KazakhGold Group Limited ("KazakhGold") today announces the following new appointments to its Board of Directors:
  • Robert Buchan has joined the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director and has been elected Chairman of the Board. Mr. Buchan served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kinross Gold Corp., the parent company of Echo Bay Mines Ltd., from 1993 to 2005. He is a founder of Katanga Mining Ltd. and Kinross Gold Corp. Mr. Buchan has also served as the Executive Chairman of Allied Nevada Gold Corp. since 2007. Between April 2005 and December 2007, Mr. Buchan served as the Executive Chairman of Quest Capital Corp (now Sprott Resource Lending Corp). Mr Buchan held the Chairmanship of Extract Resources Ltd, from April 2007 until February 2009. He has also served on the board of; Katanga Mining, Angus Mining Inc (Namibia), Dundee Bancorp, Allied Nevada Gold Corp, Rockwater Capital Corporation, Foxpoint Capital, Claude Resources, Forsys Metal Group, Dayton Mining Corporation and Rainy Mountain Capital. He also served on the board of OJSC Polyus Gold from June 2008 until May 2009. Mr. Buchan has been the Chairman of the Board of Elgin Mining Inc. (formerly, Phoenix Coal Inc.) since 2008 and has been its Chief Executive Officer and President since 2010.

  • Dmitry Razumovhas joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Razumov began his career as a solicitor practising with Clifford Chance. From 1997 to 1998, he was Deputy Head of the Investment Banking Unit at Renaissance Capital, Russia's largest investment bank. From 1999 to 2003 he was the Founder and Managing Director of LV Finance, an independent company which specialised in corporate finance advisory and venture capital, mainly in the telecommunications industry. He was also a Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of Sonic Duo (third GSM operator in Moscow) and Megafon (the first pan-Russian GSM operator). Between 2001 and 2005, Mr Razumov was Deputy General Director of Norilsk Nickel and also served on the Board of Norimet, a UK subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel. Since 2007, he has been Chief Executive Officer of ONEXIM Group, one of Russia's largest private investment funds.

  • Alexander Mosionzhik has joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Mosionzhik graduated from Tula Technical Institute with a degree in Applied Mathematics. Ph.D. in Technical Sciences. From 1999, he was the First deputy of the CEO, and then later CEO, of Nafta Moskva. Since 2006, he has been a Chairman of the Board of Nafta Moskva LLC. Mr. Mosionzhik has been a Member of the Board of directors and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Polyus Gold since May 2009.

  • Anna Kolonchina has joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Ms Kolonchina has a degree in economics from the State Academy of Finance. From 2001 until 2008 she was a Director of Deutsche Bank AG, London. From March until November 2008, she was a Managing Director of Wainbridge Limited and from November 2008 until 2010 Vice-President for Economics and Finance at OJSC PIK Group. Since then she has been a Managing Director of Nafta Moskva. Ms. Kolonchina has been a member of the board of Polyus Gold since May 2010.

  • The Earl of Clanwilliam has joined the board as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Following a career in the British military, Lord Patrick (Paddy) James Gillford started his business career with Hanson Plc. and was seconded to the Home Office to advise the Rt. Hon Douglas Hurd CBE, then Home Secretary. Later he returned to Hanson as Manager of Public Affairs until joining one of the UK's leading firms of lobbyists. In 1993, Lord Gillford founded a company of his own - The Policy Partnership Limited. From 2000 to 2004 he was the non-executive Chairman of the Board at Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd, Europe's leading bridge and large steel construction company. He is on the Advisory Board of Xenon Capital, Moscow based investment advisory bank. 2007, he was appointed Chairman of Eurasia Drilling Company Limited. In 2009, he succeeded to the title of Earl of Clanwilliam. In 2010, he became Senior Advisor to Milio International Limited. The Earl of Clanwilliam has been a member of the board of Polyus Gold since 2006. Earlier this month Lord Clanwilliam was appointed a director of Touchstone Gold, a Columbian gold exploration start up which has just listed on London's Alternative Investment Market.

  • Kobus Moolman has joined the board as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Between 1981 and 2002 Mr Moolman was employed by Ernst & Young in South Africa where he became Senior Audit Partner. Between 2002 to 2008, he was Senior Audit Partner and Leader of the Mining Industry Group in Russia at Deloitte & Touche CIS. From 2009 to 2010 he was an Audit and IFRS technical partner for the GCC Region of an International Audit Firm in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Since 2010, he has been Chief Audit Executive for the Saudi Arabian Mining Company -Ma'aden.

  • Bruce Buck has joined the board as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Mr Buck is the Managing Partner for Europe of international law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP. A graduate of Columbia University School of Law in New York, and a registered foreign lawyer in England and Wales, Mr. Buck has practised law in Europe for more than 25 years and specialises in financing transactions as well as mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Buck is Chairman of Chelsea FC plc and its operating subsidiary Chelsea Football Club Limited. He is also on the Audit Committee of the FA Premier League, the top tier football league in England. Mr. Buck is the longest serving trustee, and a member of the Audit Committee, of Orbis UK, a charity devoted to eradicating curable blindness in the developing world.

Mr Evgeny Ivanov remains on the Board as Executive Director and Mr Adrian Coates, who has served on the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director since March 2010, also remains on the Board.

Mr German Pikhoya, Mr Oleg Ignatov and Mr Alexey Teksler have stepped down from the Board.

The appointment of Mr Buchan as independent Chairman, together with appointment of the Earl of Clanwilliam, Mr Moolman and Mr Buck in addition to the continuing service of Mr Coates, means that the Company now has a majority of independent non-executive directors serving on the Board.

The Board also resolved to form the following committees:

  • Audit Committee chaired by Mr Kobus Moolman with Mr Adrian Coates and the Earl of Clanwilliam as independent non-executive members;
  • Nomination and Remuneration Committee chaired by the Earl of Clanwilliam with Mr Adrian Coates and Mr Bruce Buck as independent non-executive members;
  • Health and Safety committee chaired by Mr Bruce Buck with the Earl of Clanwilliam as an independent non-executive member and Evgeny Ivanov as an executive member;
  • Risk Management Committee chaired by Mr Adrian Coates with Mr Kobus Moolman as an independent non-executive member and Anna Kolonchina as a non-executive member.

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