Panax Geothermal MD Bertus de Graaf to retire January 2011
Panax Geothermal's Salamander-1 well at Penola, Australia (source: Panax)
Alexander Richter
23 Nov 2010
Panax Geothermal's managing director Bertus de Graaf will retire from its post in January 2011 and be succeeded by Kerry Parker, currently Executive Director of the company.
Panax Geothermal Ltd. in an announcement today advises “that Dr Bertus de Graaf will resign in his role of Managing Director and CEO with effect from 31 January, 2011 as part of his longstanding retirement plan. He will be succeeded by Mr Kerry Parker who is currently an Executive Director of the Company. Dr de Graaf will remain on the Board of Panax as a Non-Executive Director and his considerable experience and expertise will continue to be available to the Company pursuant to a services agreement.
The Board very much welcomes Kerry Parker to drive the next stage of Panax’s growth and development plans. Kerry has been part of Panax since its inception and has been involved in resource development projects throughout his extensive career. He has an intimate knowledge of all of the Company’s projects and in particular has worked closely with our Indonesian partners to progress our exciting new projects in Indonesia.
The Board expresses its appreciation for Bertus’ contribution in shaping and advancing Panax’s position as an Australasian geothermal exploration and development company. Under Bertus’ 3 year leadership, Panax expanded the Limestone Coast HSA Project with the acquisition of the Penola Trough geothermal licences, which in turn formed the basis for the award of a $7 million GDP grant. This was applied to drilling Salamander-1 earlier this year, the first deep HSA well in Australia. He was also instrumental in securing our new
projects in Indonesia as well as our advanced project in northern India.
Bertus de Graaf said: “I have held the position of MD/CEO of several ASX listed companies for the past 25 years and will turn 65 in the first quarter of 2011 and I look forward to having time to pursue personal interests. I am pleased to hand over the baton to Kerry Parker, who I feel is ready and well qualified to steer Panax in the next phase of its development. I wish him and the Company well.”
Source: Company release
