of Thungela from August 1.

Madondo, a mining engineer by training, established his career at AngloGold Ashanti before his appointment at De Beers in January 2022.

“The company’s current CEO, July Ndlovu, will reach the retirement age of 60 years in July 2025 and, in accordance with the company’s retirement policy, is scheduled to retire from the employment of Thungela in 2025,” the company said.

“July’s exceptional leadership, his extensive mining experience and guidance have contributed to the growth and success of the company.”

Said Thungela of Madondo: “He has demonstrated strong operational and technical skills … The board welcomes and looks forward to working with Moses.” A “comprehensive selection process” had been undertaken at Thungela, it said.

Ndlovu has so far had a stellar time at Thungela dating from its debut on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in June 2021.

The company’s share price was expected to tank when Anglo American first announced plans to demerge and separately list its South African coal operations as Thungela a year earlier. But fate intervened.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia that year led to a energy security crisis. Thermal coal prices soared as Europe in particular looked to stock up on the fuel. Shares in Thungela cruised. Opening at R29/share in June they were trading at R378/share – an all-time high – just over a year later.

The stock has since ‘normalised’ closer to NAV but the early profit bonanza that drove the share price handed Thungela a cash boost through which it financed the A$335m acquisition in February 2023 of the 3.2 million ton a year Ensham coal mine in Australia.