Matthew Wilcox
MD & CEO: Robex Gold
‘We’ve been a team that’s been together, almost unbroken, since 2010’
THE last six months of 2025 were pivotal for Robex Gold, a Canadian junior which operates Mali’s Nampala mine. It launched a A$120m IPO on the Australia Securities Exchange in June ahead of an all-share merger with Predictive Discovery in December – a deal that paved the way for the combination of their Guinea assets, Robex’s Kiniero mine with Predictive’s Bankan project.
Supplemented by Nampala, the new Robex will produce 350,000 ounces in annual gold. It wasn’t plain sailing, however. Wilcox and team faced competition when Predictive’s major shareholder Perseus Mining made a late play for the company. In the end, Robex’s matching offer was deemed superior. Amid the corporate drama, Robex poured first gold from Kiniero in December, on schedule and within budget. Kiniero is planned for average annual gold of 139,000oz over nine years.
The start-up represents Wilcox and his team’s sixth successful build in 15 years, which will be a comfort to Predictive shareholders given they turned down Perseus, a quality company. In truth, Robex is a very tidy mineral developer and miner. Wilcox will lead the enlarged company. What’s required now are the permitting approvals – never a slam dunk but the outlook is nonetheless rosy for Robex shareholders.
LIFE OF MATTHEW
It would be hard to find a mine-builder with more West Africa experience than Matt Wilcox. Prior to joining Robex in mid-2024, he was CEO at Tietto Minerals, overseeing the design, construction and commissioning of the Abujar gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire before the company’s A$750m acquisition by Zhaojin Capital. Wilcox also led the construction of West African Resources’ Sanbrado gold mine in Burkina Faso in 2020. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Nord Gold. For all these mining successes, Wilcox is actually a chemical engineer by training with a degree from Perth’s Curtin University.
