SouthernEra Appoints Alasdair MacPhee

SouthernEra Appoints Alasdair MacPhee to the Position of

    Executive Vice President, Africa

 

    Mr. Mike Eksteen Retires from the position of SVP and COO

    Dr. Vahid Fathi Resigns from the SouthernEra Board

    Shares Issued and Outstanding: 74,166,193

    TSX: SUF

    AIM: SRE

 

    TORONTO, Jan. 2 /CNW/ - SouthernEra Resources Limited today announced the

appointment of Mr. Alasdair MacPhee to the position of Executive Vice

President, Africa. Currently SouthernEra's Senior Vice President and Chief

Development Officer, Mr. MacPhee's appointment follows the retirement of

Mr. Mike Eksteen from the position of Senior Vice President and Chief

Operating Officer. As Executive Vice President, Africa, Mr. MacPhee will have

responsibility for the Group's operating, business development and exploration

activities in Africa.

    Mr. MacPhee holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering from

Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland. He has 23 years of operating

experience in platinum group metals and diamond mining. He had 17 years of

continuous service within the De Beers group of companies, in various

operations and project management positions. His last position with De Beers

was as Technical Services Manager of Jwaneng mine. He joined SouthernEra in

1997 as a Project Manager and was subsequently promoted to the position of

Vice President Business Development, and then Senior Vice President and Chief

Development Officer.

    Commenting on Mr. MacPhee's appointment, SouthernEra President and CEO

Patrick Evans said: 'Alasdair MacPhee's almost quarter century of experience

in the African mining environment has equipped him well for this appointment.

He led the construction of the Marsfontein and Klipspringer mines and also

served as Project Manager for the Messina Platinum Mine following the

acquisition of the SouthernEra's controlling interest in Messina Platinum in

2000.'

    Following his retirement from SouthernEra, Mr. Mike Eksteen will continue

to serve as a non-executive director of the SouthernEra subsidiaries Messina

Limited and Messina Platinum Mines Limited. Commenting on Mr. Eksteen's

retirement, Mr. Evans said: 'Mike Eksteen has made an enormous contribution to

the success of the SouthernEra Group. His considerable operating experience,

gained from a long and distinguished career in the South African mining

industry, resulted in the successful construction of the Messina Platinum

Mine. We look forward to Mr. Eksteen's continued contribution to our Group's

success through his non-executive positions on the Messina Limited and Messina

Platinum Mines Limited boards.'

    SouthernEra today also announced the resignation from the Company's board

of Dr. Vahid Fathi. Dr. Fathi has been a director of SouthernEra since June

2001. Commenting on Dr. Fathi's resignation, SouthernEra's Chairman Dr. Chris

Jennings said: 'I wish to extend my deep thanks and appreciation to Vahid

Fathi for his dedicated service to our Company. Despite heavy commitments as

the director of stock research at Morningstar Inc., Dr. Fathi has provided

invaluable support to SouthernEra. We shall miss his contribution on the

SouthernEra board and wish him well in his continuing career with

Morningstar.'

    SouthernEra Resources is an independent producer of platinum group metals

and diamonds. The company also has an extensive PGM, gold and diamond

exploration program. The common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock

Exchange and the London Stock Exchange's AIM market.

 

    For further information: please contact SouthernEra Resources Limited,

Mr. Patrick Evans, President and CEO, or Dr. Sally Eyre, Vice President

Corporate Affairs, Telephone: [phone], Fax: [phone],

E-mail: inbox(at)southernera.com, www.southernera.com

    (SUF. SRE)