FORMER Vedanta Zinc International CEO, Deshnee Naidoo, has been appointed director, finance & business at Brazilian mining firm, Vale, according to Metal Bulletin’s Fastmarkets.
Her position is effective from January 1 and will see Naidoo lead and direct the Vale base metals finance team responsible for financial strategy, planning, forecasts and supervising the investment cycles for the base metals division, said Fastmarkets.
Naidoo’s crowning achievement during her time at VZI was the commissioning of the 250,000 tons a year Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province at a capital cost of $400m. It remains one of the few new mines to have been built in South Africa during the past five years.
Naidoo also managed Vedanta’s copper business in Zambia which included the tumultuous period when the southern African country sought to put Konkola Copper Mines into provisional liquidation. The matter is currently subject to arbitration.
Naidoo left VZI in May.
At Vale, Naidoo will also be responsible for all financial management stewardship for Vale Canada Ltd and its subsidiaries, including management reporting, budgeting, forecasting and analysis of opportunities associated with the base metals business, said Fastmarkets.
As well, Naidoo will lead the global business development agenda for Vale’s base metals covering transactions for mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and structured operations, from strategic origination to execution, it said.
Naidoo was previously at Anglo American where she held a number of executive positions, including CFO for the group’s thermal coal business.
