Eramet’s subsidiary Société Le Nickel (SLN) appointed Colin McGibbon as the new chief executive officer (CEO). McGibbon will succeed Bernard Laflamme, who retires this month, and will be responsible for implementing the company’s strategy to return to profitability, communicating with all stakeholders, and leading the company’s health and safety policies for employees.
McGibbon, who will be based out of the nickel and ferro-nickel miner’s head office in Noumea, New Caledonia, was vice-president of Operations at Ambatovy in Madagascar before taking up his present position as CEO at SLN. Prior to that, he was general manager at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun refinery in Australia as well as their Dunkerque aluminum smelter in France.
He has also held various operational positions with Tata Steel in the UK and France.
Acknowledging Laflamme’s role over the past two years, Christel Bories, CEO, Eramet, said that Laflamme had worked hard to implement SLN’s new business model and was actively involved in the company’s turnaround efforts.
SLN was founded in 1880 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Eramet group in 1985. It is one of the largest producers of ferronickel used in production of stainless steel.