Greg Field
CEO: Deep Yellow Limited
'I believe uranium has a key role to play in the global transition to clean energy’
TRANSITIONS aren’t always easy, as Deep Yellow is learning, especially when the company’s long-time former leader John Borshoff was the self-proclaimed ‘grandfather of uranium’. While Borshoff is in his 80s, the market doesn’t like shocks, but that’s what it got in October when Deep Yellow announced Borshoff’s abrupt departure, without a succession plan in place. The surprise news wiped nearly 20% off Deep Yellow’s market value in a single day.
The company, chaired by former Rio Tinto iron ore boss Chris Salisbury, batted off unrest and the threat of a board spill by some of its largest institutional investors, and announced the appointment of engineer and fellow Rio alumni Greg Field as Borshoff’s replacement in early December. Field won’t be in the chair until May and will have plenty to keep him busy. Deep Yellow deferred a final investment decision on its Tumas uranium project in Namibia in April 2005 due to market conditions but has continued to derisk the project in preparation for full construction.
As of December, the company reported it had signed a power supply agreement with NamPower and was progressing water supply and development agreements. Detailed engineering was more than 60% complete, with over 70% of all major equipment tendered. Bulk earthworks were 24% complete. An independent technical expert completed the environmental and social due diligence report on the project on behalf of Nedbank, paving the way for a faster transition into the documentation phase of the project debt financing.
LIFE OF GREG
Field graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a mining engineering degree in 2000 before starting his career at Impala Platinum. He has spent the bulk of his career at Rio Tinto, which has seen him live and work in Western Australia, Mongolia, the US and Canada. His most recent role was managing director, project development. He was appointed to the top job at Deep Yellow in early December, reuniting him with a former colleague, Deep Yellow chair Chris Salisbury. He’ll start at Deep Yellow no later than May.
