New Gammon CEO exits for ‘personal reasons’

Gammon Gold (GAM-T, GRS-X) hosted a conference call in late September to reassure investors that the departure of chief executive Russell Barwick was not a bad sign for the company.

Gammon has been struggling to recover from a string of operational problems at its Ocampo and El Cubo gold mines in Chihuahua state, Mexico (T.N.M., Aug. 20-26/07).

Barwick himself was appointed CEO in early April, and had since assembled a stronger management team to turn the company around.

Gammon’s share price fell as low as $7.94 in early September, tumbling from above $20 per share in April.

Recently, Gammon’s share price has recuperated to the $11-range, and the company held an analyst tour in mid-September. On the news of the change in management, Gammon was up 10 to $11.42 on a trading volume of 1.6 million shares.

Barwick, an Australian who moved to Halifax, N.S., for the position with Gammon, has moved back to Australia for “personal family reasons.”

“I’m sad to be pulling back from Gammon,” Barwick said from Australia. “I apologize, but family has to come first. . . I apologize to those who may see it as negative. . . We saw the concern of the market.”

Barwick did not leave Gammon high and dry. He’s been helping Gammon president Fred George search for his replacement for the past two or three months.

“Russell helped me big time to find this candidate,” said George, from Halifax.

That candidate is Rene Marion, who will be coming from a post at Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N) as regional vice-president for Barrick Russia, Central Asia.

While Marion has not yet visited either of the projects, he says he’s familiar with them.

“The projects are well-known at Barrick,” Marion said from Russia. “We always review what the juniors are doing.”

Marion says the Mexican projects are strong and that he has confidence in their management.

He will begin his new position on Oct. 25.