David Medilek takes over K92 Mining as CEO Oct. 1; founder John Lewins becomes non-executive chair. Stage 3 expansion 98% committed. Medilek targets ramp-up and Stage 4.
Alpha Score of 73 reflects strong overall profile with strong momentum, strong value, moderate quality, moderate sentiment.
K92 Mining said David Medilek, its president and chief operating officer, will become chief executive officer and a director on Oct. 1. John Lewins, the company's founding CEO, will step into the role of non-executive chair. Anne Giardini, currently independent board chair, becomes lead director.
Medilek joined K92 in 2019. He holds a mining engineering degree from the University of British Columbia and a CFA charter. Before K92 he covered precious metals as an equity analyst at Macquarie Group, worked in mining investment banking at Cormark Securities, and started his career as a mining engineer at Barrick Gold. The board described him as combining technical and operational experience with deep knowledge of K92 and Papua New Guinea. Giardini called him "the clear choice" in the board's succession process.
Lewins has overseen K92 since he took over as CEO in 2017. Under his leadership the company restarted the Kainantu mine in late 2016 and reached commercial production by early 2018. K92 delivered the Stage 2 and Stage 2A expansions and substantially completed the Stage 3 Expansion. The new 1.2-million-tonne-per-annum process plant has been fully operational since December 2025 and is performing above design, the company said. As of June 30, 98% of the Stage 3 expansion capital had been spent or committed. The project remains on budget and the mine ramp-up is underway.
The company also announced two other appointments. Chris Kinver, vice president of projects and engineering, becomes chief operating officer on Oct. 1. He previously led the Didipio underground mine transition at OceanaGold in the Philippines and held senior operational roles at BHP Billiton and Barrick Gold. Susan Scheepers, who had been acting vice president of human resources, was appointed to the role permanently effective Aug. 1. She has more than 20 years of human resources experience across the global resources sector, including at Aurelia Metals and St Barbara.
Lewins said in the announcement that with K92's production growth outlook and exploration pipeline, "this is the right time to transition leadership." He plans to continue traveling to Papua New Guinea and maintain government engagement through his role as vice president of the PNG Chamber of Resources and Energy. Last month he was appointed pro-chancellor of the University of Goroka, located in the Eastern Highlands Province where the Kainantu mine sits.
Medilek said his immediate priorities are safe operations, the Stage 3 ramp-up, Stage 4 expansion, and unlocking Kainantu's district-scale exploration potential. He also noted the strength of the leadership team, pointing to Kinver and Scheepers.
K92 operates the Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands Province. It produces gold and copper, with silver as a by-product. A maiden resource estimate at the Blue Lake copper-gold porphyry project was published in August 2022. The company trades on the TSX as KNT and on the OTCQX as KNTNF.
The leadership changes take effect Oct. 1. The board said it has confidence in the new team to execute the current ramp-up and the longer-term expansion plan.
Prepared with AlphaScala editorial tooling from the source reporting linked above. Indexable analysis may include a cited Alpha Score value. Publishing checks screen each story before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.