FORMER Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith, who exited the miner four years ago after a failed mega-merger bid for Canada’s Yamana Gold, has joined a private equity venture aiming to raise $1bn for investment in Africa’s critical minerals.
Griffith told Investec Minds, an online broadcast, that plans to retire were shelved after private equity investors approached him to help tap growing interest in the continent’s critical minerals sector.
“I was contacted by a private equity team that is starting up. So, I’m part of a private equity team now, seeking to raise a billion dollars to invest in African critical minerals,” he said, adding that fundraising was at an early stage.
He is working alongside former Goldman Sachs banker Colin Coleman and former Ashanti Goldfields chair Sam Jonah. “We’ve put this team together, and I’m spending quite a lot of time at the moment helping to set up this private equity business,” Griffith said.
Griffith stepped down as Gold Fields CEO in December 2022 after the $6.7bn all-share bid for Yamana failed. The deal was intended to lift Gold Fields into the top tier of global gold producers before a rival offer from Agnico Eagle and Pan American Silver won out.
Commenting on the deal, Griffith said it was when gold was at $1,700 per ounce compared to about $4,300/oz today and has Gold Fields shares were trading at R150/share versus R682/share.
“We saw the underlying value of those assets joined with Gold Fields was substantially greater than the value that we were paying, including the premium,” said Griffith. He added though the deal came too early in his time at Gold Fields and that the scale of the proposed transaction had unsettled shareholders.
Gold Fields has since concluded two other acquisitions, Osisko Mining for C$2.16bn and Gold Road Resources for A$3.7bn, while its own share price has surged nearly 200% over two years, valuing the group at R610bn on the JSE.
As for Griffith, he went on to run the base metals division of Vedanta for two years before resigning in July 2025.
