Correction: an earlier version of this post said Mr. MiLau was CEO at Endeavour Mining. That was a typo. He was Endeavour's CFO. Apologies.

Chirstian Milau (Kitco photo)

Chirstian Milau (Kitco photo)

West African gold developer True Gold Mining (TSX:TGM), which is building the Karma gold mine in Burkina Faso, has appointed Christian Milau, an executive with relevant experience, to lead the company.

Mr. Milau takes the reigns from interim cheif executive Mark O'Dea, who replaced Dwayne Melrose in the CEO position on Jan 20 of this year, after community unrest shut down construction at Karma and saw an estimated $6.1 million in damages to the company.

Haywood Securities analyst Tara Hassan considers the appointment a positive for True Gold in a note published Thursday titled, "New CEO Brings the Needed Skill Sets to Karma." Haywood has a Buy rating, Very High Risk Profile and $0.55 price target on #TGM's shares. Haywood hopes to see True Gold resolve local uncertainty at Karma in the first half of this year. True Gold may need to raise up to $30 million in H2 2015, according to Haywood.

Mr. Milau has been EVP and CFO of Endeavour Mining (TSV:EDV) since 2011, where he helped the company raise in excess of $500 million, handle a number of M&A transactions, and contributed to Endeavour's West African production growth to over 400,000 ounces currently from four mines.

Mark O’Dea, True Gold’s Executive Chairman and interim President and CEO, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Christian as Chief Executive Officer of True Gold. Christian was an integral player in the Endeavour team that built Agbaou in Côte d’Ivoire and he played a formative role in making that project development a success story. He had key responsibilities for managing government and stakeholder relationships in-country, which culminated in the signing of a favorable mining convention for Agbaou. He therefore brings recent and very tangible development and operational experience, as well as a network of private sector, government and community relationships in West Africa. Christian also has a good understanding of the social, political and cultural sensitivities in the region, and we believe he is well suited to lead True Gold through its near term transition into production and, over time, into a successful mid-tier mining company.”

Mr. Milau said: “Joining True Gold at an important time in its development is an exciting prospect given my recent West African experience. Karma is on a path to resuming construction and is very well positioned to act as a platform for True Gold’s growth in West Africa and potentially beyond. I’m looking forward to getting started, building strong ties with the Company’s employees, enhancing the team’s bench strength, and developing True Gold’s relationships with key stakeholders in Burkina Faso.”

Mr. Milau will join True Gold on April 27th. True Gold has granted him 600,000 stock options at a price of $0.19. as well, he will receive 200,000 restricted share units.

Endeavour has promoted Ota Hally from Vice President and Group Controller to the CFO position, replacing Mr. Milau.

Read: True Gold appoints Christian Milau as Chief Executive Officer

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