New Pacer Dome appointment signals emphasis on mining

Placer Dome Inc. (TSE) has re-affirmed its commitment to focus on gold mining by appointing Anthony Petrina as the company’s new president and chief operating officer.

A former hard rock miner from Sudbury, Ont., Petrina replaces John S. Walton who helped orchestrate the merger of Placer Development with Campbell Red Lake Mines and Dome Mines, creating the largest single gold producer outside South Africa and the Soviet Union.

Regarded as an “ideas man,” Walton reportedly made a proposal to the board that it wasn’t prepared to accept which prompted his resignation. He was previously associated with Brascan’s Westmin Resources (TSE).

At a recent press conference, Petrina and Chairman Fraser Fell declined to comment on speculation that Walton wanted to lead the company away from its core mining business.

Instead they told a small gathering of reporters that Placer Dome will attempt to increase its North American gold production by entering into agreements with companies in the late stages of exploration.

“Anyone who says North America doesn’t have the potential for a new mother lode should take a look back in history,” said Petrina who was previously Placer Dome’s executive-president and chief operating officer.

A graduate of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., Petrina is considered more of a “hands on” mining executive than his predecessor. “John (Walton) didn’t have the mining background that Tony has,” Fell told The Northern Miner. A former mine manager at Placer Development’s Craigmont mine, Petrina was appointed assistant vice-president of Placer Development in 1974. He continued to rise through the Placer Development ranks and was named Placer Dome’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer last year.