Ian Cockerill
CEO: Endeavour Mining
‘In an earlier life I must have been a fireman because instead of running away from situations I tend to run towards them’
IAN Cockerill volunteered last year for the ‘hot seat’ at West African gold miner Endeavour Mining. However, the temperature may be rising past the levels he had in mind as the changing face of West African politics adds to his challenges. The vastly experienced Cockerill – who was deputy chairperson at Endeavour – took over as CEO when incumbent Sébastien de Montessus was fired for “dodgy” money transfers.
Taking on that executive role was a brave move at Cockerill’s age – 69 – but one he was happy to do partly because he cannot walk away from a challenge. So far, so good. But the ante has been upped in the past few months by Mali’s government, which detained four Barrick Gold employees and then, on November 9, effectively held Resolute Mining CEO Terry Holohan hostage in disputes over the country’s new mining code.
While Endeavour operates in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso, the situation in Mali has thrown the spotlight on regional volatility. Cockerill consequently sounded a cautious note in November, revealing that Endeavour was “in discussions” with the government of Côte d’Ivoire. He also warned West African nations not to repeat the mistakes of South Africa by bringing in regulations that would hurt long-term investment.
Away from exogenous factors, Cockerill is tasked with two important company deliverables: reduce net debt and improve shareholder returns. Debt is high partly owing to Endeavour’s robust and successful exploration pipeline and its recent past as an aggressive acquirer of companies and projects. But in a gold market reaching a cyclical high, the company doesn’t want to get caught out with too high a leverage.
LIFE OF IAN
A geologist by training, Cockerill worked his way up the ranks at Anglo American and De Beers before becoming CEO of the newly formed Gold Fields. He then shifted to Anglo American to run the group’s coal division but got fired 20 months later by CEO Cynthia Carroll as part of a top management reshuffle. After that he began what he calls his “portfolio career” as a non-executive director on various boards including Ivanhoe Mines, the BlackRock World Mining Trust, and BHP.
