Hawsons Iron has appointed experienced mining executive Paul Cassano as the new project director of its namesake iron ore project in New South Wales.
Cassano replaces Andre du Preez and will take responsibility for leading the preparation of the Hawsons Iron bankable feasibility study (BFS), which is due for completion in December.
Cassano has more than 30 years’ experience in the resources sector, with expertise in executive general management, operations management and technical roles.
He has held divisional chief executive officer and executive general manager roles at Downer, along with an executive general manager role at Thiess. Cassano also held several management roles with BHP Billiton.
“Paul has extensive experience in the management of large mining operations, strategy and business development and will be a valuable addition to Hawsons Iron’s leadership team,” Hawsons Iron managing director Bryan Granzien said.
“While welcoming Paul, we reluctantly farewell Andre du Preez, who is leaving us for personal reasons. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Cassano’s appointment offers Hawsons Iron the opportunity to further align the BFS team structure with the project needs as the study progresses.
It also comes after Hawsons Iron recently received endorsement from the South Australian Government as an ‘Impact Assessed’ major project, paving the way for the company to lodge a formal development application to be assessed by the State Planning Commission.
This will assist Hawsons Iron in preparing its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and follows on from the Federal Government renewing Hawsons Iron’s major project status in April, while the NSW Government has also declared the project a State Significant Development.
Hawsons Iron has also engaged Citigroup Global Markets Australia (Citi) as a strategic advisor to assist it in assessing strategic partnering opportunities, including offtake partnerships, for the flagship project.
Granzien said Citi’s global network, corporate relationships and experienced team would deliver significant value as the company moved towards the completion of its BFS.