Kelvin Ayers will be joining Wilbur-Ellis Co. in July to take the position of western region fertilizer director. His responsibilities will be to manage fertilizer purchasing and procurement for the two western business units of Wilbur-Ellis, California and Pacific Intermountain. He is leaving Agrium U.S., where he has held various positions for the past 26 years. He will remain in the Denver area and will report to Gene Gauss, vice president, fertilizer and nutrition, for Wilbur-Ellis.
Athabasca Potash Inc. (API) said June 25 that Dawn Zhou, president and CEO of the corporation, has been removed from her executive positions with the corporation. It said Ms. Zhou remains a director of the corporation. The company said Zhou’s entrepreneurial expertise and experience in geotechnical matters surrounding exploration was key in the formation and early development of API. However, it said API has now reached a stage where the skills required of its CEO, in addition to familiarity with potash and the related chemicals processing industry, must include mining project finance and development, and building completion and operations experience. A new CEO will be sought who brings to the corporation strong management and administrative skills required from an internal governance perspective, as well as externally with respect to the marketplace.
The API board has established a special executive committee that will be responsible for the general exercise of powers and authority of the board in managing the business. It will also manage the transition process with respect to search and retention of a new CEO. The committee consists of three directors – J.G. (Jim) Gardiner, who will act as chairman; Leo Bingleman, and John King Burns. Gardiner is the former president and CEO of Fording Canadian Coal Trust; Bingleman is chairman of the corporation’s audit committee and has 25 years experience as a finance executive in the mining industry. King Burns, managing director of NuCoal Energy Corp., a Saskatchewan based energy company, will continue as interim chairman of the board.
The committee expects to work closely with the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer, Terry Walbaum, in advancing the preliminary feasibility study with respect to its Burr Project, which the board continues to believe has the potential to be developed as a low cost conventional potash mine.
BASF Crop Protection announced the appointment of Paul Rea to director, U.S. Crop Business, effective July 1. The announcement was made by Rea’s predecessor, Nevin McDougall, who was promoted to group vice president of BASF North America Crop Protection in February. Rea most recently served as director of BASF Specialty Products business within BASF North America Crop Protection, where he led the December 2008 acquisition of Whitmire Micro-Gen to form BASF Pest Control Solutions. Prior to that post, Rea held various global and regional marketing positions for BASF North America. He joined the company in 2001 as a national sales manager at BASF Australia, Ltd., in Sydney. Prior to joining BASF, Rea served as national product manager and director of Graintrust Venture for Combined Rural Traders in Sydney. In his new role, Rea will be responsible for all aspects of the U.S. Crop commercial business, and will spearhead initiatives to deepen BASF’s customer relationships.