Taylor to step aside

Placer Dome CEO Jay Taylor will retire at the end of September, ending a 5-year stint at the helm of the world’s sixth-largest gold producer.

Taylor will remain with the company in an advisory role until March 2005. He said the company has gone through substantial changes during his tenure and now has 18 mines on five continents.

“I have accomplished the objectives I set for myself and this company when I became CEO and believe now is the appropriate time to turn over the company to a new leader,” he said.

Says Chairman Robert Franklin: “Under [Taylor’s] leadership we made significant acquisitions and enjoyed impressive exploration success while improving the focus on our core, low-cost operations and advancing our promising development properties.”

Placer Dome recently posted sharply higher fourth-quarter earnings of US$81 million (or 20 per share) on US$492 million in sales, up from year-earlier earnings of US$6 million (or 2 per share) on US$355 million. The increase is attributable to acquisitions, which helped the company boost quarterly production to more than 1 million oz.