Griffin appoints new operations chief from Caijiaying Mine

Griffin Mining announced the resignation of Damien Houseman as the general manager of Caijiaying Mine on Thursday, with current mine manager John Steel being appointed as its chief operating officer with immediate effect.

The AIM-traded firm said Houseman would leave at the end of February to take up a new position “more suitable to his personal circumstances”.

“John Steel is a graduate mining engineer from the Ballarat School of Mines and holds a master of business administration from Deakin University,” the Griffin Mining board said in its statement.

“He is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.”

It said Steel had “extensive” mining experience, including more than a decade of on-site operational expertise with tier-one companies in Australia, Canada and the Middle East.

“John also has extensive supplier side experience holding country managing director positions in Norway, as well as general manager positions with several explosive and technology service providers within Australia.”

At 1033 GMT, shares in Griffin Mining were down 4.3% at 88.33p.